I agree with you. I’ve been mostly researching ways to make things fairer while giving kids the opportunities to learn and really understand the content while making sure their grades actually reflect the level to which they’ve learned the material. If done correctly, it can be the opposite of grade inflation while still giving more kids the opportunity to earn the A. One of the things I like is that it’s motivating kids to continue to try to master the material.
I am with you on the grading and Focus should be on learning.
I still can’t wrap my head around a world in which an UW 4.0 or 3.97 is ordinary or common. At S24’s private high school, the grading rubric includes the intermediate steps (A- and B+). I tend to think that makes a big difference. If he gets an 88 or 89 in Chem (quite likely this year bc the teacher is a tough grader), it’s a B+ that’s he’s going to get. And if he pulls it together for the unit test and gets his average up to a 90, then he’ll get an A- (a 3.67 if you’re computing the traditional 4 point scale).
It’s a lower stakes atmosphere, but it also means that the school and teachers are much more comfortable handing out B+ grades. (In fact the median is a B+). And for what it’s worth, S’s teachers all like him and say he’s doing “well” in his classes.
Assuming he keeps moving in the same direction, S24 will likely have a 3.7 UW average (ballpark) when he applies to college. Mostly A-, a few A grades (Math and Comp Sci), and a sprinkling of B+ grades (History not his strong suit). Since the AP offerings are limited and almost no-one takes them Sophomore year, he will have some AP classes but probably no more than 4-5 total. I’m not sure what that translates into for college admissions offices.
Is anyone else struggling with a “low” GPA that doesn’t seem low in the real world but suddenly feels quite low on social media?
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My S is the same in our highly competitive public school. I had no idea that when you compute your GPA that an A-, A and A+ are all the same for most people who say that they have a 4.0 unweighted. I was wondering who these super kids were! I dont think our HS valedictorian has an UW 4.0
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Having only A,B and so on and not having A-,A+,B+ can be a negative sometimes. I know kids who have 89 in our school who end up getting a B and a 90 get an A and that’s a bit hard for the students. So just as it is easier to get 4.0 it is also easy get a much lower GPA then with + and + being counted. Kids who are in the border like 88/89 feel a lot of pressure to get their grade up to A and it can be stressful.
Colleges usually compare with other kids in your school most of the time so it hopefully evens out overall.
I hope you’re right, because here’s the crazy thing:
Imagine two kids who get 90 in every single class. Student X goes to a school with intermediate grading. His UW GPA is a 3.67.
Student Y attends a school with no intermediate grading. His UW GPA is a 4.0.
That seems like a huge gap.
My kids aren’t at a private school, but their HS uses traditional grading - the only exception is that there is no A+. 93+ is an A, 90-93 is A-, 87-89 is B+ and so on. Anything below a 90 is certainly not an A of any kind. For what it is worth, my older son (class of 2022) has 3.65 UW gpa and a 4.10 W. He will have taken 4 APs - 2 last year and 2 this year. His school doesn’t offer AP courses before junior year. He is applying to schools in the 50-80 range in terms USNW ranking - primarily bigger schools as he wasn’t interested in smaller LACs. Those schools are a match for a kid with his stats.
Thank you! I never knew this and was sort of giving up hope if all these kids had perfect GPAs. My son’s school gives number grades: a 97 is still an A+ but it certainly isn’t a 4.0.
Good luck! Your son sounds a lot like mine. He also dislikes LACs - wants a mid-size or large university. His interests fall anywhere between USNW 30-80. I really hope the big schools understand and take account of the different grading systems.
Yes me too. I hope the universities are considering this when they say they do. Like I said it goes both ways so hopefully they will do it.
And even more than the + and - in the grades there any many more factors that go in like in some schools getting an A is very easy vs. other schools. I have seen schools where people get an easy A as long as they attend school and do HW/Classwork to get an A and the weightage for the Test/Final is very low.
I have heard/read that if a university is familiar with your school and they have data on how students from your school perform once they join the chances of you getting in are higher compared to a school they don’t have a clue about as it increases the unknown especially with no standardized testing if all other things seem same.
