It doesn’t cause it, but it can certainly exacerbate it. The best test-prep center in our town costs $3,500. Even kids who don’t study hard outside of that will do better than they would otherwise. Figuring out the best way to study and then carving out that time can be very difficult, and working with pro test preppers is likely way more effective and efficient.
I don’t get when kids with perfect GPAs say they are bad test takers. If you were a bad test taker, you wouldn’t have a perfect GPA. That’s why I am not against standardized testing- it’s a universal quantitative academic measure.
At my school, most of the classes grades are 80-90% test/quiz based. It isn't possible (at my school) for someone to have a perfect GPA while also being a bad test taker.
And tbh we complain too much. You can literally spend 30 dollars on a test prep book that has everything you need, and you can find past tests for both the ACT and the SAT online. You don't need more than that, really.
@@mariamshah338 not everyone is athletic yet sports is still part of the application. Clubs cost money to join at my school and some people may have social anxiety that makes them less inclined to join clubs. Should all extracurriculars not be included then because it's "unfair" for some people?
Also, impressive extracurriculars show wealth. Sports, instrument lessons, all cost so much money. I really don’t get what is so special for ex. about playing piano at Carnegie Hall. Admissions people think that’s so great, but all that shows me is that their family had enough money for a piano and pricey lessons for years. Even being a part of a school club costs money in many schools. Students are asked to pay for competition, travel, and bus fees that add up to $1000s per year. I really think the admissions people are out -of -touch with what high school is like today. If they understood I don’t know if they would place such high value on extracurriculars.
Right, so, the Ivies already bias strongly towards those "with means." Certain extracurriculars demonstrate wealth even more strongly (skiing, snowboarding, polo, equestrianism, ski diving, figure skating, etc.) Certain extracurriculars ... one can only be middle class or upper middle class or higher (ice hockey, robotics) And of course, being good usually correlates strongly with wealth.
Sports have become so expensive. Baseball kids travel with club teams in the third grade. My daughter dances - and it is a fortune - she's just in the 7th grade and not at an elite/competitive studio but being in Company it's over 10K a year... it becomes have and have nots. And if they don't start and specialize early, most kids are shut out of taking on one of these activities for high school. Not to say these kids work hard and are talented at their activities - but when we make it so that there is no access for kids to these activities - we continue to push the inequities. I think Kahn Academy is really an amazing free source that helps make the SAT more accessible and a better argument for Test requirements/Test optional Though the fees for the SAT is another issue... (and that you have to pay for more information on your test results is terrible)
Being great at playing an instrument takes countless hours, year after year, of dedicated practice. A multitude get started, very few persevere. Those who persevere do great things.
@@ruthosornio7779 I’m going to be honest you don’t need the tutors to do well. All of the advice/strategies can be found online, as well as all of the available practice. If you’re truly motivated, you can do just as good without a tutor, like I did.
@@intellectual5598 I already graduated lol I just watch these for fun! But honestly, big name schools lead to a lot of school debt. I graduated debt free and did 2 internships, had research experience, leadership roles, and was an Honor Scholar and graduated summa cum laude all while working multiple jobs...motivation is more of a factor than where you attend. I had a career right after I graduated and I love my workplace too! I also constantly get calls from places trying to hire me too. So what matters more is what you study and how dedicated you are to achieving success no matter how many hurdles are thrown at you :)
@@intellectual5598 teaching yourself stuff online is not anywhere close for most people as actually having a real life person in front of you to help you. Just look at the effect of two years of virtual schooling bc of covid on the educational gap....
I agree with your stance on standardized tests. As someone who goes to a below average public high school, the SAT and ACT were some of the only ways for me to stand out. Thank you for your videos. They helped me get into my dream school.
And that’s why it’s better for standardized testing to exist than not exist. So that it is an option for students to prove themselves. This is especially true for underprivileged students who may have limited ways to prove themselves in the first place.
Very good point made about standardized tests. It frustrates me that some schools are test-blind. ACT/SAT is the only objective and comparative aspect of an application. Everything else is subjective to the viewer. I understand they were trying to solve a problem, but that was not the way to do it.
To be fair, a number of test-blind schools made the tests such a low weight and some were looking for other proxies. (AIME, USAMO, etc. qualification is FAR more significant than 800 in math.)
@@nashminor8305 AIME = American Invitational Mathematics Examination (~top 5% of AMC12 scorers) USAMO = USA Mathematics Olympiad Basically there are some schools that look at various external validations. (The higher up you go, the more they look at those kinds of things.)
First video in a while. I graduated last year with the class of 2021. I’m at Tufts university now and I got in through my Questbridge application. Thank you for all your work! It helped a ton along my college process and my senior year of high school
In countries like Iran, China, India, UK, Turkey, etc there are standardized tests which are the main factor in college admission. There’s no grade inflation or wildly inconsistent grading systems in those countries.
Not entirely true. The standardized tests in China are different by province. The reason is that at the beginning there was a national standard test. But the big cities perform poorly. Then the tests are different for each region or province. Then big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have much much higher rates to get into colleges, especially elite colleges than the poor provinces. That’s one of the reasons that these cities has skyrocketed house prices, because you cannot attend the schools if you don’t buy a house there.
Having a strict standardized test could be slightly more egalitarian however you have very high rates of suicide around those exams, not to mention reappearing cheating scandals, test tutoring that rich families pay for that leave the poor in the dust. I wouldn’t say the current US method is the greatest, but I certainly wouldn’t point to India or china as the way to go..
I was a tutor and SAT test prepper, and I can tell you that Brooke really hit this one out of the park. I agree that yes, standardize tests aren't perfect nor totally objective, but they are the MOST objective of all the other college admissions criteria. After all, ALL students took, basically, the same test so all competed against each other. What could be MORE fair than that. And yes, the schools get to choose who gets in. Nothing wrong with that.
