Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts. I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As. Will college admissions people recognize this?

Colleges understand the top high schools pretty intimately.

The regional ADs understand all of their schools pretty intimately.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone with experience doing this knows the answer is "not really."

Yes, they know that NCS or STA is more rigorous than public schools. However, the top schools are only taking 2-3 kids max out of the class, and those kids will either have a hook or be the top students.

Admissions officers know that a 3.7 from a top school means more than a 4.5 from a public school, but they also have a limit on how many students they take per school. They also don't want an incoming class of entirely privileged prep school students.

OP isn't asking about just a handful of colleges though. So for most students, the answer is yes. If you are in the middle or at the bottom of your class in a rigorous school, most colleges do not look at that the same as being in the middle of bottom of a generic (i.e., non magnet) public school class. You aren't getting the nod at top 20, but you will get into better schools than the bottom 25th at a public school, because it's apples and oranges. The kid ranked 45th at a small test-in school is not the same kind of student as the kid ranked 375 at a giant school.

Anonymous wrote:You know what they should do ... they should have tests that are standardized that all students can take, not just general ones but one specific to the subjects in school that they are taking each year. Then you could look at the standardized test scores and then the grades would make more sense and the admissions officers would know how seriously to take them no matter what kind of school they come from.

Unfortunately, the result would be some poors who can't afford private high school would still make it into the elite colleges (horrible and disgusting, I know), but it's a start.

Yeah, and maybe we could call it something like an Advanced Placement Exam. I think 39 subject tests should do the trick.

Anyone with experience doing this knows the answer is "not really."

Yes, they know that NCS or STA is more rigorous than public schools. However, the top schools are only taking 2-3 kids max out of the class, and those kids will either have a hook or be the top students.

Admissions officers know that a 3.7 from a top school means more than a 4.5 from a public school, but they also have a limit on how many students they take per school. They also don't want an incoming class of entirely privileged prep school students.

I wish school profiles were standardized and included all the usual things like curriculum and school demographics. and also things like:

Grade distribution. Is everyone getting an A?
Grade ranges. What is an A? 90? 94?
Test Retakes. Allowed or not.

Anonymous wrote:You know what they should do ... they should have tests that are standardized that all students can take, not just general ones but one specific to the subjects in school that they are taking each year. Then you could look at the standardized test scores and then the grades would make more sense and the admissions officers would know how seriously to take them no matter what kind of school they come from.

Unfortunately, the result would be some poors who can't afford private high school would still make it into the elite colleges (horrible and disgusting, I know), but it's a start.

Love it! Haha!!!! (And thank you)

Public school teacher and mom of two high schoolers here. I believe grades are absolutely inflated, for sure. But I believe that the colleges know that.

And each student has a holistic profile—not just their grades, but the classes they take, their test scores, their activities, essays, etc.

My kids and your kids will be ok, op. Not because of their grades, but because you and I have money to help them, they have been learning from educated parents since they were born. I work in a title I school—many of those students don’t have a fighting chance. It puts a lot into perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bit of a contrarian response here - my two DCs are at what people on DCUM consider a top university and a top LAC. Both went to the same public, which would be considered middle of the road on DCUM. Both went TO. Both econ majors and both just under 4.0. They say they were better prepared for college since they weren’t coddled like their private/prep school friends, and public teacher quality/ curriculum was excellent, with a huge caveat - for the AP classes.

Coddled academically or some other way? Coddled how?

Private school kids are the ones who get to retest if they don’t like their grade. Their academic standards are much higher and I dare say they are coddled, at least academically, less than public school kids.

OP here. I don't know of any private high school that lets kids retake grades. As for the "hyperbolic nonsense," there is one public high school in our city and the graduation rate is very low. There is also a lot of crime and violence. I am told by friends with kid there that colleges consider it an "inner city" school. Many friends have opted for this public v. private because they felt like from a strategic standpoint it would be easier for their kids to get into top colleges and from what I have seen they are right.

I live in Alexandria and this is the exact dynamic. And it always looks bad when the private school parents get bitter about it because they think their kid is entitled to a spot at a top college over the public school kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bit of a contrarian response here - my two DCs are at what people on DCUM consider a top university and a top LAC. Both went to the same public, which would be considered middle of the road on DCUM. Both went TO. Both econ majors and both just under 4.0. They say they were better prepared for college since they weren’t coddled like their private/prep school friends, and public teacher quality/ curriculum was excellent, with a huge caveat - for the AP classes.