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Thanks!
I think that this is where it helps if the school counselor talks to/exchanges emails with/communicates with the admissions department at the college/university. For example, the counselor can explain the high school’s curriculum, etc. to the admissions officer.
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The world where 3.9-4.0 unweighted GPA is a normal world if students are applying to highly rejective schools. That’s just the reality. I mean, in what world is it normal for students to be winning awards at a global level or doing research at a national institute but for those schools, it’s not abnormal and even those kids get rejected.
That said, GPA isn’t everything with highly rejective colleges (as the case with my S21). They look at everything. If a kid has a 3.86 UW GPA, maybe that 36 ACT kinda evens it out. If grades and test scores aren’t at their top 10%tile then the extra curriculars have to be meaningful. Or the display of passion for something comes across in the LORs and essays. That, to me, is the best criteria they could emphasize because it gives kids the reason to want to do things outside of the classroom (which is easier for kids who don’t have the burden of other responsibilities). That’s why you see the range of accepted GPA and scores.
There are plenty of great LACs, public universities that have 3.5-3.7’s as top 25th%tile. However, when you’re talking about top 20, the high GPA and scores are just the reality. And the reality is, even those kids get rejected.
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When people are first on CC it can be very disconcerting because you suddenly get the impression that if your kid doesn’t have a 3.8+ UW gpa, 20 APs and hasn’t discovered a cure for cancer over the summer then they are finished. In reality, there are lots of schools where students don’t need credentials like that, but they aren’t the focus for a lot of people on this particular site.
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Agreed. I’ve been talking to my daughter a lot about the various schools available and how the one she has her sights set on may not be the best one for her. Especially since she wants to go because her brother may get in. The school that is best for her brother may not be perfect for HER!
On the grade front… she got A’s on her last two Chemistry assignments so it’s looking like her final Chem grade will be an A (89.63). I’m just glad we’ve gotten her out of his class for the next semester. She worked so incredibly hard for that score. I feel really badly for all the kids in that class (who also understand all the material) but don’t get the A that reflects it. And I know there are probably a lot of them. One of her table-mates in that class has really strict parents who punish him for anything less than A’s. I don’t know him or them, but I’m tempted to tell my daughter to text the boy and let him know I’m willing to talk to his parents and tell them what I know if he didn’t get the A and gets in trouble. But I also know that would just be an overreach and a bandaid solution on a much bigger issue.
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Glad your daughter was able pull in the A. In regards to the other student its is sad to see some one get punished for not getting all A’s. Don’t get me wrong we do expect my son to work hard and finish work on time but punishing for one B when we know the teacher grades hard seems harsh.
I have had to remove privileges like no screen time for a week (in middle school) when we see him slack off and it starts showing up in his grade. This is to make sure he develops the right work ethic more than anything. This approach has worked for us and he has been much better in high school so far.
I think punishing a kid for a disappointing grade (and when did a “B” become a bad grade) is a terrible way to motivate them. Of course, if they aren’t doing the work, passing in late assignments, watching videos instead of studying etc that is a different matter. Sometimes a “B” is the result of hard work, depending on the kid and the class. This kind of thinking also puts a premium on performance instead of effort or learning and can lead to cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty in an effort get the “right” grade.
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Not only CC but it is like that in real life also in our school district. Around 40% of the kids T50. So it does get stressful and competitive sometimes. Hard to take a step back and think that there are many more great options out there.
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I’ve definitely chewed my kids out a few times for grades, but it’s always for things like missing assignments or not trying. My kids know that a missing assignment is guaranteed to bring down the wrath of mom.
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My only rules with S are: (a) always hand in work on time (unless approved extension); (b) meet with teacher before a test if you are confused, (c) meet with teacher after a test if you receive disappointing results, and (d) always do test corrections, especially if they will bump up your grade. I would never punish him for a B (or lower) grade and in any event, a B+ grade at his school is usually pretty good.
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