Some good points. I would take issue with one item - these elite private universities shouldn't be able to do as they please. As stated eloquently by others: "All these elite private schools are 501(c)3’s. They’re charities. That means that alumni donations are tax deductible, and it means that if they have endowments, endowments can get income without paying taxes. That’s a huge deal. It’s a massive subsidy to these schools - and even a bigger subsidy to elite, private universities. Just to give you an idea of the size of the subsidy, in a recent years someone calculated that Princeton University’s tax exempt status amounts to a public subsidy of $100,000 per Princeton student. State University of New Jersey at Rutgers spends about $12,500 per student per year. And the local community college spends between $2,000 to $3,000 per student per year. So the allegedly private Princeton is getting a public subsidy that is much bigger than the public universities in its neighborhood." That' simply not right. So, a fix is to eliminate this tax gift that all of us pay for. Then, and only then, should these "elites" be allowed to do as they please with their sham meritocracy.
The last 3 years has not treated me kindly, so a standardized test proving I'm as smart as I say I am is a great thing. Had I been a perfect high school student I'd be scoring the same as I am now as a not so perfect student. It's fair.
Then again, it's one of those situations where someone could be as smart as you but did have a good first 3 years. Do you think that you should be more likely to get in than that person? But I agree that test scores are a great way for people to prove themselves, but i don't wanna give myself too much hope on that lol
All hail Brooke! The best source of college admissions advice we’ve found! To those high school students worried about getting into college. Stress not! As a former corporate recruiter in NY, i saw how the careers of graduates of elite high schools and colleges often played played out in the real world. Private industry has always been a better judge of a person’s capabilities and potential than our university system. Grades and test scores don’t correlate well with a person’s ability to excel in private industry. 5-10 years out of school, a candidate’s work performance, character, likability and determination always trumps an Ivy League degree. Over educated academics who don’t function well in corporate America are far more common than elite colleges would like to admit. The smartest candidates from the best universities were not what my clients wanted. In fact, I saw hiring managers as more often biased against graduates from top schools, because they were rarely graduates of top colleges themselves. “I saw she went to Harvard. So can she walk on water AND turn it into wine?” It’s a crime that these colleges are in a position to have so much influence on our children. They’re just not that good at it in my experience. To accurately assess people takes a lot more than 8-10 minutes per application…,go figure. Brooke’s best advice, IMO…..seriously consider state schools and community college; Because the school you desperately want to go to you isn’t as good as they’re leading you to believe; And hiring managers are tired of this system just like everyone else. When you graduate, try to find a company with quality people because corporate America is filled with people who’ve ‘found their passion’ but work for an asshole. 😊
#4 is one of those opinions that should be popular but are for some reason very unpopular. The SAT is a test where everyone gets the same test, same questions, same amount of time, and same venues (high schools). Sure the kids from private schools and tutors have a preparation advantage but compare that to GPA"s or even EC's where a kid from a private school can have a 4.0 whereas if they went to the local public school they would have got a 2.3. Or even that private school kids participate in EC's and that even middle class kids have never even heard of. The private school kid not only has an advantage in the EC that they participate in compared to the middle class public school kid but also have a larger variety of activities to choose from. That is like giving the private school kid 20 questions on a test and saying that they can pick the 10 questions they want to answer and giving the middle class public school kid a 10 question test and saying that they have to answer all 10.
This is a really good video. I think everyone should take this into consideration when applying to college, especially for the ivies or top tier colleges, and for international students who are often left behind no matter how qualified they may be. Personally, I have been really stressed lately because I'm an international student applying this year, and I have been thinking a lot about the things you said. I appreciate the way you explained everything and the sincerity too! Thank you!
I agree with you, my daughter is Jr high in a good public school. Some teachers are very hard on grading and don’t hand out A’s. I think SAT is a good indicator where a person stands. Essay’s are paid too. CA might not agree with SAT for lame reasons but they don’t have an alternative either.
I went to a high school where some teachers handed out like 1-2 A's in a class of 25-30. I think our fiinal stats (I'm over 30 years out from high school graduation), >80% finished some kind of higher education >60% finished 4-year college degree Only 2% had 4.0 unweighted. However, context is thus very important (why many private universities require a high school report of the above). Someone who is the best in a decade (or a few decades) is any context is already amazing. The best in a decade from a highly competitive school looks even better.
@@coquitlamfalcons3976 i took it in 8th grade for Duke tip and scored a 1300, as long as you prep a bit and know the basic algebra and geometry well, it really isn’t all that impressive
One test score really shouldn’t be more predictive than the 4 years of “mini college” in High School. But here we are with a single test considered a better predictor than the 4 years of High School. Schools need to stop encouraging inflated GPAs. We really shouldn’t be ok with a single test being better than the High School Grades.
TEST ARE A FACT OF LIFE . if you want to be a CPA LAWYER DOCTOR or go to grad school etc . get ready for many test . if you want to look at unfair test , look at college admission test in asia india etc . those are the people you are going to compete against in life . taking a test is a skill that everyone should learn
Brooke Hanson is a great counselor because the 2022 reality because the Admissions Commitees have their own rules that applicants must fulfill. Overall they do a good job and the their best to tap out the students from the crap and the list.
If you've never looked at them, the Germans actually have quite a good system. You are examined on five subjects, however two you do at a 'major' level and three you do at a 'minor' level. That keeps the range of subjects broad but also allows for some specialisation. The exams also differ a bit from State to State in Germany, so there is a bit of leeway in the system.
