Why are some schools so easy?!?!

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I go to one of the most competitive high schools in the province (I'm from Canada) and we have some grade deflation issues, especially in the advanced courses. Our classes are all really hard too. Even the regular academic classes in my school are WAY harder than they are in other schools. And the worst part is, Ontario universities don't even care about the reputation of your school or course rigor. It SUCKS. So if I get like 93 avg in grade 12, I might lose my spot in a school to someone who had a 95 with all bird classes.</p>

<p>And why is school in America so easy?? I know people that moved there and their marks jumped up like crazy! It's just not fair, I don't know what I should do. If I apply to US universities, will they know about my school's rigor and reputation? And will they care or will they do the same thing as Ontario universities? </p>

<p>It really makes me feel bad when I work my butt off for a good mark at my school and someone else in another school is getting higher marks than me without doing much work at all. :/</p>

2

<p>we americans are idiots what can i say</p>

3

<p>don’t deride the bird classes please :(.</p>

4

<p>Why not? It’s not fair. :confused: I know that US schools do weighted GPA so if you have harder classes it will be higher, but over here all of the levels of difficulty are on the same scale so I’m probably not even in the top 10% of my class.</p>

5

<p>Not all American schools are easy… I had an APUSH test last week, the kid ranked 1 in our school got a 91, the 2 got an 88 and I (somewhere around 20) got a 79. That class is hard as hell.</p>

6

<p>Not all U.S. schools weight grades. Mine doesn’t.</p>

7

<p>The highest grades in our AP classes are generally A-'s. I know in our school’s AP Calc class, almost every kid has a C.</p>

8

<p>Sorry, I should have made it clear that I was talking about schools where I know people. I know you guys have a lot of really hard schools too. Do universities recognize that?</p>

9

<p>The weighting system is basically just for class rank (so kids in low classes aren’t ranked higher than those in AP because it’s easier). The amount if inflation/deflation really varies from school to school. The vast majority of schools are pretty easy (but then again, they don’t send many kids at all to top schools). Top colleges definitely recognize this if they have a history of sending a lot of kids to top schools which is usually the case. In a school like yours which they may be unfamiliar with, grade deflation may not be as obvious.</p>

10

<p>Bite your tongue. You wouldn’t say my American school was easy if you were here for even less than a day.</p>

11

<p>@Leftyy, attend Stuyvesant High school or one of the top high schools in California, and see if you are still making the same remarks.</p>

12

<p>Again, see my post above. I realized I never pointed out that I was talking about schools where I know people. Sorry the misunderstanding lol I know there are lots of really challenging schools in the US.</p>

13

<p>They’re not all easy, I go to one of the most competitive private schools in the USA and it’s very hard.</p>

14

<p>That’s why we have standardized tests, so colleges can compare people from hard high schools to people from easy high schools. If you apply to American colleges you will probably be required to take the SAT or the ACT, and if your coursework is advanced enough you should probably take AP exams too. This will give colleges an idea of your true level of preparation.</p>

<p>Also, most American schools make you submit letters of recommendation from your teachers and guidance counselor, who will tell colleges where you stand relative to other students in your school. They will also say if you’re taking the most rigorous courseload available, so you will get credit for that.</p>

15

<p>colleges take into account the rigor. adcoms know what they’re doing. relax</p>

16

<p>Life isn’t fair.</p>

17

<p>Be grateful you’re even going to school, and eventually college. You’re in a frighteningly small minority…</p>

18

<p>Difficulty is all subjective. My school does AP classes such that 3 tests make up your final grade. The result? People who work their asses off and depend on homework as grade padders get slaughtered and people like me who are naturally good test takers and are able to store lectured information really well come out with extremely high A’s. The system benefits some people more than others. All I know is that the in the regular versions of my AP classes, I would be at a C average because homework makes up a large percentage of the grade and I rarely do it.</p>

19

<p>I go to a school in the US that is extremely competitive. Most of the people in my school are in Accelerated classes, and they are harder than honors classes at other schools. Our honors classes are really hard.
However, I am glad that my school prepares us well for college,and even though it can be annoying, I wouldn’t want to go to an easier school.
And that’s why standardized tests exist :)</p>