Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA sends about 20 percent of its class to Ivies, 20 percent to top ranked SLACS, and about 20 percent of its class to Chicago and Tulane.

And so the other 40% goes to these schools based on STA's website

Auburn, Babson, BC, BU, BYU, Univ. of British Columbia, Bucknell, Berkeley, UCLA, CMU, Case Western, Catholic, Clemson, Colgate, College of Charleston, Univ of CO, Conn College, Denison, Drew, Fordham, Elon, Georgia Tech, Hillsdale, Indiana U, Kentucky, Lehigh, LSU, Univ of MD, Miami U, Univ. of Miami, UMich, Montgomery College Morehouse, Mt. St. Mary's, The New School, NYU, UNC, Northeastern, Ohio Wesleyan, Penn State, Pitt, Providence, RPI, RI School of Design, RIT, Santa Clara, Shepherd, USC, SMU, Univ. of St. Andrews, St. John's, Syracuse, UT, Trinity, Tufts, Vermont, UVA, Wake Forrest, Whittier, Whitworth, Univ. of WI, College of Wooster, WPT

The STA list doesn't look that different from lists at other schools except that it doesn't say how many kids have enrolled at these schools in the past 5 years. According to you, about 80 kids from STA have enrolled at Ivies in the past 5 years (20% of class). If that's true, STA should publish that info. I think people would want to know. I wonder why they don't...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:STA sends about 20 percent of its class to Ivies, 20 percent to top ranked SLACS, and about 20 percent of its class to Chicago and Tulane.

And so the other 40% goes to these schools based on STA's website

Auburn, Babson, BC, BU, BYU, Univ. of British Columbia, Bucknell, Berkeley, UCLA, CMU, Case Western, Catholic, Clemson, Colgate, College of Charleston, Univ of CO, Conn College, Denison, Drew, Fordham, Elon, Georgia Tech, Hillsdale, Indiana U, Kentucky, Lehigh, LSU, Univ of MD, Miami U, Univ. of Miami, UMich, Montgomery College Morehouse, Mt. St. Mary's, The New School, NYU, UNC, Northeastern, Ohio Wesleyan, Penn State, Pitt, Providence, RPI, RI School of Design, RIT, Santa Clara, Shepherd, USC, SMU, Univ. of St. Andrews, St. John's, Syracuse, UT, Trinity, Tufts, Vermont, UVA, Wake Forrest, Whittier, Whitworth, Univ. of WI, College of Wooster, WPT

The STA list doesn't look that different from lists at other schools except that it doesn't say how many kids have enrolled at these schools in the past 5 years. According to you, about 80 kids from STA have enrolled at Ivies in the past 5 years (20% of class). If that's true, STA should publish that info. I think people would want to know. I wonder why they don't...

Anonymous wrote:STA sends about 20 percent of its class to Ivies, 20 percent to top ranked SLACS, and about 20 percent of its class to Chicago and Tulane.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Parents at big 3 schools definitely don’t realize how important it is to stick to colleges and universities that have developed a relationship with the high school counselor. Only those schools will give these applications the attention to overcome the disparities in gpa between public and private. True grade deflation is not a rigor practice. Depressing grades is as manipulative and deceptive as grade inflation.

Please speak to the manipulative and deceptive nature of depressing grades...

Bumping this. Just what do you mean by that, PP ?

It is unrealistic to expect college admissions offices to pay attention to strange, atypical grade distributions from private schools. No college admissions officer cares about Big 3 schools enough to prioritize their grads over other area privates. They will get overlooked for scholarships and admissions if their grading practices vary widely from other comparable schools. Colleges do not recognize “big 3”. They treat all our area privates the same.

I don't have a kid at NCS/Sidwell/St. Albans, but you're kidding yourself if you think that a 4.0 at Edmund Burke or Maret is the same as a 4.0 from St. Albans--or frankly, as even the same as a 3.5. I mean, any college, at all. They all know those three schools and know how rigorous the standards at those schools are compared to other area privates. I would say Potomac and Holton come in close 2nds, then the rest (and let's just say I have kids at what I would consider the "coming in 2nd).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Honestly, at some point, if what you are saying is true about Big 3 kids being disadvantaged is true, it will ruin the business model of these schools, and they will be forced to change. No one is going to pay 45K+ for the chance to lose out to public school kids of grading differences. The education is often really good but not that good.

The education is great. Full stop. But not playing the grade inflation game, when everyone is playing it, hurts college admissions chances. Full stop.

I wish more people would use "Full stop" in threads. Full stop. It really adds significance and intelligence to a thread. Full stop. I plan to use it liberally. Full stop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone I’ve heard from is basically not getting in where they thought they would due in part to a lot more applicants than expected.

I think it has more to do with test optional. Let’s all those grade inflators (public schools) benefit and those grade deflators (big 3) get hurt. I predict worst college placement for the Cathedral schools as their insistence on not inflating grades like everyone else will hurt their students in a way that they will reconsider their anemic approach to giving an A.

Honestly, at some point, if what you are saying is true about Big 3 kids being disadvantaged is true, it will ruin the business model of these schools, and they will be forced to change. No one is going to pay 45K+ for the chance to lose out to public school kids of grading differences. The education is often really good but not that good.

The education is great. Full stop. But not playing the grade inflation game, when everyone is playing it, hurts college admissions chances. Full stop.

Anonymous wrote:Actually it depends on each applicant and his/ her individual accomplishments and potential.

Anonymous wrote:It all comes down to each school’s relationships with the colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is great deflation at private schools. The defenders of the practice say that it is intellectually honest and ultimately college admissions recognize and even reward such rigor. If you are talking about an Ivy or school that can actually spend quality time to absorb an application and engage in a "holistic" process (e.g., SLACs), I agree. The problem arises for students who desire to attend large state universities. The OOS slots are limited in the first place. They are flooded by a sea of applicants. Admissions needs some way to stem the tide, and they take a very black and white approach to culling the herd -- based on GPA and class rank. In normal times, a Big 3 kid who was not in the top ten percent and with a GPA of 3.5 (i.e., the vast majority of the class) had a fighting chance because he/she often had a high standardized test score to balance out the picture. Without these scores now, most 3.5 applicants are quickly tossed aside.

It will be a brutal year for Big 3 college admissions.

Parents at big 3 schools definitely don’t realize how important it is to stick to colleges and universities that have developed a relationship with the high school counselor. Only those schools will give these applications the attention to overcome the disparities in gpa between public and private. True grade deflation is not a rigor practice. Depressing grades is as manipulative and deceptive as grade inflation.

Please speak to the manipulative and deceptive nature of depressing grades...

Bumping this. Just what do you mean by that, PP ?

It is unrealistic to expect college admissions offices to pay attention to strange, atypical grade distributions from private schools. No college admissions officer cares about Big 3 schools enough to prioritize their grads over other area privates. They will get overlooked for scholarships and admissions if their grading practices vary widely from other comparable schools. Colleges do not recognize “big 3”. They treat all our area privates the same.

I don't have a kid at NCS/Sidwell/St. Albans, but you're kidding yourself if you think that a 4.0 at Edmund Burke or Maret is the same as a 4.0 from St. Albans--or frankly, as even the same as a 3.5. I mean, any college, at all. They all know those three schools and know how rigorous the standards at those schools are compared to other area privates. I would say Potomac and Holton come in close 2nds, then the rest (and let's just say I have kids at what I would consider the "coming in 2nd).