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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm in my third cycle of getting a 3.0 to 3.2 kid from Big 3 to college. This year is absolutely nothing like the other years. I really believe the increasing grade inflation from publics, along with the 50% plus increase in applications to so many schools, has made all schools except the LACS out of reach for the 50th percentile and lower kids this year. My 3.2 kid has been deferred from everywhere and I think is about to get rejected from Tennessee tomorrow, then later Boulder--his top two choices. I do think he'll get into some PA LACs, which is not what he wants. But this cycle is even worse than 2021. I really wish I had sent my kids to public. They would have had fun and had better opportunities. [/quote]

Sorry to disappoint, but I know kids with much higher stats (3.7-3.8 gpa) who were not admitted to Boulder and Tennessee in the EA rounds, so unlikely a lower gpa (especially 3.0-3.2) will get in in RD round. That gpa range needs to look significantly lower on the list (think Montana State), unless major hook. Sorry![/quote]

That’s a 3.0-3.2 from a good private.  Probably equivalent to a 4.5 from MCPS.[/quote]

:lol:  :lol:  I want some of what you are smoking!  :lol:  :lol:   Seriously.. think logically.  Your argument is that a 3.2 at a Private school is equivalent to a 3.8 at a decent Public (equal to about a 4.3 weighted).  That would imply the vast majority of Private school kids are innately smart.  Is that borne out by SAT results?  Not really.  Most Private School kids barely scratch 1450s on the SATs and that is with a ton of expensive prep. The top 100% of the kids at TJ and top 20-30% of the kids at any other public score above that and that's a lot of kids.

Here's what makes sense (and I think colleges are seeing through this).  Private school classes likely have more rigor than public schools. I'll concede that a normal class at a Private is about the same level of rigor as a Honors class at a good public and a Honors class at a Private is about the same rigor as an AP.  The lack of AP classes at a Private school is a problem but that's a you problem rather than a public school kid problem.  All that is to say that a 3.0 at a Private is maybe about a 3.2-3.3 at a Public.  That's it.

How did this delusion work in the past?  Grift. College admissions advisors at Privates had this insider connection with college admissions offices, especially SLACs that wanted a dependable pipeline of full pay students.  Post pandemic, colleges have realized that all they had to level up was go test optional and get on the common app to attract a large number of students.  They are not dependent on your pipeline anymore.

Welcome to post-pandemic college admissions!  [/quote]

I have current high schoolers in public and a top private high school.  The grading scales are nothing alike. It's literally night and day.  A 3.2 at my one kid's (top) private is equal to about a 3.8 (unweighted) at the good public my other kid attends. I don't think you realize but teachers at some of these privates use a bell curve and start the curve with giving 2 A's over the entire grade.  It's really not possible to get an A until you are the top two students in the grade in some core classes (often English).  Clearly, this type of grading is not working for college admissions in the year 2023.  Plus there are no retakes, no late work is accepted, etc.

I'm not saying the private school kids are smarter, more deserving of a top university spot, etc but the daily expectations are much, much higher.  
I have no dog in this fight (kids are currently at both high schools) but I just want to explain the reality. [/quote]

You have a DD at NCS too? Why do they insist on only giving 2 As out across the entire grade of 70 or so kids? It is crazy. [/quote]

NP: Different private school here, and we were told they explicitly grade to a B. In a small class, that means very few As are available. To me that is counterintuitive in high schools with no lifers where admissions are based on academics. They are selecting A students because they are A students and then turning 70% of them into B and C students. It's weird.[/quote]

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