I understand your first point but actually Google can't just hire whoever they want to hire. There are anti-discrimination laws they have to consider. It's even worse for private Universities which take federal funding, student federal loans, and tax exemptions, and therefore are subject to even more federal regulations and public scrutiny.
Agree with all these unpopular opinions! Also wanted to add that grade inflation puts MORE pressure on students. When 20% of the student body gets straight A's (like my son's large public school), getting one B is a calamity... as well as it doesn't let the real stars shine. So then there is more pressure to take AP courses (which at our school you have to pay for the very expensive texts since it's an AP course (can be over $200) and the AP test) which adds to the pressure and further pushes grade inflation. I graduated HS in the 80's and there were only 3 AP classes available and we only had a handful of kids with over a 4.0 and you knew who they were. (I had a 3.86 and decent SAT scores for the times (1240! so there's SAT inflation too) and got into an Ivy League school. Would not cut it at all in today's insane world).
I don't agree with the Standardized test one. I take 5 A-levels which is more than 99% of students in the UK. I have no time to do SATs, and also when I did try (which was flipping hard because I had my school exams at the same time) my SAT exam was cancelled twice. But hey I see people agreeing in the comments...i guess it's different depending on each person and how many difficult courses they take at school
But you have A levels-- which I would argue are also a standardized test. And those could take the place of the SAT if that is what you were prepping toward. In the US we have no A-levels. If we had some I might be less on the SAT bandwagon.
You are a breath of fresh air. When I graduated HS overseas a few decades ago, I had no idea there were tricks to the trade to studying for the SAT. It was months of torture, and self study was super hard. Now my senior used resources such as yours and others, and did alright. Your advice will come in v handy for my next students in tow.
I disagree with standarized tests because testing in general is harder for some kids. I go to a really good high school which focuses heavily on STEM and the classes there are more advanced than most high schools. When it comes to standardized testing, I do really poorly. It's not because I didn't study or pay attention. I know how to answer the question, I know the steps and formulas. But it takes me a long time to absorb the info which results in me guessing or leaving blank 50% of the test. Some kids just aren't good at taking tests even though they're really smart
May be you are not as good as you think you are. Ultimately you still need to give test for your school gpa as well. Only thing is school can inflate gpa making kids feel they are better than what they really are
Thank you for sharing. I will share this with my sophomore daughter. One of her big concerns has been whether her GPA would be higher if she had gone to the local public school versus her private Catholic high school. It’s not so easy say and I remind her of my public school experience and how the admissions office saw that versus the private school GPAs. Thank you again
Isn't point 1 kinda obvious? They are currently not a meritocracy. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be meritocratic. But I don't think it's unpopular or controversial to state the matter of fact that they are current unmeritocratic.
You know College Kids ought to apply to lesser known Schools than the well know ones for Admittance because one is bound to struggle and snuggle. Low SAT scores have been the reason why so many black students have not been able to make it unto the School or system.
Hi Brook, thanks for the tough love! Elite universities are built for the self preservation of their elite status. This means life is not fair. Stanford took a football player that went to the same high school of another student that was the quitessential great kid, top student, good athlete, great leadership, top 1 percent SATs and was rejected. I told him Stanford needed a star athlete more than it another highly qualified great kid. One factor that is driving the supper low acceptance rates among elite universities is that many strong candidates will apply to over a dozen elite universities wich inflates the application pool as well as the encouragement you indicated for less than qualified students to apply. Seems to be a bit of a game to me and I am very happy I don't have to traverse this minefield any more. Keep up the great content and thank you for providing a realistic and pragmatic view.
Correct: I see and I've seen many videos where people applied to 20+ schools. I've been tracking trends and more and more students are applying to more and more colleges. So, all else being equal, if the "average student" even 30 years ago applied to say 6-8 colleges and the "average student" nowadays applies to about double, then the acceptance rate(s) will be halved.
What do you think of the idea of testing someone on material that has not been taught? There are a lot of questions on the SAT that do just that. Is that fair? After all, everyone takes the same test. I think it's fair, in the sense that randomness is fair.
1:05 Not legally, but wouldn't you agree that it would be immoral exclude or discriminate against students based on their income, race, gender, family heritage or sexual orientation? Wouldn't it be unfair to knowingly limit the opportunities of students based upon unfair criteria?
@@brookifyd Okay, so this answer gets to the heart of the problem I have with this entire video. Are you giving your opinion of the way things ARE, and trying to say, "Face reality, folks, that's the way it is."? Or are you saying that this is the way things SHOULD be? Yes, these Universities CAN, legally, discriminate based on income. But should they? Should they be allowed to? Should they be allowed to discriminate based on income AND receive billions in public funding through massive research grants and federally guaranteed student loans? These are all very different questions and your video does not make clear when you are addressing which.
@@Decnavda69 I completely agree. Just because things are doesn't mean they _should be_ . It doesn't mean that the people and organizations that take advantage of that are morally right.
7:31 completely agree. Can't understand why the US doesn't have external exams like A-Levels or Scottish highers like we do in the UK (Although they have problems as well).
Wow - love this video! An adult telling children they are not entitled to something - what a concept. From a 52 year old trying to help his nephew get into college.
I'm glad u r makin money & career brooke. This "elite" college iadmission is the biggest hustle goin. 95% of these kids can attend state Us .. have great careers and in whole lot less DEBT..
I don’t hear anyone whining that the LSAT is “unfair!!” Or that the GRE, MEDCAT or VETCAT are “biased!!” These complaints are socio-political yammering that didn’t even happen until fairly recently. The SAT/ACT are no more “unfair” than graduate aptitude tests. In my experience only inferior students complain about aptitude tests being stacked against them. Even the fact that nobody is saying this out loud confirms the social /political nature of such claims and complaints. School selection processes aren’t democracies and they want to know who is up to the task of academically succeeding. If you don’t like these tests then you’re very likely concerned that you’re in that group. If someone experiences a lack of privilege and this should influence their academic performance that is an entirely different issue that cannot and should not be addressed by the SAT. That person can locate a school that will not give weight to their test score and can worry about not getting a job they want 4 yrs down the road.
