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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If "A" grades are being given out like candy at only some schools, one of three things will happen:

1.  Parents will press their schools to give out "A"s like candy too, which, if successful won't really do anything for college admissions because there already aren't enough spots at so-called "elite" schools for 4.0 students.  This will only increase the tendency of parents to claim that the admissions process is unfair or random; or

2.  Colleges will figure that out and downgrade the 4.0s from some schools over others (which they already do to an extent for schools where they have substantial experience with their students).

3.  The final possibility, which is too painful for some parents to admit, is that most colleges know full well that GPA isn't a fully accurate picture of an applicant.  The supply of "good enough" students is really high and admissions departments don't have any special talent in differentiating the "best" of those "good enough" students, so they don't bother trying to drill down beyond the basics of course rigor, class ranks, teacher recs etc.  That's why they long ago moved to seeking so much more information in the applications.  It may seem random, but it's really more that they recognize that GPAs aren't really "objective" given the level of subjectivity at the teacher and school level, so it's just one of the factors.

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Overall, this is a good overall assessment of what is happening. To add some nuance... I recently attended a meeting with admissions (public R1) 1) to determine the outcomes of TO policy to date; 2) to provide faculty input on student performance trends in foundational/gateway math and science courses during the pandemic; and 3) to compare college course grade outcomes with student incoming GPAs (unweighted) and rigor (e.g., AP Calc, AP Chem, IB, etc.). Admissions have data at the school system and individual HS level, and in some cases, at the course level. I'm confident that this is happening at most schools that have the resources and incentive to analyze the data.

-soon to be department chair and parent of a public school 10th-grade student[/quote]

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