Coddled academically or some other way? Coddled how?

Private school kids are the ones who get to retest if they don’t like their grade. Their academic standards are much higher and I dare say they are coddled, at least academically, less than public school kids.

OP here. I don't know of any private high school that lets kids retake grades. As for the "hyperbolic nonsense," there is one public high school in our city and the graduation rate is very low. There is also a lot of crime and violence. I am told by friends with kid there that colleges consider it an "inner city" school. Many friends have opted for this public v. private because they felt like from a strategic standpoint it would be easier for their kids to get into top colleges and from what I have seen they are right.

I doubt that.

Poor public schools usually send noone to a good college. There might be a few of them at good colleges but there are a crap-ton of poor public schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts. I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As. Will college admissions people recognize this?

OP: The question in your topic is totally reasonable. And the answer is affirmative: AOs at elite private schools will be aware of your top private school's curriculum and will assess applicants accordingly.

As for the boldfaced portion above, it's hyperbolic nonsense and it's kind of embarrassing that you'd entertain it.

It's not nonsense. Some public schools truly are like this.

Can confirm. Many high schools have little to no homework and have retakes on the same test. It is supposedly for “mental health “. It does not usually apply to AP classes though. 93% of the local public high school that sends 60% to 4yr college has A-B honor roll. 40% have straight As. 40%. Let that sink in. Less than 5% get into UVA every yr: this is not a top public high school. Yet. So many the A’s. The local top private has 21-23% of the graduating class get accepted to UVa, yet less than 15% of the class has all As(inclusive of A-), though some of the all A kids have no advanced or AP so are not near the top15% when weighted/rigor is accounted for in relative rank.
The median SAT is 200 points different at these schools. The colleges know all of this.

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at top private school. She is an average student and works hard. Her grades (and those of many of her friends) are lower than their public school counterparts. I hear anecdotes from parents at our public school talk about how kids have no homework now and they don't even have to turn in assignments in a timely manner. These kids are getting straight As. Will college admissions people recognize this?

Colleges understand the top high schools pretty intimately.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bit of a contrarian response here - my two DCs are at what people on DCUM consider a top university and a top LAC. Both went to the same public, which would be considered middle of the road on DCUM. Both went TO. Both econ majors and both just under 4.0. They say they were better prepared for college since they weren’t coddled like their private/prep school friends, and public teacher quality/ curriculum was excellent, with a huge caveat - for the AP classes.

Coddled academically or some other way? Coddled how?

Private school kids are the ones who get to retest if they don’t like their grade. Their academic standards are much higher and I dare say they are coddled, at least academically, less than public school kids.

OP here. I don't know of any private high school that lets kids retake grades. As for the "hyperbolic nonsense," there is one public high school in our city and the graduation rate is very low. There is also a lot of crime and violence. I am told by friends with kid there that colleges consider it an "inner city" school. Many friends have opted for this public v. private because they felt like from a strategic standpoint it would be easier for their kids to get into top colleges and from what I have seen they are right.

You didn't choose your kid's school from a strategic standpoint??? Lmao
Sour grapes that you picked wrong.

All publics and many private schools are inflating grades. Our nephew's school allows him to retake a test as many times as it takes to get a higher grade. His high school is noted as a progressive top school with kids getting into top colleges, I wonder why... Our Catholic school allows one retake but all you will get is a 70. I did ask our school about doing retakes to meet the 'times' to match other schools but the Director says the teachers didn't want it, too much work.

yes there is a lack of grade inflation at many private schools. but if there rigor and caliber of peer students are both excellent at your school, your counsellor will be able to steer your kid to apply to those colleges that are "in the know" about your school's rigor and peer community and have seen them thrive in their colleges.

so it shouldn't hurt you if you apply to schools with knowledge of your HS curriculum and community's special merits!

You know what they should do ... they should have tests that are standardized that all students can take, not just general ones but one specific to the subjects in school that they are taking each year. Then you could look at the standardized test scores and then the grades would make more sense and the admissions officers would know how seriously to take them no matter what kind of school they come from.

Unfortunately, the result would be some poors who can't afford private high school would still make it into the elite colleges (horrible and disgusting, I know), but it's a start.