Omg she said everything I’ve been thinking. Some may not like SATs but they’re the fairest part of the whole application process. Like she said, it is much easier to coach a kid on the essays and essays reveal inequality in wealth. I know kids who had $$ college counselors “help” them on essays and by the end, we really don’t know who wrote it. And with recommendations - kids at private schools get inflated recs from both teachers and counselors. My counselor has over 100 seniors to write recs for, while taking care of 250 underclassmen. I doubt he wrote any of us excellent recs.
Yep. If you remove SAT/ACT, then we are left with GPA which are inflated, extracurriculars and essays that correlates even more with wealth, letters of recommendations that are bias and sometimes low quality, and finally “Wow Factors/Passion Projects” which are extremely difficult to pull off. If you remove standardized testing, unless you can successfully pull off a “Wow Factor”, then college admission would be far more of a lottery than it is now.
It's difficult to get a high GPA in college because there are a lot of C's for everyone and B's for everyone instructors, and you might not know who to take and who to avoid.
Unpopular opinion: complaining about the SAT is a loser's thing. My POV: I am an international student who comes from a country with absolutely no standardization even among my school's teachers. We do not have ranks nor do we have any way to compare each other. Some students in my class do way better than others just because the teachers' grading policies vary so much. Since nobody from my high school ever went to the US (top school), there is absolutely no way to compare myself to other, and the SAT was the proof that I was qualified. I do not understand the people who complain about the SAT not being "fair". It is SO fair, since there are so many-a plethora ;)- of free resources on the internet that allow everybody to have access to test prep. Neverhteless, there are still people complaining about rich kids having access to private tutoring... You know what? that's just life. Obviously, kids from rich families will have a headstart in everything in life, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Regarding the argument that you are wasting time, I do not agree with it either. The SAT truly teaches you to be critical, it helps you read faster, solve math problems quickly.... As I progressed on both sections, I saw my abilities and understand of english and math improve tremednously. After all, I just think that people prefer to complain instead of work hard. Let me know what you think ;)
@@glaliemaster1334 a lot of people complain because they think that scores are related to wealth, and I tried in my comment to explain that everything in life is related to wealth. What do you mean?
The source you cited says that wealth correlates with essay CONTENT and not the strength of the essay. Also, writing "stand out" essays are a lot harder to do than getting a good SAT score... so I strongly disagree on that one.
my school has grade inflation, but they dont send the percentages, they send the letter grades only. Would that help me or still hurt me if i get usually A-'s and As?
So many enrollment professionals are unnecesarily weeping and gnashing their teeth about the methods of what they call "highly rejective" universities.
I believe that standardized tests are flawed, But I tend to agree that they are in some ways less flawed than the other goalposts used to evaluate admissions. My own additions to your list are not original to me, but I will state them anyway. One is that the survey material on return on investment (ROI) for uni degrees is an important statistic. The corollary is that too many uni choice counselors focus too much on the selectivity of the school, and not enough on the ROI of the particular degree from the particular school. I am all for liberal arts degrees and pursuing one's dreams. But the notion of going deeply into debt to achieve a degree with limited career economic rewards is less viable now then 45 years ago when I was college-age. The amount of debt one must undertake is just too staggering in some cases. I worry that the academic-industrial-complex of selective admissions involve a lot of expense and investment of effort to get into a top x uni when a public uni or less elite uni with more substantial financial aid is likely the best choice for the student.
luv it. wait, I thought you were not allowed to be brutally honest and straightforward on youtube! just kidding. What's even more brutally true- colleges matter less than the student's motivation, discipline, goals, and plans. If you don't have one or more of those - it matters little which college you go to. Also, picking the right major/career choice is so so much more important than which college you go to. Lastly, for some, cost of college should trump more than the rankings so you are not overburden with debt when you graduate with a communications degree that pays little or confer very little advantage in job search when you graduate.
I would somewhat agree because I have not had to work very hard for a 4.0 GPA at my public school. If there were tougher classes in my school (which is expected at private schools), that would probably make the 4.0 a lot harder to get.
@@nashminor8305 yah, I think it really is very dependent on the individual school districts and private schools in each region of the country though i do believe as a whole there is more grade inflation at private schools
@@dachshundlover2650 I definitely agree. That’s why standardized tests are so important. Not a massive fan of them, but I can admit they are very useful.
Same in our area. My child's private school has NO extra credit, retakes, etc. Your grade is your grade. While the local public schools (top ranked in the US) have all of those things and more.
Like it or not, the standardized test are standard. The GPA has no standard. Schools should use a numeric grade on a 100 pt scale because letter grades are inconsistent from district to district. Great video. 👍
@@user-hl1ip7if9r You're right, the instruction received will impact scores. However, the school districts are inconsistent with how the grades are valued. Not within the school, but within the state. For example, some schools have +/- values for letter grades A - D (A+ to D-). Some do not (A - F). Some districts do not have + grades, only - grades (No A+, but yes for A -.) Some dropped A+, and the +/- for the letter grade D. And that's just the regular unweighted grade of a few local districts. If the student has a grade of 97 with APs, the weighted grade could be A+ (GPA 5.33), A (GPA 5.0) or if your school doesn't offer weighted grades, that 97 with APs is an A (GPA 4.0). Meanwhile, the actual grade of 97 is constant, but not the GPA. And I'm not going to talk about any school that had a pandemic curve. High school grades shifted from F to C.
