Have consistently heard from colleges that rigor is essential. We were instructed that many top schools want to see you taking the most challenging schedule possible and you won’t be penalized if your school doesn’t offer the same amount of options as other schools as long as taking what you can.
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They do see the rigor. Particularly the highly rated public schools.
I was told explicitly by an AO at NCSU that they are required to take students from all 50 NC counties and if they just looked at stats, most kids would come from Wake, Mecklenburg and Chapel Hill school districts. Public and private unis should not be confused.
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My kids are at private schools with grade deflation, and I worry about the same. Historically, schools were aware of this reputation but now with the widespread use of p/t readers, I worry.
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Point of order: Grade inflation isn’t as big a phenomenon as conventional wisdom would have it. Reviews of actual high school grade assignment show a real but only small increase in high school grades over the past several decades.
So the idea that 4.0 (or even close to 4.0) students are non-noteworthy these days because they’re so much more common than they used to be is a matter of perception triumphing over reality. (Also, it’s a good reminder that neither the parents nor the students on CC are anywhere close to representative of the general population.)
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At some of the schools near us, more than one third of the class has a 4.0. Others, not so much.
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Same. Our high school does not weight and grade inflation is minimal, though probably somewhat present over the decades. I read here on CC about high schools where they don’t use plus/minus so a 91 or 92 average is a 4.0. No wonder there are so many 4.0s! And on CC you see comments saying, well, a 3.7 isn’t good enough…when it is also an A minus and would be a 4.0 elsewhere. In our school a 4.0 is very rare, often zero grads per year, maybe one or two max. If an A minus were a 4.0 my kid would have a 4.0. He’d be penalized at some of the auto merit schools. Sad!
ETA: the kids with A minus averages do just fine in admissions!
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This is incorrect as it applies to CA state schools (UCs and CSUs). The UCs use 13 criteria in evaluating applications. The UC GPAs are calculated using 10th and 11th grades. As @tamagotchi stated, the UCs evaluate all three UC GPAs. Courses taken all four years, and the difference between the GPAs, indicates a level of rigor.
Colleges, especially the UCs, are looking to admit students who are academically prepared to attend their university. Gaming the system to try to inflate one number (ie. GPA) will likely backfire.
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Not everyone has a 4.0 (or near 4.0) GPA, of course, but those who apply to many highly selective colleges often do. That increase in the number of students with 4.0 (or near 4.0) GPAs, how ever incremental generally, is overwhelming for these highly selective colleges.
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Less competitive state schools - like U of Arizona for example - a 4.0 gets you top merit. A 3.9 2nd best. A 3.75 - 3.9 3rd best.
It’s unweighted - so getting As is all that matters. As long as you do the minimum classes, nothing else matters.
That’s probably one of the many you are talking about…
But no doubt rigor matters for the top schools.
Not in our county. Maybe everyone is just smart. 
Perhaps they’ve always grade inflated so it’s not running rampant vs. the past.
Again and yes I graduated in 1986, my 2nd quintile 2.8 would probably be thrown into alternative school today
I absolutely believe in today’s world there is rampant grade inflation although I’m not everywhere and I do know the CC is a small slice of real life.
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The only way a school like NCSU or UNC can take a lot of kids from rural/low income counties here in NC is if they make the process holistic and then use whatever criteria they can to justify inclusion/exclusion.
Frankly, I have no issue with this process. It is what it is. All I am saying is that be aware of how the school evaluates your applicant IF you can.
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gotcha - there’s no question certain counties have advantages economically which of course contributes to the true worthiness of students.
btw - it’s these same counties that OOS schools have been “accused” of marketing to - not the rural, lower performing.
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Because they know a lot of very solid kids will not get into UNC and NCSU. And their parents might just agree to pay $45K/year to send them to a school OOS over state directionals.
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For other readers/sharing info:
- DS2022 was accepted to Northwestern RD without an interview (even though he requested one, they didn’t have enough interviewers);
they said it wouldn’t be counted negatively towards his application.
(DS2022 was also accepted to Northeastern main campus EA)
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What exactly is a “directional” school? I see this term tossed around a lot but I’m not sure what it means. Here in CA we have lots of state schools but I haven’t heard any referred to as “directionals.”
Directional term is used because typically they have a compass direction in their name
Like Northern Illinois State or Western Kentucky University. Those colleges were typically formed to manage a more regional student base. Often a high percentage of commuters. Some have evolved but others still are more regionally aligned.
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In Illinois, we have UIUC (the state flagship) and then we have Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, etc (which are the directional state schools). It is a shorthand for the non-flagship state colleges and universities which often have a literal direction as part of their name.
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Jinx! 
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Your directionals are like Cal State Channel Islands, Cal State San Marcos, etc.
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