Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 13:15     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:I went to school in France. We have a different education system. We are graded out of 20. Anyone who gets 16+/20 in some of the core subjects physics, chemistry, math and philosophy is considered a GENIUS.

I can't count the number of times my kids came home with perfect score here in the US lol.

I don't necessarily think the system is broken, I just feel like in the US if you deserve a 100 the teacher gives you a 100. Whereas in France, you are going to be known in the entire grade if you score 17 or 18 out of 20 in physics or math.


That reminds me of a Youtube video I saw comparing French grading to American. In the skit, the French teacher told the American student that “18 is for students. 19 is for teachers. 20 is for God.”
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 19:12     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
I went to school in France. We have a different education system. We are graded out of 20. Anyone who gets 16+/20 in some of the core subjects physics, chemistry, math and philosophy is considered a GENIUS.

I can't count the number of times my kids came home with perfect score here in the US lol.

I don't necessarily think the system is broken, I just feel like in the US if you deserve a 100 the teacher gives you a 100. Whereas in France, you are going to be known in the entire grade if you score 17 or 18 out of 20 in physics or math.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 11:30     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There are two different parts of your brain school requires you to use; one part is for math and science, while another is for English and history. The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.[i][u]

Since K-12 and the SAT encompass both areas, 4.0s and perfect scores should be impossible. This means the quality of education in the world is very poor.


Where in the world did you get that stupid idea?



I think there are some really misguided parents who tell their kids that "everyone has strengths and weaknesses and it all balances out." simply untrue.

There are SO MANY straight A, perfect or near perfect SAT people at T5 schools. Many many many. People who have taken all sorts of classes and never gotten less than an A in them.

I'm not one (I'm a 99th percentile test taker who got plenty of bad grades), but my brother, husband, and many close friends are in this category, and when you talk to them, you realize there is actually nothing they can't process and reason through.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 11:27     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:There are two different parts of your brain school requires you to use; one part is for math and science, while another is for English and history. The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.[i][u]

Since K-12 and the SAT encompass both areas, 4.0s and perfect scores should be impossible. This means the quality of education in the world is very poor.


Where in the world did you get that stupid idea?
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 07:14     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There are two different parts of your brain school requires you to use; one part is for math and science, while another is for English and history. The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.

Since K-12 and the SAT encompass both areas, 4.0s and perfect scores should be impossible. This means the quality of education in the world is very poor.


Have you never met smart people before?

My husband is this, he went to MIT and he both has an incredible memory (for subjects like history) and incredible processing skills (for math and physics).


90% of people will never have more than a brief a conversation with a 99%ile IQ person.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 07:07     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:Disagree with your premise. One of my kids was near perfect and he just has a curiosity for things so he reads a lot of non fiction. And he likes the Instagram reels with tips and tricks for the SAT. I’m pretty sure that’s all it took for him. His English was the perfect score even though he’s more interested in math and science and will major in engineering.

He’s at a top private and doesn’t know anyone in his class with a perfect score.

As for perfect gpa, kids are smarter than we were. They have access to more information delivered on more platforms. He can listen to podcasts about US history forever, he could have probably scored a 5 on the AP class without taking the class. He can look up chemistry tutorials 24/7. When we hit a wall in high school chemistry, that was it. They can get information and move on.


Smart kids are more knowledgeable now, not smarter.
Your kids know more than Isaac Newton did, but Newton was smarter.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 07:04     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Someone writing "The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken." is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 07:03     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There are two different parts of your brain school requires you to use; one part is for math and science, while another is for English and history. The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.

Since K-12 and the SAT encompass both areas, 4.0s and perfect scores should be impossible. This means the quality of education in the world is very poor.


This is like saying that if your left arm is strong your right must be weak so pull ups should be impossible.



+1. There's no reason that one area being strong means the other is weak. That's just not how it works.


Maybe not but when people excel at a certain skill it’s because their brain has what it takes. Artists have better spatial intelligence than the non-artist. Scans of artists brains show that the artist group have more grey matter in the area of the brain called the precuneus in the parietal lobe.

Yes but they don't have below average verbal intelligence than the non-artist.


Please tell us more about average verbal intelligence than you
Anonymous
Post 02/02/2026 06:29     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
OP, yes people are not perfectly balanced and have strengths and weaknesses. However, that does not mean that one person’s weaker area can not surpass other strengths.