I completely agree! I just don't understand how they are going to evaluate students with SAT for all the reasons you cited. One interesting note about test anxiety. My son has severe test anxiety. So, I just made him take the test every time they offer it. He took it 7 times. That is a lot considering there was no SAT administered for about 1 1/2 years. After a few times, taking the SAT just became a Saturday chore. He wants to go to law school, so I figure I will make him take LSAT every chance possible.
There are medicines available for test anxiety. It seems you’ve put him through unnecessary hard time. Many elite colleges are aware of the kids who perform terribly on the standardized test in spite of their great gpa and great ECs. I have seen kids getting into HYPS with rather low test scores. If I were you, I’d get psychological help for him. My husband started noticing his anxiety with his college entrance exam, barely making it into SNU. He screwed up GRE due to sudden bowl movement and ruined his interview with Apple. He soothed himself with various addictions over the years. Nothing worked when his full blown panic attack started in his 30s. I really wish he’d gotten help when he was young. Various coping skills can be taught to a teenager, and they will prevent a lot of problems in the future. As for my husband he got his first job through an internship at Intel on one of his friend’s reference and he followed his manager when the manager founded a startup company. 1st start up folded but the 2nd one succeeded. He made a lot of money. However, he still suffers from anxiety. Toughening out leaves scars and it is not the only way to succeed in life. There are better easier ways for him.
@@slee8601 Thank you very much for your advice. I didn't mention that his anxiety comes from late-discovered ADHD. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of 10th grade. We thought he was doing OK, because he was getting about B average. I don't think I was putting pressure on him to perform. It might be the other way around. Looking back, signs were there since kindergarten. If I had cared more about his grades in elementary and middle school, I would have known that something was wrong. Instead, I sent him to Waldorf school, which is known for not putting pressure on kids. He is extremely smart, so he got 1480 on SAT but with 2.7 GPA. (This is a guy who says he never studied in his life.) His anxiety comes from he fact that now he has to make up 10 years worth of study habits and academic accomplishments in a short order. I am hoping there is a college out there that will look at the whole person and give him a chance. He is now on ADHD medication, anti-depressant and on weekly counseling with a psychologist.
I fully agree with what Brooke said in this video. I don’t believe in test blind. ACT or SAT should be one of the criteria for admission considerations. GPA and Essay without standardization test give room for more unfairness and increased chance of mistakenly select a lousy apple coated with shinny wax!
Wait, doesn't USA have some sort of board exam like A-level or international baccalaureate ? That would surely eliminate the problem of grade bias right ?
I take no issue with any of your opinions but GOOD LORD you're so hostile in this video. This is the first time I've ever watched a video of yours and was glad * not * to be in the room with you. Sheesh. I also counsel teens through their college admissions process and this is something else. You could express these same opinions in a professional manner, if you choose.
Hey Brooke! Why does it look like you are not happy and you are a little sad. It looks like you have cried before filming this video. Is your health alright. Are you okay??❤
SAT before around 1995 was a very good proxy for IQ. I think it still is pretty good from what I have read but not as good as before 1995. What do you think?
People who don't like the SAT and ACT plain and simple are people who score poorly on the tests. It is the one objective thing for college. I never studied for it at all and blew it out, so I liked them. Essays are a joke. You have no idea who wrote them and proofed them.
Want to read instead of watch👀supertutortv.com/college/unpopular-opinions-on-college-admissions/
“Standardized tests reveal inequality, they don’t create it” - I never thought of it this way
Right. Wealth creates inequality through private schools, better environment, more money on study help and so on.
It doesn’t cause it, but it can certainly exacerbate it. The best test-prep center in our town costs $3,500. Even kids who don’t study hard outside of that will do better than they would otherwise. Figuring out the best way to study and then carving out that time can be very difficult, and working with pro test preppers is likely way more effective and efficient.
Its a proxy for iq. Weeds out dumb shits.
I don’t get when kids with perfect GPAs say they are bad test takers. If you were a bad test taker, you wouldn’t have a perfect GPA. That’s why I am not against standardized testing- it’s a universal quantitative academic measure.
At my school, most of the classes grades are 80-90% test/quiz based. It isn't possible (at my school) for someone to have a perfect GPA while also being a bad test taker.
not true. i have a high GPA and ADHD so its always been difficult for me to take tests.
I agree especially with the standardized tests part. Everything else is even more biased and unfair so I don’t understand the hate towards it.
Unless the people who hate on it are “sus”
Because not everyone tests well. Some of us have undiagnosed/diagnosed learning disabilities that make standardized testing hell.
@@aman-qj5sx INDEED, and the time could be spent outside of school also. huh? why even go to school since we could spend time changing the world.
And tbh we complain too much. You can literally spend 30 dollars on a test prep book that has everything you need, and you can find past tests for both the ACT and the SAT online. You don't need more than that, really.
@@mariamshah338 not everyone is athletic yet sports is still part of the application. Clubs cost money to join at my school and some people may have social anxiety that makes them less inclined to join clubs. Should all extracurriculars not be included then because it's "unfair" for some people?
Also, impressive extracurriculars show wealth. Sports, instrument lessons, all cost so much money. I really don’t get what is so special for ex. about playing piano at Carnegie Hall. Admissions people think that’s so great, but all that shows me is that their family had enough money for a piano and pricey lessons for years. Even being a part of a school club costs money in many schools. Students are asked to pay for competition, travel, and bus fees that add up to $1000s per year. I really think the admissions people are out -of -touch with what high school is like today. If they understood I don’t know if they would place such high value on extracurriculars.
Right, so, the Ivies already bias strongly towards those "with means."
