Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Ivy League Admissions.

This economist argues that grade inflation probably doesn't exist and backs his argument up with some research, and is not afraid to mention research that disagrees with that hypothesis.

Is grade inflation a real problem?

Thank you, Bostonian. I would shudder to think that any forum member would choose to utilize my post as a jumping-off point to divert the thread. I related a potential example of grade inflation at an elite international powerhouse without mentioning any person's name, party, or ideological views.

As just one of 4 points made in the post, I remained on topic: The OP anticipated quite wide ranging discussion, and recent posts have addressed whether some students who gained entrance to elite colleges may ultimately be weeded out by rigorous curriculum and find themselves unable to graduate.

ETA: If no one objects, I will mention this post on an old thread about grade inflation... possibly conversation could continue there, or on a new thread, to avoid veering off-topic on this thread.

College Coaching Doesn’t Hurt the Poor
By Hafeez Lakhani
Wall Street Journal
March 20, 2019

...

There is a misconception circulating that advantages bought by the rich result in spots being stolen from the poor. This oversimplification distorts the reality of how elite schools’ admissions departments put together carefully balanced classes. Colleges need to enroll some proportion of students from wealthy backgrounds to maintain financial stability. Thus admissions coaching helps wealthier applicants compete for spots already set aside for students with privilege. It doesn’t cannibalize spots for lower-income or first-generation students.

Selective universities painstakingly admit a wide range of applicants: public- and private-school students, first-generation college-goers, students of diverse regional and class backgrounds, students with various academic interests, etc. Consider that almost 60% of Harvard’s class of 2022 attended public schools and 17% are the first generation of their families to attend college. This suggests that Harvard—as a proxy for selective universities—is doing a good job making sure that privileged applicants are competing mainly against each other.

In holistic admissions processes, universities consider each candidate in the context of his resources and advantages, such as parents’ earnings and education level. Thus Harvard’s first-generation freshmen reported average SAT scores of 2118 (using the 2,400-point scale in place from 2005-15), while those who weren’t first-generation reported an average of 2257. Similarly, students from families that earn less than $40,000 a year had an average score of 2157, while students whose families earn between $250,000 and $500,000 had an average of 2280.

...

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The New York Times had an article on how students used college consultants:

‘I’d Die of Guilt if I Did That:’ Families Who Hired College Consultants Discuss Where They Drew the Line
When paying for admissions help is a standard practice in a community, parents and children say they feel pressure to keep up.
By Lela Moore
March 15, 2019

Interesting articles, Bostonian.
Thanks for posting these and keeping us up-to-date on analysis following the college admissions scam.
I thought the following was especially good to know:

Since it seemed to be mainly coaches taking a bribe, I think it will be very hard going forward to scam a sport. I do not know how much you can stop someone for taking the SAT for you. Although maybe they will check IDs better.
I thought that colleges were tracking outcomes from schools. So if a kids with 4.0s from certain schools do more poorly than 4.0 students from another high school, they bell the grades lower. I also notice on college confidential that they don't seem to rate debate well since so many kids that don't get in with great scores and debate club president are deferred or rejected. I think there are too many with debate on their CV so it gets rated lower. While sailing is less prevalent and gets a higher admission rate. But with sailing you have to a have an online profile in the sailing community and race scores so it is impossible to cheat on official sites.

I think it isn't worth it for the coaches now that these guys got caught. A couple of coaches only took the bribe once and now they are out of job, going to jail.

Someone was taking the SAT on behalf of the applicant because they faked learning disabilities (with bribed assessment reports) and requested for double time (?) on the SAT which allowed the students to take the test in a hotel room where someone doctored the answers or took it on behalf of the student. There is nothing that can be done about these things unless there are strict rules about proctoring the extended-time tests at a central location with cameras and cracking down on fake LD assessments etc. This scam has so many facets that it needs to stay in the news for longer and make the public aware of the many ways in which the cheating was going on.

The College Board, if it does not already, should have a database linking SAT scores with student addresses, test locations and the names of proctors and testees. A pattern of students often traveling a long distance to take a test with a specific proctor, with accommodations, and getting high scores would trigger an investigation.

From what I read, the surrogate test taker was just that good! He could basically dial a score in to the highest possible score that wouldn’t raise any red flags based the child’s on prior scores

This is why I think that Bostonian’s suggestion ought to be implemented. I am sure that surrogate test taking occurs more often than we know.

Somewhat diverging from the OP's focus on weighing ECs along with academics in making admissions decisions for elite schools...
but in keeping with recent posts on flagging SAT scores:

This article provides some insight into the process of SAT scores being flagged by College Board and Educational Testing Service (ETS), although in this specific case, it may have been a result of intensive study and focused prep which raised scores. Ultimately, it was agreed that this student was going to take the test again, and that College Board would work on completing its investigations more swiftly to minimize impact on students.
Miami Gardens student drops fight to validate her SAT score
By Jason Hanna, CNN
February 9 & 10, 2019


When considering the possibility of surrogate test-takers, regular test-center ID requirements are followed stringently, therefore concerns that a surrogate took the test may tend to arise only when a test is administered one-on-one, as was described regarding the recent college admissions scam.


In the opposite vein, I am aware of homeschool students who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) at a local public high school, during that school's regularly scheduled PSAT/NMSQT administration for their own pupils. The homeschool students were assigned to sit in a designated row and their completed, unsealed tests were collected together as a group. When results were available online, in reviewing them they were astounded to see some answers were indicated as erasures, and had been changed to incorrect answers. They were certain they had made no erasures on their tests.