Look at an IQ bell curve. The people with perfect scores are probably the same number of standard deviations away from you as you are from the far left of the scale. Before you get upset you are probably within one standard deviation from the norm.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 07:47     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
They also make it too easy to apply to too many schools. Back in the Stone Age, everyone had to write custom essays, type out applications by hand, and pay per application. Same for the recommendations, scores, and school contributions. Everything was done by snail mail. So applications were generally self-limiting. Most people did six or fewer. I did two, and if I hadn’t gotten in to my top choice early, I had three more forms sitting there waiting to be done over Christmas break. That process in and of itself distributed the top students more evenly throughout the top schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 07:35     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:Disagree with your premise. One of my kids was near perfect and he just has a curiosity for things so he reads a lot of non fiction. And he likes the Instagram reels with tips and tricks for the SAT. I’m pretty sure that’s all it took for him. His English was the perfect score even though he’s more interested in math and science and will major in engineering.

He’s at a top private and doesn’t know anyone in his class with a perfect score.

As for perfect gpa, kids are smarter than we were. They have access to more information delivered on more platforms. He can listen to podcasts about US history forever, he could have probably scored a 5 on the AP class without taking the class. He can look up chemistry tutorials 24/7. When we hit a wall in high school chemistry, that was it. They can get information and move on.


Ooh- can you recommend a good us history podcast?
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2026 00:55     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:“ The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.”

Where did you come up with this? There is no neuroscience basis for this assertion.

While I do believe that both standardized testing and grading have been made easier, there really are some kids who excel. I went to a very competitive private school in the 90s that had loads of homework and very strenuous grading standards. Every year there would be 2-3 kids in a class of 70-75 who would earn 4.0s and score 1600s.


I did my undergraduate degree in chemistry and my graduate degree in history. But of course that's impossible, right?

The high school curriculum is completely introductory. While I'd agree with you that there's a lot of grade inflation and that they've dumbed down the SAT, there's no reason that an intelligent person couldn't learn both single variable calculus and history. If they got rid of grade inflation there would still be students with 4.0 GPAs--just not as many of them.

What graduate school did you go to that was so desperate for tuition $$$ that they accepted someone without a history background? Or did you double major?
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2026 00:54     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There are two different parts of your brain school requires you to use; one part is for math and science, while another is for English and history. The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.

Since K-12 and the SAT encompass both areas, 4.0s and perfect scores should be impossible. This means the quality of education in the world is very poor.


This is like saying that if your left arm is strong your right must be weak so pull ups should be impossible.



+1. There's no reason that one area being strong means the other is weak. That's just not how it works.


Maybe not but when people excel at a certain skill it’s because their brain has what it takes. Artists have better spatial intelligence than the non-artist. Scans of artists brains show that the artist group have more grey matter in the area of the brain called the precuneus in the parietal lobe.

Yes but they don't have below average verbal intelligence than the non-artist.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 19:02     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There are two different parts of your brain school requires you to use; one part is for math and science, while another is for English and history. The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.

Since K-12 and the SAT encompass both areas, 4.0s and perfect scores should be impossible. This means the quality of education in the world is very poor.


Have you never met smart people before?

My husband is this, he went to MIT and he both has an incredible memory (for subjects like history) and incredible processing skills (for math and physics).


Smart people at MIT or Harvard all have weaknesses. An incredible memory has nothing to do with excelling in history.
Anonymous
Post 01/28/2026 17:44     Subject: The fact that there are students with 4.0s and perfect SAT scores is proof that the education system is broken.
Anonymous wrote:“ The stronger one part is, the correspondingly weaker the other part is, and vice versa.”

Where did you come up with this? There is no neuroscience basis for this assertion.

While I do believe that both standardized testing and grading have been made easier, there really are some kids who excel. I went to a very competitive private school in the 90s that had loads of homework and very strenuous grading standards. Every year there would be 2-3 kids in a class of 70-75 who would earn 4.0s and score 1600s.


I did my undergraduate degree in chemistry and my graduate degree in history. But of course that's impossible, right?

The high school curriculum is completely introductory. While I'd agree with you that there's a lot of grade inflation and that they've dumbed down the SAT, there's no reason that an intelligent person couldn't learn both single variable calculus and history. If they got rid of grade inflation there would still be students with 4.0 GPAs--just not as many of them.