Certain extracurriculars demonstrate wealth even more strongly (skiing, snowboarding, polo, equestrianism, ski diving, figure skating, etc.)
Certain extracurriculars ... one can only be middle class or upper middle class or higher (ice hockey, robotics)
And of course, being good usually correlates strongly with wealth.
I agree with your general message, but playing at Carnegie hall is still impressive and a show of hard work/talent regardless.
Sports have become so expensive. Baseball kids travel with club teams in the third grade. My daughter dances - and it is a fortune - she's just in the 7th grade and not at an elite/competitive studio but being in Company it's over 10K a year... it becomes have and have nots. And if they don't start and specialize early, most kids are shut out of taking on one of these activities for high school. Not to say these kids work hard and are talented at their activities - but when we make it so that there is no access for kids to these activities - we continue to push the inequities. I think Kahn Academy is really an amazing free source that helps make the SAT more accessible and a better argument for Test requirements/Test optional Though the fees for the SAT is another issue... (and that you have to pay for more information on your test results is terrible)
Being great at playing an instrument takes countless hours, year after year, of dedicated practice. A multitude get started, very few persevere. Those who persevere do great things.
Standarized tests are definetely much more fair than GPAs.
Is it perfect? No.
Is it the best it can be? Probably.
Ummmm...private tutors etc
@@ruthosornio7779 I’m going to be honest you don’t need the tutors to do well. All of the advice/strategies can be found online, as well as all of the available practice. If you’re truly motivated, you can do just as good without a tutor, like I did.
@@intellectual5598 I already graduated lol I just watch these for fun! But honestly, big name schools lead to a lot of school debt. I graduated debt free and did 2 internships, had research experience, leadership roles, and was an Honor Scholar and graduated summa cum laude all while working multiple jobs...motivation is more of a factor than where you attend. I had a career right after I graduated and I love my workplace too! I also constantly get calls from places trying to hire me too. So what matters more is what you study and how dedicated you are to achieving success no matter how many hurdles are thrown at you :)
@@intellectual5598 Not true. I really hate the argument that just because some people can do something everyone can do it.
@@intellectual5598 teaching yourself stuff online is not anywhere close for most people as actually having a real life person in front of you to help you. Just look at the effect of two years of virtual schooling bc of covid on the educational gap....
I agree with your stance on standardized tests. As someone who goes to a below average public high school, the SAT and ACT were some of the only ways for me to stand out.
Thank you for your videos. They helped me get into my dream school.
Me too! The standardized tests are the only way that I could prove myself as deserving. My 4.0 GPA is a joke. It was so easy to obtain.
And that’s why it’s better for standardized testing to exist than not exist. So that it is an option for students to prove themselves. This is especially true for underprivileged students who may have limited ways to prove themselves in the first place.
Very good point made about standardized tests. It frustrates me that some schools are test-blind. ACT/SAT is the only objective and comparative aspect of an application. Everything else is subjective to the viewer. I understand they were trying to solve a problem, but that was not the way to do it.
The test Blind Schools might not be so good for all the students of the world,
To be fair, a number of test-blind schools made the tests such a low weight and some were looking for other proxies. (AIME, USAMO, etc. qualification is FAR more significant than 800 in math.)
@@chrislee367 could you please explain the other things they might be looking for? I am not familiar with those acronyms.
@@nashminor8305 AIME = American Invitational Mathematics Examination (~top 5% of AMC12 scorers)
USAMO = USA Mathematics Olympiad
Basically there are some schools that look at various external validations. (The higher up you go, the more they look at those kinds of things.)
@@chrislee367 I have never heard of any of these. Where would I find them?
First video in a while. I graduated last year with the class of 2021. I’m at Tufts university now and I got in through my Questbridge application. Thank you for all your work! It helped a ton along my college process and my senior year of high school
Congrats!
@@sparsec Thank you :)
In countries like Iran, China, India, UK, Turkey, etc there are standardized tests which are the main factor in college admission. There’s no grade inflation or wildly inconsistent grading systems in those countries.
Not entirely true. The standardized tests in China are different by province. The reason is that at the beginning there was a national standard test. But the big cities perform poorly. Then the tests are different for each region or province. Then big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have much much higher rates to get into colleges, especially elite colleges than the poor provinces. That’s one of the reasons that these cities has skyrocketed house prices, because you cannot attend the schools if you don’t buy a house there.
Having a strict standardized test could be slightly more egalitarian however you have very high rates of suicide around those exams, not to mention reappearing cheating scandals, test tutoring that rich families pay for that leave the poor in the dust. I wouldn’t say the current US method is the greatest, but I certainly wouldn’t point to India or china as the way to go..
I was a tutor and SAT test prepper, and I can tell you that Brooke really hit this one out of the park. I agree that yes, standardize tests aren't perfect nor totally objective, but they are the MOST objective of all the other college admissions criteria. After all, ALL students took, basically, the same test so all competed against each other. What could be MORE fair than that. And yes, the schools get to choose who gets in. Nothing wrong with that.
Ppp
Some good points. I would take issue with one item - these elite private universities shouldn't be able to do as they please. As stated eloquently by others: "All these elite private schools are 501(c)3’s. They’re charities. That means that alumni donations are tax deductible, and it means that if they have endowments, endowments can get income without paying taxes. That’s a huge deal. It’s a massive subsidy to these schools - and even a bigger subsidy to elite, private universities. Just to give you an idea of the size of the subsidy, in a recent years someone calculated that Princeton University’s tax exempt status amounts to a public subsidy of $100,000 per Princeton student. State University of New Jersey at Rutgers spends about $12,500 per student per year. And the local community college spends between $2,000 to $3,000 per student per year. So the allegedly private Princeton is getting a public subsidy that is much bigger than the public universities in its neighborhood." That' simply not right. So, a fix is to eliminate this tax gift that all of us pay for. Then, and only then, should these "elites" be allowed to do as they please with their sham meritocracy.
