My Daughter Got Her Rejection Letter from FSU today
- Thread starter More Kirk Less Spock
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Doesn't a 25 ACT and 4.9 GPA suggest serious grade inflation?
Just saw Fiji asked the same thing.
yeah it's a fair question. he, like my daughter, is an IB kid. i noticed last year when my daughter was going through this process what seemed to be a disconnect between weighted GPA and standardized testing scores for the kids in IB (many of her friends seemed to be scoring ~ 27 / 1240 - not bad but seemed low for their ability). i don't know if it's IB in general under-preparing the kids for ACT / SAT or if it's the high school?
i had my daughter tutor for those tests which helped a lot. also took them a couple of times which has been discussed in other threads as generally being beneficial. her boyfriend took it once only.
Grade inflation is real. Today’s teachers realize that scholarships and other forms of tuition assistance hang in the balance of A, B+, B, etc. Most of them “round up” in cases involving any doubt. That did not happen (as much) 20-30-40 years ago when college admissions (and scholarships) were far less competitive. Besides, the teachers cite “great grades” as evidence that THEY are doing great jobs and deserve raises or bonuses.
No, but I know @MaconNole best darn Nole weatherman alive.
Admissions wont tell us anything. Where you go to school has absolutely nothing to do with athletics.
Does an AA guarantee you into FSU or UF ? Or just some university. That's the part I haven't figured out yet
I believe it's into a state university but not necessarily the one of your choice.
Both my kids received private tutoring to prep for SAT/ACT. They were even tested to determine if they were best suited to score higher on one or the other. This was standard operating procedure in our neighborhood. There were kids whose parents spent a thousands to get them certified as having a learning difference so they could take untimed SAT. Somehow they got all the way until their junior year without an LD but suddenly now they have a situation! One scored well enough to get into Michigan from out of state, and the other unfortunate learning disabled kid went on to graduate from the University of Chicago. Go figure.
Now those kids are all grown up and probably the same ones who take their "emotional support animals" when they fly.
Back in my day, it got you into the state university of your choice, but not into any particular major. So you were guaranteed into FSU, but you might spend a semester or two trying to get into the College of Business. Not really a problem if you were serious about your chosen field of study.
I haven't heard of this changing, but it's been about 20 years now.
Edit: just checked the Florida website and you are NOT guaranteed to get into the university of your choice. Don't worry kids, UWF has an amazing campus...
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So which University is the Locker Room of the system, you know, the place where all the riffraff gets dumped?
My daughter had an option to take that untimed route (a pass was available to her due to later stage cognitive effects from pediatric chemotherapy). She chose not to. She wanted to earn her way in the same manner as her peers. I was supportive either way but proud of her decision. Kid works her ass off and deserves whatever she achieves.
My daughter has a friend like that...top student, good performer, and scored a 1200 on his SAT, pretty surprisingly. Grade inflation is definitely a thing, but it's a pretty competitive school and nothing about his performance would indicate that he wasn't a really smart top notch student.
I know being a "bad test taker" is a thing, but I wonder if a lot of it really comes down to prep. When I was doing it nearly 30 years ago, I didn't know anyone who tested reasonably well that went through test prep. I knew a couple kids that just froze up horribly, and were like B- students who hit D+ type SAT scores, and they took some test prep that got them up to decent scores. But the idea of someone in the 1200-1300 range doing much prep at all, even practice tests, was pretty unheard of. Now, you've got very good scorers doing a ton of test prep to get exceptional scores.
In my day, a 25 ACT from a A student might have been a shade low, but not all that noteworthy among a bunch of 27s and 28s among their peers. Now, tons of those 27 and 28 kids are doing a ton of prep to put up 32 or 33.
As an update, my son has also been admitted to FSU and will begin in the fall. He was born in Tallahassee when I was still in school and has been a lifelong Noles fan. This is also good because we had already signed a lease for a two bedroom 
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Congrats .As an update, my son has also been admitted to FSU and will begin in the fall. He was born in Tallahassee when I was still in school and has been a lifelong Noles fan. This is also good because we had already signed a lease for a two bedroom
Also, they had a big raffle on campus and the winner got a date with the Homecoming Queen; 2nd place got 2 dates with her.
What dorm will he be in for the Fall? My son is in Jennie now and will be in Dorman for the fall semester.As an update, my son has also been admitted to FSU and will begin in the fall. He was born in Tallahassee when I was still in school and has been a lifelong Noles fan. This is also good because we had already signed a lease for a two bedroom
My kids are sharing an apartment off campus, but very close to the stadium. Should be some fun tailgating this year. My son is also a bit older than the traditional student...sort of Bluto Blutarskied his first few goes at college. He seems to be focused now
My kids are sharing an apartment off campus, but very close to the stadium. Should be some fun tailgating this year. My son is also a bit older than the traditional student...sort of Bluto Blutarskied his first few goes at college. He seems to be focused now
I may have chosen the wrong place for my kids to live next semester - ugh.
I may have chosen the wrong place for my kids to live next semester - ugh.
If that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
Seriously? Health Department clearance come through??I may have chosen the wrong place for my kids to live next semester - ugh.
Yep. I hit 30 on the ACT with no prep, which was on the high side for FSU at the time. Coupled with my 3.7 gpa I guess I’d be on the cusp of not getting in today. I see the prep situation as a bad thing. You aren’t getting a fair representation of ability, more pressure from parents and access to financial resources.
That can be true. That said, free resources, particularly the Khan Academy program I mentioned, are a game changer. I agree that the $3000 prep courses are a financial wall, and that causes a problem exactly like you mention.
With free programs coming on line now, it's potentially just the opposite, and a great indicator. Who wouldn't want to identify a student that went from a 28 to a 32 via their own hard work, versus someone who stood pat with a 28. If it's more a matter of personal volition than pure resources?
Compared to the way financial resources impact educational outcome of every step from infancy through school, free test prep online has the potential to be just about the most egalitarian aspect in the whole process (from one of the least). Pretty exciting.
I think the issue is an ability one. You keep studying the test to max score and you have people that are truly gifted that don’t prep and people that aren’t and do. You can’t differentiate.
Nothing is more inspiring than a person with seemingly mediocre talent rising against the odds to become a champion by way of hard work, effort, access to Khan Academy and perseverance toward their goals.
- Zig Ziglar
Kids burning of the Summer B euphoria, plus freshman are in town and feeling liberated.
Lack of access to an olympic size swimming pool at your residence is the college mendoza line.
Haves
Have-Nots
- Zig Ziglar
I may have chosen the wrong place for my kids to live next semester - ugh.
Kids burning of the Summer B euphoria, plus freshman are in town and feeling liberated.
Lack of access to an olympic size swimming pool at your residence is the college mendoza line.
Haves
Have-Nots
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I dont think high GPA's especially in the IB program are due to grade inflation. When every core class you take over 4 years is either an IB or AP course you are going to get .04(IB) or 0.8(AP) which I think is fair. When I graduated IB in 1999 my GPA was 5.6 weighted and 3.5 unweighted. If every core class you take is an honors, IB or AP it should be looked at differently than standard classes.
