Anonymous
11/17/2025 12:12
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:Homework is not an equitable practice and has been largely eliminated or discouraged in DMV public schools.
False
Certainly not the HSs.
Voucher a-holes pushing lies.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 12:12
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Your kid will be compared to others at his school regarding course options/rigor and grades/GPA.
I hope your distaste for public is kept to yourself. You have a superiority complex while also being incredibly defensive (MY kid only doesn’t have an 8.0 because of his hard school and all kids at public have skated by).
I don't think OP is being defensive - it's factual. I have a kid at a rigorous private and another at a public HS and the difference is stark. One is objectively smarter, has a ton more homework and the other has a a better GPA because of redo's and other lax policies. Maybe you have an inferiority complex?
You can't even compare kids in different classes from the same school! Some get the easier grader, some get a teacher who gives partial credit, some get a teacher who asks lots of questions on an exam (versus 8 questions), some have a teacher which offers lots of extra ways to earn points (quizzes, classwork, participation, etc.), some have a teacher who has comprehensive reviews before each exam and the tests mirror the review, some have multiple exams a grading term (versus 1), some have better teacher (and some have horrible ones), some have ones which expect the kid's knowledge to be well beyond the curriculum and the teacher only teaches the curriculum, some have a teacher who is absent a lot, some have a teacher who is difficult to understand or a poor teacher, some had a poor teacher the prior year and now are struggling with the foundational material, some allow retakes to be done at home (and others have 3 question retakes with extensive subparts and no partial credit).
You're delusional if you think the experience of a handful of kids gives you a universal truth.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 12:09
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
The college admission counselors are generally assigned geographical regions and will know how your kid’s school compares to other schools in the area.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 12:07
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:My kid is a sophomore and at a Catholic high school; he came from public. His public school friends have essentially no homework. I don’t understand and I’ve talked to the parents and they don’t really understand either. I think it’s a post-Covid hang over. It may change as they take more APs later in high school but literally we’re talking many nights with no homework. They get it done in class and retake tests, turn things in late without consequences. And many of them are taking honors classes.
Meanwhile, my son is taking several honors classes, and he also cannot retake tests or turn things in late without consequences to his grades. I feel like this is good for him and will help him in the long run—though he does have ADHD and it takes him 2-3 hours each night on homework. Projects are hard but we’re working through it.
My question really comes to college admissions, and what people have found as to how colleges view a NOVA Catholic high school that is stricter/more work vs public? His GPA is lower than some of his friends in public school, especially unweighted because he is taking harder classes, and his grades are As and Bs. (Many of friends have all As, some weighted, some not). I know overall they value rigor but he has friends taking several honors classes at the public doing essentially no homework and getting all As. Aka do they view these as apples to apples?
We’ll be staying at the Catholic. The public high school doesn’t make sense because it is large and chaotic, and my son struggled with that a lot in middle. And he’s happy at the Catholic high school, made friends etc.
Privates are going to have lower student/teacher ratios, better recommendation letters from teachers, better college counselor support, better opportunities for EC's... and the list goes on.
The one disadvantage is more rigor. On the whole, applying to colleges is a big advantage coming from a private HS.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 12:04
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:Your kid will be compared to others at his school regarding course options/rigor and grades/GPA.
I hope your distaste for public is kept to yourself. You have a superiority complex while also being incredibly defensive (MY kid only doesn’t have an 8.0 because of his hard school and all kids at public have skated by).
I don't think OP is being defensive - it's factual. I have a kid at a rigorous private and another at a public HS and the difference is stark. One is objectively smarter, has a ton more homework and the other has a a better GPA because of redo's and other lax policies. Maybe you have an inferiority complex?
Anonymous
11/17/2025 12:03
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
The public school kids will get into schools like UVA at a much higher rate because they have all As in rigorous classes. Yes, you will be compared against kids at your Catholic school, but there are kids at your school with all As in the rigorous classes, even if your son isn’t one of them. You just don’t realize yet how well some of the other kids are doing. The good news is that your son will be well prepared for college.
Also, the no homework thing is definitely DEI. The belief is that it is not equitable to grade homework when some kids have to go home after school and mind little siblings or work a part-time job.
Also, the no homework thing is definitely DEI. The belief is that it is not equitable to grade homework when some kids have to go home after school and mind little siblings or work a part-time job.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:31
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Your kid will be compared to others at his school regarding course options/rigor and grades/GPA.
I hope your distaste for public is kept to yourself. You have a superiority complex while also being incredibly defensive (MY kid only doesn’t have an 8.0 because of his hard school and all kids at public have skated by).
I hope your distaste for public is kept to yourself. You have a superiority complex while also being incredibly defensive (MY kid only doesn’t have an 8.0 because of his hard school and all kids at public have skated by).