The last 3 years has not treated me kindly, so a standardized test proving I'm as smart as I say I am is a great thing. Had I been a perfect high school student I'd be scoring the same as I am now as a not so perfect student. It's fair.
Then again, it's one of those situations where someone could be as smart as you but did have a good first 3 years. Do you think that you should be more likely to get in than that person? But I agree that test scores are a great way for people to prove themselves, but i don't wanna give myself too much hope on that lol
All hail Brooke! The best source of college admissions advice we’ve found!
To those high school students worried about getting into college. Stress not! As a former corporate recruiter in NY, i saw how the careers of graduates of elite high schools and colleges often played played out in the real world. Private industry has always been a better judge of a person’s capabilities and potential than our university system. Grades and test scores don’t correlate well with a person’s ability to excel in private industry. 5-10 years out of school, a candidate’s work performance, character, likability and determination always trumps an Ivy League degree. Over educated academics who don’t function well in corporate America are far more common than elite colleges would like to admit. The smartest candidates from the best universities were not what my clients wanted. In fact, I saw hiring managers as more often biased against graduates from top schools, because they were rarely graduates of top colleges themselves. “I saw she went to Harvard. So can she walk on water AND turn it into wine?”
It’s a crime that these colleges are in a position to have so much influence on our children. They’re just not that good at it in my experience. To accurately assess people takes a lot more than 8-10 minutes per application…,go figure.
Brooke’s best advice, IMO…..seriously consider state schools and community college; Because the school you desperately want to go to you isn’t as good as they’re leading you to believe; And hiring managers are tired of this system just like everyone else. When you graduate, try to find a company with quality people because corporate America is filled with people who’ve ‘found their passion’ but work for an asshole. 😊
#4 is one of those opinions that should be popular but are for some reason very unpopular. The SAT is a test where everyone gets the same test, same questions, same amount of time, and same venues (high schools). Sure the kids from private schools and tutors have a preparation advantage but compare that to GPA"s or even EC's where a kid from a private school can have a 4.0 whereas if they went to the local public school they would have got a 2.3. Or even that private school kids participate in EC's and that even middle class kids have never even heard of. The private school kid not only has an advantage in the EC that they participate in compared to the middle class public school kid but also have a larger variety of activities to choose from. That is like giving the private school kid 20 questions on a test and saying that they can pick the 10 questions they want to answer and giving the middle class public school kid a 10 question test and saying that they have to answer all 10.
This is a really good video. I think everyone should take this into consideration when applying to college, especially for the ivies or top tier colleges, and for international students who are often left behind no matter how qualified they may be. Personally, I have been really stressed lately because I'm an international student applying this year, and I have been thinking a lot about the things you said. I appreciate the way you explained everything and the sincerity too! Thank you!
Pray hard Because I scored very top Grades but still did not make it into College in America.
Writing 500 World History 750 French 800.
Next time rather look at the Local Schools and Universities out there in 2020.
Please consider the Claremont Colleges if you are a strong student. Foreign students are well represented at thes liberal arts colleges. Good luck!
@@georgegreen442 o: thank you, will definitely check them out! 💛
@@georgegreen442 Wesleyan and Colgate are also great liberal arts colleges for foreign students
I agree with you, my daughter is Jr high in a good public school. Some teachers are very hard on grading and don’t hand out A’s. I think SAT is a good indicator where a person stands. Essay’s are paid too. CA might not agree with SAT for lame reasons but they don’t have an alternative either.
I went to a high school where some teachers handed out like 1-2 A's in a class of 25-30.
I think our fiinal stats (I'm over 30 years out from high school graduation),
>80% finished some kind of higher education
>60% finished 4-year college degree
Only 2% had 4.0 unweighted.
However, context is thus very important (why many private universities require a high school report of the above).
Someone who is the best in a decade (or a few decades) is any context is already amazing. The best in a decade from a highly competitive school looks even better.
Very interesting analysis on test scores. It was interesting to see my peers who are straight A students getting 1100s. You make a good point
I've heard of a middle schooler taking a SAT practice test cold and scoring 1200s. Does that mean anything?
@@coquitlamfalcons3976 i took it in 8th grade for Duke tip and scored a 1300, as long as you prep a bit and know the basic algebra and geometry well, it really isn’t all that impressive
One test score really shouldn’t be more predictive than the 4 years of “mini college” in High School. But here we are with a single test considered a better predictor than the 4 years of High School. Schools need to stop encouraging inflated GPAs. We really shouldn’t be ok with a single test being better than the High School Grades.
"That must be a tough job... good thing it's not mine" got me dying 😂. But all jokes aside, this was really good insight! Thank you so much!
TEST ARE A FACT OF LIFE . if you want to be a CPA LAWYER DOCTOR or go to grad school etc . get ready for many test . if you want to look at unfair test , look at college admission test in asia india etc . those are the people you are going to compete against in life . taking a test is a skill that everyone should learn
Brooke Hanson is a great counselor because the 2022 reality because the Admissions Commitees have their own rules that applicants must fulfill.
Overall they do a good job and the their best to tap out the students from the crap and the list.
A video everyone needs to see before applying to college
Your advice on SATs enabled me to do so much better in my digital SAT tests. I am very happy to have received a 1570 SAT score in my recent test. ☺
If you've never looked at them, the Germans actually have quite a good system.
You are examined on five subjects, however two you do at a 'major' level and three you do at a 'minor' level. That keeps the range of subjects broad but also allows for some specialisation.
