<p>This post is not supposed to put down the kids I talk about, but rather ask them some questions.</p>
<p>After seeing many (and i say many) kids on this board with 3.8-4.0 unweighted gpa's, with 1900-2100 SAT scores, I just wonder... How is that possible.</p>
<p>Now, I am a pretty decent student... I got a 2150 on my SAT and 700+ on all my SAT 2's. I got a 5 on my bio AP and a 4 on my US AP.</p>
<p>I studied a lot, and worked pretty hard throughout my high school carrer, and it just blows my mind that I am seeing these extremly high UW gpa's. Has grade inflation gone to far?? Are A's in AP classes that easy to get...</p>
<p>Every school has their system - some are harder than others, obviously. I presume colleges may become familiar with the standards of different schools as they receive applicants from the school, as well as a school profile.</p>
<p>Well, I guess I'm one of those people you're talking about.</p>
<p>I have about a 3.8 or 3.9 unweighted GPA. I was in all honors classes my freshman and sophomore years. Now in my junior year, I'm in 3 APs with all the rest honors (first year available for us to take APs).</p>
<p>And to be honest, I don't study. Once in a while for a APUSH test or AP Chem test I'm worried about, I may crack a book, but that's about it. I suppose I'm pretty lucky to be able to do that, since that's how I've gotten by since about 6th grade. However, I do make sure I get all my homework done and more importantly, that I comprehend it. Maybe that's how I'm able to do well. I'm certainly not just a hardcore student, but I've done very well. It just comes naturally, I guess. </p>
<p>This post wasn't meant to brag or anything. I'm really not trying to sound pompous, so I hope it doesn't come off that way. I honestly feel guilty sometimes, since my main competition for top rank in my class is a friend of mine who studies very hard and has checklists, planners, and pretty much everything you can imagine. At the same time, I slack off and do as good as or better than he does on most tests. Maybe some people just have a natural ability at test-taking, I'm not sure?</p>
<p>here the thing... there are literally hundreds of thousands of high schoolers out there... if you take the top 1% of hard workers/grades, u might find 5000+ people... from that, the best and brightest typically come on website like this... keep in mind that CC is largely self selecting, so youre seeing the best of the best on this site, not the general high school population</p>
<p>of those 5000 its not unreasonable that 2500 work ridiculsouly hard at tough schools to get straight As, and from there its not unreasonable to say that 500-1000 of those kids come onto CC...</p>
<p>I've noticed that too. Some of the honor classes in my school is a joke. I haven't taken anyway but some of my College prep classes are harder then the honor ones. It sucks that colleges can't see that..</p>
<p>The vast majority of students in AP classes at my school get 3s on the test and get As in the classes. An A typically indicates a 3 or 4 on the test, although a few people get 5s. Most people in AP classes get around a 1200-1300 on the SAT although there are a few exceptions (every couple years someone gets a 1400/2100+), but colleges I don't think know that because aside from state schools we dont send a lot of applications to colleges. Only like 20% of my school goes to 4-year college.</p>
<p>I posted this on another thread, but somewhere on this forum, I've read about kids whose AP course teachers increase grades from Bs to As and even Cs if the student gets a 4/5 on the AP exam. I think this is completely unfair to those of us who work hard in our AP classes without the option of slacking off and simply doing some intense studying for one test at the end of the year. It angers me to think that people who should have really gotten a B/C in a class can "honestly" put a 4.0 on a college application.</p>
<p>I used to be able to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, for class and get A+s, until 8th grade. In 8th grade moved to a new school district where I was allowed to take High School classes in 8th grade. I definitely got a reality check then. I went from doing nothing to writing detailed essays and doing 3 page lab reports. I can confidently say that if I had not moved, I would be getting A+s in every class without studying and be valedictorian. Right now, I am studying a lot, getting As and occasional B+s, and am in the top 10%. The 9th grade classes offered in my high school are easy, b/c most of the "smarter" kids take those classes at the middle school, leaving those who are not as "smart" to actually take them at the high school. But 10th grade-Honors and onward is exceedingly difficult.<br>
For my English 11th Grade Honors course (which I'm taking as a sophmore), this is what we had last week:</p>
<p>Due Monday: Final Paper on The Crucible
Due Tuesday: Essay on Macbeth, Quiz on Act 1
Due Wednesday: 50 Vocabulary words for Macbeth
Due Thursday: Have Grapes of Wrath finished (600 page book, 2 weeks to read it), Did You Read It Quiz on Grapes of Wrath
Due Friday: Macbeth Vocabulary Test
Due This Monday: Thesis and Outline for Grapes of Wrath Research Paper. Quiz on Macbeth Act II</p>
<p>Getting average SAT and ACT scores does not mean that those students do not deserve those GPA's. THis has been discussed many times, standerized tests only measure a portion of intelligence.</p>
<p>I have a 4.0 (just barely) unweighted GPA. I 've been taking Accelerated courses (our district has no Honors classes, and our district doesn't weight the accelerated classes) since the 7th grade. In my sophmore year, I took 1 AP, I'm taking 4 this year, and I'll be taking 5 more next year. Honestly' I'm not a least bit worried. I got a 4 on the Euro AP with only a week of study (some kids, I hear, studied for months @_@). I occassionally open the books to study for the AP Chem or AHAP test here or there, but that's it (I completely BS Stat and Eng and come out unphased).</p>
<p>I guess I'm one of those kids that the OP is referring to. Hearing testiments from me peers, they seem to have trouble paying attetnion in class -- I've never really had a problem with that. I always pay attention and take attentitive notes. I also do the homework -- always. I guess doing is my studying . I guess I should be thankful that I'm good memorizing/getting things at first try.</p>
<p>There are around 16 million high school students in the United States. The very few people, a mere part of that sample who have the motivation or the drive to choose to post in this forum, mostly only do so to obtain information or share ideas. </p>
<p>It is said that even getting the urge to pick up a self help book indicates above average intelligence. I am supposing it is the similar case with this forum, and that it shows mostly the overachieving, hard working high school students. So when you see all the people applying to and getting accepted to Ivy League schools on this forum, don't freak out... Less than 0.3% of American high school students get to attend a similar institution.</p>
<p>Idk... i mean, I find it hard to believe getting an A in a AP class without studying at all...</p>
<p>Now don't get me wrong, im pretty naturally bright.. and didn't study for anything until i got to my JR year, but i can't comprehend people not even opening a book and getting 95's in college lvl courses... It just makes me think that these classes are getting a bit watered down.</p>