Anonymous
05/31/2026 15:47
Subject: is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
Anonymous wrote:Everyone in the college admissions game knows that high school GPA has become a nearly worthless measure of academic achievement. Social promotion/ disguised affirmative action at low performing public high schools and rampant grade inflation in suburban public high schools have destroyed the information content in high school GPA.
Unless confirmed by a high SAT/ACT score and/or multiple 5s obtained on AP tests, high school grades are worthless. Your “weighted 5.0/ unweighted 4.0 with high rigor” does not impress anybody.
Admissions offers at the most competitive schools know that only the standardized test record reveals academic quality.
Not exactly true. You are still compared to your classmates with same school policies and there are still stark differences. SAT scores are also inflated and folks spend a lot of money to prep and learn the test. AOs know the schools well and adjust accordingly.
Anonymous
05/31/2026 15:43
Subject: is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
We are at a public that allows retakes. I’m not sure how I feel. Definitely less pressure than my older private school kid. But essays are in class only and kid is very anti “AI slop” as I am hearing a lot of kids are. Perhaps a limit on # of retakes is the answer. Don’t kill your gpa bc you had a late sport event but don’t use it as an excuse to take everything twice. I will say kid took almost every AP calc test twice (only allowed one retake per test) and was really in a stressful hole all year that had trouble getting out of. So it’s not all roses. Will see how college goes.
Anonymous
05/31/2026 14:08
Subject: is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
Everyone in the college admissions game knows that high school GPA has become a nearly worthless measure of academic achievement. Social promotion/ disguised affirmative action at low performing public high schools and rampant grade inflation in suburban public high schools have destroyed the information content in high school GPA.
Unless confirmed by a high SAT/ACT score and/or multiple 5s obtained on AP tests, high school grades are worthless. Your “weighted 5.0/ unweighted 4.0 with high rigor” does not impress anybody.
Admissions offers at the most competitive schools know that only the standardized test record reveals academic quality.
Unless confirmed by a high SAT/ACT score and/or multiple 5s obtained on AP tests, high school grades are worthless. Your “weighted 5.0/ unweighted 4.0 with high rigor” does not impress anybody.
Admissions offers at the most competitive schools know that only the standardized test record reveals academic quality.
Anonymous
05/31/2026 14:04
Subject: is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is making a high GPA less impressive.
This ^^
It also should be making schools prefer the kids who strong, but not perfect.
Anonymous
05/31/2026 14:01
Subject: is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
Anonymous wrote:It has all but confirmed low GPAs are almost idiots.
Not at real schools.
Anonymous
05/31/2026 12:19
Subject: is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
Anonymous wrote:The valedictorian of my high school class went on to U Chicago; he didn't have an unweighted 4.0. Neither, obviously, did the lower-ranked students who attended Duck, UPenn, Swarthmore , Brown and other top schools that I've now forgotten.
Similarly, our valedictorian had a 1500 SAT, the highest in our class.
All of that is table stakes today. My son has a 4.0/1500 and it guarantees him nothing.
But here's the problem: when the top end of the GPA/SAT distribution is capped off through grade inflation, GPA/SAT are no longer meaningful signals for admissions officers and so they have to rely on other factors, extracurriculars, essays, and so forth.
This is SO harmful in my view: first, kids have to spend so much time chasing these activities outside of class that they can't just be kids anymore. And second, it increases their stress levels, because their chances of admission are dictated by subjective factors. We try to tell them that college admissions isn't a judgment on their worth as a human being, but when admissions are decided by all these subjective factors about yourself then to a large degree colleges ARE judging your worth as a human being rather than your achievement as a student.
Get rid of GPA/SAT inflation and life becomes simpler for students.
Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is making a high GPA less impressive.
no end to the rat race
Anonymous
04/21/2026 13:16
Subject: Re:is AI making a high GPA less impressive?
bump