High School Stress, College Admission, and the Race to Nowhere

I had a great conversation with a very down-to-earth mother of a client this morning. She was communicating her frustration that her high school aged children were stressed out, worried, and feeling over-programmed.
She also recommended looking at a film called ““Race to Nowhere”. I looked at the trailer, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the film or to schedule a screening.
As a parent and as a college counselor, I can tell you that these trends highlighted in the film are very real.
Have a look a the trailer and let me know what you think.  I especially want to hear from students!
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
 
 

Advice on College Admission, Standardized Testing from Michelle Obama

Students at Denver’s South High School played host to First Lady Michelle Obama this past Monday.  Students asked the First Lady about standardized tests, getting into college, and her advice to them as they enter the world as adults.

Here’s a snippet from the Denver Post article that reported on her visit.

The Princeton University graduate, in town for a day of mentoring, also let some of the students at South High School in on a secret: She never performed “great” on standardized tests. Straight A’s, student government, sports, teacher recommendations and her essays are what led her to the Ivy League.

But while Obama said she didn’t consider the tests a good indicator of future success, she told the students that they are “part of the system” and need to be taken seriously.

And she urged them to focus on the thing they have most control over: their grades.

“Fundamentally, the difference between an A and a B oftentimes is in your own hands,” she said, responding to a student’s question about whether it was fair to use test scores as the measure of school performance when many kids can’t speak English.

You can also view a video of her Q&A session, including some remarks about going to standardized tests at South High School.

Mark Montgomery
College Counselor


Class Rank, Weighted and Unweighted GPA, and the "Education Race"

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It’s time to declare a moratorium on class ranking.

One of my most popular post is on the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA, and the phenomenon of class rank.  I get scads of comment on that post, and on other similar ones.

Today I received one from a distraught parents whose daughter was being “demoted” from the rank of #1 in her class because of a change in policy at the girl’s school.  I responded at length, and I decided to reprint it as a post in hopes of helping to calm other parents who obsess about class rank.

Here’s the question:

I may be a bit late to find your site, but my daughter (a senior) finds herself frustrated by a recent “mishap” in due diligence at her school. Historically, the school used unweighted grading, yet uses class rank (which also determines valedictorian). Evidently, the school decided to assign a 4.3 to A+. My daughter has several on her transcript and they are all in either core subjects or language (which is an elective at this school), all As and one A- in an AP course (of which she has several). We were sent her transcript with GPA (4.15) and rank (1). “Several parents”, seeing these values printed in the school handbook, and seeing their children’s rank drop complained to administration who then decided to “reverse” their newly published policy. If there has been a re-calculation (and she was told by her guidance counselor there has been), we have not been notified. I am furious at this convoluted “process” and lack of communication and have an appointment to speak with the principal. College apps are due, and I want the school to send her transcript/GPA/Class rank that we have in hand that was valid on Sept 2 (but apparently not now!). Is it worth it to ask them to send both? Is it worth it to ask them to calculate a weighted GPA as well (I wouldn’t even know the values! and would think that they do even if they don’t use weighted).

Also, is there a correlation between an unweighted grading system and use of class rank? In other words, could it be suggested that a school that uses unweighted grading ought to NOT rank?

Thanks in advance.


Here is my response:



How to Calculate Your GPA–Letter Grades and Percentages

alumni interview questions for college admission

What does your GPA mean? What is your real GPA? What is your core GPA? How will your GPA be used in the college admissions process. This article helps you understand how your GPA may translate into percentages.

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Directory of Summer Opportunities and Gap Year Programs

A client asked me the other day where she could find a directory of summer opportunities for high school students. I told her the best resource is maintained by Phillips Andover in Massachusetts. You can find the directory of summer programs here. It includes some excellent “gap year” or “interim year” programs, as well.

Mark Montgomery
College Search Expert and Counselor

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