What else to expect if most high schools give out A’s like candies? In their efforts to differentiate themselves, these kids’ first reaction would be to take courses like the APs for both rigor and potentially higher weighted GPAs. The same with test scores. After their scales have been “re-centered” a few times, high test scores can no longer differentiate among top students.
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My son applied EA to all colleges on his list. Do these colleges require to see midyear transcripts??
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Most of the EA decisions are out. University of Florida and UConn are the only ones I can think of that are remaining.
EA colleges will want to see mid-year transcripts only for deferred applicants, and they would likely say so in the deferral letter.
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Many do, but his guidance counselor should upload the mid year transcript to the Common App and any schools that want it will download it from there. If he applies to schools using applications other than the Common App, he should check what the school wants.
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i know. back when i was in high school, a kid like that would be amazing!! it would have almost been unheard of. but now . . . a dime a dozen. I dont think kids are any smarter than before - just have focused on things differently.
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No - it’s as @1NJParent said - grade inflation is beyond rampant.
Look how many kids write on here - is my life over - I got a B.
I imean I had less than a 3.0 in high school and was still in the second quintile.
Today - they’d have me in alternative high school.
It’s totally a new world - grade inflation. That’s where the 4.0 comes from - 100%, absoluately.
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So unless the college requests the midyear, there’s no point in sharing less than stellar midyear transcript to schools that accepted my son, right? I understand if he’s deferred, he’ll need to send transcript.
Unless you are asked, it won’t matter good or bad.
You can look at each school’s admission website - but certainly EA schools will not want it.
If you are deferred or WL, they will then ask for it.
My kids goes to, and I teach at, a school that does not grade inflate. My son is in the top few in his class with an unweighted 3.75 and a weighted 4.65, which shows you the level of rigor available. I worry that it disadvantages our students. I hope colleges really look at the school report.
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I imagine it would hurt with merit money at auto merits - an Alabama, Arizona, Murray State type.
But the reality is the kids from these schools aren’t going to those schools.
Hopefully the students there are ending up at schools they deserve. I’m sure the GCs work to this.
What weighting system are they using ? A 4.65 on 3.75 would be highly unlikely if using the .5 homors, +1 ap.
I wish my kids didn’t have 3.95+. Smart kids but didn’t work that hard. Weren’t challenged…in a top district.
My DD’s school does not grade inflate. They have no bonuses, math AP classes do not give credit or grades for homework, grades are solely based on exam grades which affects the kids tremendously. B is common in upper level math classes such as AP calculus and AP stats at our school. Also our state just implemented a new law that standardized high school state exam results have to now be incorporated into class grades which has made people upset since it’s unfair compared to the rest of the country. I Our public school county is super competitive and one of the best in the country.
We weight honors, AP, and dual enrollment +1. Most of my sons high school classes have been dual enrollment as he’s in the most rigorous math and language track. He has very few just honors classes on his transcript and very few unweighted As… art, intro to programming, etc… are his only unweighted As. He’ll graduate high school with his AA.
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Spring start is very common at large schools. Many kids graduate in Dec for various reasons. Some take longer, some do coops, some do study abroad etc. Just as an example, NCSU admits over 600 students each spring. However, kids admitted in spring (or summer) are usually those that are not considered top candidates by the school. So, in some schools, opportunities might be limited. All larger schools around here have multiple admitted students days and orientations. Clubs and organizations have both fall and spring open houses. Not sure how Greek life works but that has never been on our radar.
So, if the school is a top contender then I’d be happy with a spring admission.
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This may come as a surprise to some but more and more schools, particularly state schools, are not looking at weighted GPA to make the admissions process more equitable. This was news to me. In which case, taking regular classes and getting As is a far better option than making that GPA suffer by attempting honors, AP, IB.
I think that is crazy but hey, everything seems to be crazy in admissions now. Like @roycroftmom said on another thread, it is becoming more and more a lottery.
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My understanding is that admissions office just recalculate gpa based on their own scale. So they still do a weighting, but they calculate it to make it standardized. They absolutely do look at the rigor of classes.
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Depends on the school. I think all CA publics have stopped doing this. I am pretty sure NC State is no longer doing it, or using a scale that weighs UW GPA far more.
I have to grade my grad students somewhat subjectively (as in, there are no multiple choice questions or any written tests actually). I haven’t even met one of my students yet and she is writing me freaking out over how to get an A in my class. I tell them point blank that in my class, effort does not equal competency.
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I think CA schools do their own weighting and capped (there’s a limit to the number of AP course they’ll apply the weight to), right?
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I am not sure but someone from CA might be able to provide a better answer. But the basic premise remains the same. Find out how the college your kid is applying to handles rigor.
Yes, CA publics recalculate GPA.
UCs look at unweighted, weighted capped (maximum of 8 semesters weighted), and weighted uncapped.
Courses are only weighted if they are approved as Honors by UC (for in state students), or AP or IB (for out of state students). OOS school-designated Honors courses aren’t weighted.
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