Rigor of High School vs. class rank

hmza

5-Year Member
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Jul 15, 2012
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DS public high school was named #1 in our state with 100% of last years seniors going on to community college or college. DS is currently 58/350 with 3.83 (UW) GPA and 4.67 (W) GPA. Grading scale at his school is A (93-100) and B (85-92). DS has gotten three 90's and one 92 on his transcript from freshman year until now. Does academy taking in consideration rigor of school and grading scale?

On another note DS has SAT CR 590, Math 770 and WR 620. He will take again in November. His Oct score duplicated his June score! If he is not able to bring up his CR score how badly will this hurt him?

Thank you!
 
Good Question

Hmza,
Great question-High Schools across the country vary from great like your DS school to terrible. How do colleges and the SA quantify the wide range of high schools? By relying on the ACT and SAT standardized testing system. It’s not a perfect system but it is used as standardized testing. Your DS needs to be in the upper fifths of his high school ranking, which he is. Next, look at WP class profile to gauge your DS SAT and ACT scores to the “mean” of the classes. Your DS math is excellent and the most important score, however, his critical reading and writing need to be in the 700 ranges to be competitive or considered. ACT test scores need to be in the 30 or above. I know this is way above the national average, but WP has an acceptance of 11%. This is why so many parents will pay extra for their DS or DD to attend some type of prep course to better their scores. It is not too uncommon for the scores to plateau after the third or fourth time taking these tests. There is a technique and strategy in taking these tests. If your DS is serious about attending a SA I would encourage you to research programs that are available to help better your DS score. A good place to start is at your DS high school.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Tug_boat, thank you for your input. He has taken prep class and scores above 700 for CR and WR consistently on practice tests. He will press on and has a strong plan B just in case.
 
I do believe there is a measure for the strength of the school. I do not know their method for calculating it but I believe there is one in addition to the standardized testing.
 
Stats

Considering today’s environment, education systems have out priced themselves, parents who can not afford an education for their gifted child, parents who make above average national income and still can not afford an education for their child, they encourage their child to look at the SA . Receiving a top-notch education, a four degree, applying your trade and after your service walking away with no education debt in very attractive. Estimation are greater than 18,000 applications for WP trying for Class of 2017. Staggering numbers for only 1050 to 1200 in the class.

My martial arts teacher always instructed us when breaking boards, visualize going past the board, don’t stop at the board you’ll never break it. When trying to win an appointment, achieve past the heard. Be the leader of the heard. Don’t look at trying to get into WP, but rather dedicating yourself to our country, sacrificing “me” for others.

21% scored high than their class. Never embrace mediocrity. Never hide in the middle.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
hmza-
Your DS should take the ACT. WP will use the standardized test that the candidate does best on, so it can't hurt to take the ACT.
The next test is Dec 8. Plenty of time to prepare for it.

WP most definitely takes the rigorousness of the high school into account.
A school official (usually the guidance counselor) will provide WP with the school's profile. One of the things that WP looks for is the % of graduates that go to 4 year colleges.
WP will adjust the candidate's class rank if the school is considered a competitive school.
 
buff81,
Thank you for your input. DS is scheduled to take the SAT this weekend. I don 't know why he hasn't given the ACT a try. Besides bringing up his Cr score, he is trying to max out the math score. He did find out the last SAT the SAs will accept is the one given on Jan. 26.
 
hmza-
Your DS needs to take the ACT.
The SAT and ACT are two different kinds of tests. Your DS may be more successful on the ACT. Or he may not, but he will never know if he doesn't try.

Think of it this way - what if NOT taking the ACT keeps him from getting an appointment. Do you really want to play the, 'what ifs?'.
Many, many candidates take both tests.
If your DS wants to go to WP more than anything, then he should be doing everything that he can to give him the best shot at getting that appointment.

Standardized test scores are 30% of the WCS.
 
hmza-
Your DS needs to take the ACT.
The SAT and ACT are two different kinds of tests. Your DS may be more successful on the ACT. Or he may not, but he will never know if he doesn't try.

This was my cadet's experience. Switching to the ACT made all the difference in the world.
 
I don't know why, but generally, students do better on the ACT.
Don't think so. If this were the case, the ACT would become the dominant test, and the SAT would become the minority test. In this day and age of open communication, everybody would be aware of this general "advantage", if there were one.

Having said that, they ARE two completely different tests. They test different things. Students who have rigorously applied themselves in a good High School curriculum are better prepared for the ACT than students who moderately applied themselves in a poor or only decent High School curriculum. That is the traditional wisdom anyway. The ACT tests specific concepts in the science portion, for example, that are much more topic specific than what is found on the SAT. The SAT has been traditionally categorized as an "IQ test", more than a test of having mastered High School curriculum.

Absolutely everyone should take both, because it isn't easy to predict who will do better on the one than the other I'm estimating from seeing hundreds of posts over the years by people who took both, that about half of all people will perform similarly well on both, but about half willl do significantly better on one or the other. It's probably a bell curve, with the middle being the equivalent score on both, and the left tail being those who did significantly better on the ACT, and the right tail being those who did significantly better on the SAT.

TAKE BOTH!!!! AND, TAKE BOTH AT LEAST TWICE!
 
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