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:23
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:Students are compared to other students in their school and what that school offers. Every school sends a profile with information about about grade averages/distributions, test score ranges, AP offerings, etc, and most regional reps become familiar with the schools in their area if they receive multiple applications a year from them.
So you don’t need to worry about your son being compared to his public HS friends. They will look at his GPA and the rigor of his transcript compared to what the school offers and how other students at the same school do.
This makes sense. Thank you
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:22
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:If you are comparing advantages of private vs public, there are two sides of this coin. I have one kid in public and one in private. The support at public is so sparse compared to what we see at private. The teacher to student ratio is not optimal either and kids have to work extra hard to get the same support and communication my kid at private gets.
You can't just see things from one side alone and think your side is doomed.
I know all of that and I don’t see my side as “doomed.” It’s just very confusing to me and I am curious about how colleges view it – – that’s all.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:09
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Homework is not an equitable practice and has been largely eliminated or discouraged in DMV public schools.
Wait - you are arguing homework is somehow anti- DEI ?
Not the PP but I infer the PP is saying that homework assignments are not equitable in comparison. For example, different math teachers teaching the same math course in any high school may give different amounts of homework and grade it differently. It's apples to oranges to compare HW within a high school and most definitely across high schools.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:08
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
If you are comparing advantages of private vs public, there are two sides of this coin. I have one kid in public and one in private. The support at public is so sparse compared to what we see at private. The teacher to student ratio is not optimal either and kids have to work extra hard to get the same support and communication my kid at private gets.
You can't just see things from one side alone and think your side is doomed.
You can't just see things from one side alone and think your side is doomed.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:04
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Anonymous wrote:Homework is not an equitable practice and has been largely eliminated or discouraged in DMV public schools.
Wait - you are arguing homework is somehow anti- DEI ?
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:03
Subject: Re:College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Homework is not an equitable practice and has been largely eliminated or discouraged in DMV public schools.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 11:00
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
Students are compared to other students in their school and what that school offers. Every school sends a profile with information about about grade averages/distributions, test score ranges, AP offerings, etc, and most regional reps become familiar with the schools in their area if they receive multiple applications a year from them.
So you don’t need to worry about your son being compared to his public HS friends. They will look at his GPA and the rigor of his transcript compared to what the school offers and how other students at the same school do.
So you don’t need to worry about your son being compared to his public HS friends. They will look at his GPA and the rigor of his transcript compared to what the school offers and how other students at the same school do.
Anonymous
11/17/2025 10:50
Subject: College admissions: GPA and Homework/no homework schools
My kid is a sophomore and at a Catholic high school; he came from public. His public school friends have essentially no homework. I don’t understand and I’ve talked to the parents and they don’t really understand either. I think it’s a post-Covid hang over. It may change as they take more APs later in high school but literally we’re talking many nights with no homework. They get it done in class and retake tests, turn things in late without consequences. And many of them are taking honors classes.
Meanwhile, my son is taking several honors classes, and he also cannot retake tests or turn things in late without consequences to his grades. I feel like this is good for him and will help him in the long run—though he does have ADHD and it takes him 2-3 hours each night on homework. Projects are hard but we’re working through it.
My question really comes to college admissions, and what people have found as to how colleges view a NOVA Catholic high school that is stricter/more work vs public? His GPA is lower than some of his friends in public school, especially unweighted because he is taking harder classes, and his grades are As and Bs. (Many of friends have all As, some weighted, some not). I know overall they value rigor but he has friends taking several honors classes at the public doing essentially no homework and getting all As. Aka do they view these as apples to apples?
We’ll be staying at the Catholic. The public high school doesn’t make sense because it is large and chaotic, and my son struggled with that a lot in middle. And he’s happy at the Catholic high school, made friends etc.
Meanwhile, my son is taking several honors classes, and he also cannot retake tests or turn things in late without consequences to his grades. I feel like this is good for him and will help him in the long run—though he does have ADHD and it takes him 2-3 hours each night on homework. Projects are hard but we’re working through it.
My question really comes to college admissions, and what people have found as to how colleges view a NOVA Catholic high school that is stricter/more work vs public? His GPA is lower than some of his friends in public school, especially unweighted because he is taking harder classes, and his grades are As and Bs. (Many of friends have all As, some weighted, some not). I know overall they value rigor but he has friends taking several honors classes at the public doing essentially no homework and getting all As. Aka do they view these as apples to apples?
We’ll be staying at the Catholic. The public high school doesn’t make sense because it is large and chaotic, and my son struggled with that a lot in middle. And he’s happy at the Catholic high school, made friends etc.