DeaconSig
Well-known member
[milhouse] TENNIS [/milhouse]
How did college admissions get so competitive? I look at the admissions stats for schools and it's hard to believe- are there really that many kids with straight A's and 1500+ SATs out there? And it's not just the top top schools- NC State has an average SAT for admitted freshman of 1356 and average unweighted GPA of 3.85?!?!?!?
I guess so- but at the end of the day people are shelling out ~$200k for a Clemson degree? Like that happens in real life? Would you be better off with a UNCW degree and $150k more in your pocket?
The short answer is no - you can't justify paying out of state tuition versus an in-state school based purely on numbers - not when comparing a non-elite out of state school with an "acceptable" in-state alternative. But there are lots of other reasons kids may want to go to an out of state school.
I wouldn't say UNCW or App St are comparables to Clemson, but the point remains.
My kids went to Clemson from NC. One got lots of scholarship money, one did not. Did it make purely financial sense to send the one there that paid full boat - no. But she was wildly happy there, worked super hard and did great because she appreciated the sacrifice we were making to send her there, and is making great use of the networks she formed while in school there.
There's probably been significant grade inflation in certain High Schools over the past 30 years. I don't have anything but anecdotal data.
For the SAT? No idea. I have a feeling that more kids are exposed to a form of SAT prep now than before, but I'm not sure that's meaningful.
This for sure. In 2005 we did zero SAT prep other than take a practice SAT the year before. I'd imagine now you can take prep like youd find for the LSAT and GMAT. Totally changes the game.
02 HS grad - I took a like one day intro to SAT format course as a sophomore which in hindsight was too early to really help much but the best prep I thought was the PSAT which we all took as sophs and juniors. And for some reason I did better on the SAT as a senior than I ever did on the PSAT so who really knows.
I can definitely understand prep courses helping with the analogy section if you’re not naturally logic oriented but it seems like the reading comprehension and math sections you just have to know.
As for grades, my kids now have a 10 pt scale in HS. It was a weird ~6 pt scale for me: 95+ A, 88+ B, 81+ C, 75+ D. They also have two levels of "above average" college prep type classes: honors (+1 GPA), and AP (+2 GPA) now. I just had AP for +1 GPA. So yeah, it is easier for kids to have a higher GPA now than in their parents' day.
I did SAT prep in the 80s. This is nothing new.
Once you realize it's nothing beyond 10th grade math and that they've been feeding you vocabulary words for five years, you're golden.
I fail to understand why honors or AP classes do/should alter GPA. Aren't the potential college credits enough?
Who cares. If you and your parents are dumb enough to spend the time applying to schools you have no chance of getting into you're not prepared for college anyway.