The exams also differ a bit from State to State in Germany, so there is a bit of leeway in the system.
Brooke pulled no punches in this one lol. Great video!
The awkward pauses Brooke does are funny AF.
I understand your first point but actually Google can't just hire whoever they want to hire. There are anti-discrimination laws they have to consider. It's even worse for private Universities which take federal funding, student federal loans, and tax exemptions, and therefore are subject to even more federal regulations and public scrutiny.
Agree with all these unpopular opinions! Also wanted to add that grade inflation puts MORE pressure on students. When 20% of the student body gets straight A's (like my son's large public school), getting one B is a calamity... as well as it doesn't let the real stars shine. So then there is more pressure to take AP courses (which at our school you have to pay for the very expensive texts since it's an AP course (can be over $200) and the AP test) which adds to the pressure and further pushes grade inflation. I graduated HS in the 80's and there were only 3 AP classes available and we only had a handful of kids with over a 4.0 and you knew who they were. (I had a 3.86 and decent SAT scores for the times (1240! so there's SAT inflation too) and got into an Ivy League school. Would not cut it at all in today's insane world).
I don't agree with the Standardized test one. I take 5 A-levels which is more than 99% of students in the UK. I have no time to do SATs, and also when I did try (which was flipping hard because I had my school exams at the same time) my SAT exam was cancelled twice. But hey I see people agreeing in the comments...i guess it's different depending on each person and how many difficult courses they take at school
But you have A levels-- which I would argue are also a standardized test. And those could take the place of the SAT if that is what you were prepping toward. In the US we have no A-levels. If we had some I might be less on the SAT bandwagon.
@@SupertutorTV they’re predicted grades. 1 of them is an actual grade
A levels is tough exam, speaking from someone coming from similar background! ACT & SAT should be easy cheesy to you.
@@DrPrag Unfortunately, since they were cancelled twice I didn't have enough experience to do well.
This is actually one of the best videos you have done. “Unpopular opinions”? We need those!
You are a breath of fresh air. When I graduated HS overseas a few decades ago, I had no idea there were tricks to the trade to studying for the SAT. It was months of torture, and self study was super hard. Now my senior used resources such as yours and others, and did alright. Your advice will come in v handy for my next students in tow.
I disagree with standarized tests because testing in general is harder for some kids. I go to a really good high school which focuses heavily on STEM and the classes there are more advanced than most high schools.
When it comes to standardized testing, I do really poorly. It's not because I didn't study or pay attention. I know how to answer the question, I know the steps and formulas. But it takes me a long time to absorb the info which results in me guessing or leaving blank 50% of the test. Some kids just aren't good at taking tests even though they're really smart
May be you are not as good as you think you are. Ultimately you still need to give test for your school gpa as well. Only thing is school can inflate gpa making kids feel they are better than what they really are
Thank you for sharing. I will share this with my sophomore daughter. One of her big concerns has been whether her GPA would be higher if she had gone to the local public school versus her private Catholic high school. It’s not so easy say and I remind her of my public school experience and how the admissions office saw that versus the private school GPAs. Thank you again
Isn't point 1 kinda obvious? They are currently not a meritocracy. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be meritocratic. But I don't think it's unpopular or controversial to state the matter of fact that they are current unmeritocratic.
You know College Kids ought to apply to lesser known Schools than the well know ones for Admittance because one is bound to struggle and snuggle.
Low SAT scores have been the reason why so many black students have not been able to make it unto the School or system.
You’re awesome! Thank you for what you do. Love your diversity of topics.
Hi Brook, thanks for the tough love! Elite universities are built for the self preservation of their elite status. This means life is not fair. Stanford took a football player that went to the same high school of another student that was the quitessential great kid, top student, good athlete, great leadership, top 1 percent SATs and was rejected. I told him Stanford needed a star athlete more than it another highly qualified great kid.
One factor that is driving the supper low acceptance rates among elite universities is that many strong candidates will apply to over a dozen elite universities wich inflates the application pool as well as the encouragement you indicated for less than qualified students to apply. Seems to be a bit of a game to me and I am very happy I don't have to traverse this minefield any more. Keep up the great content and thank you for providing a realistic and pragmatic view.
Correct: I see and I've seen many videos where people applied to 20+ schools. I've been tracking trends and more and more students are applying to more and more colleges.
So, all else being equal, if the "average student" even 30 years ago applied to say 6-8 colleges and the "average student" nowadays applies to about double, then the acceptance rate(s) will be halved.
IMHO, this was one of your most informative vlogs ever. Thank you.
What do you think of the idea of testing someone on material that has not been taught? There are a lot of questions on the SAT that do just that. Is that fair? After all, everyone takes the same test.
I think it's fair, in the sense that randomness is fair.
1:05 Not legally, but wouldn't you agree that it would be immoral exclude or discriminate against students based on their income, race, gender, family heritage or sexual orientation? Wouldn't it be unfair to knowingly limit the opportunities of students based upon unfair criteria?
Race, gender, sexual orientation are protected groups by law in terms of discrimination. Everything else? Up for grabs.
@@brookifyd Okay, so this answer gets to the heart of the problem I have with this entire video. Are you giving your opinion of the way things ARE, and trying to say, "Face reality, folks, that's the way it is."? Or are you saying that this is the way things SHOULD be? Yes, these Universities CAN, legally, discriminate based on income. But should they? Should they be allowed to? Should they be allowed to discriminate based on income AND receive billions in public funding through massive research grants and federally guaranteed student loans? These are all very different questions and your video does not make clear when you are addressing which.
@@Decnavda69 I completely agree. Just because things are doesn't mean they _should be_ . It doesn't mean that the people and organizations that take advantage of that are morally right.
This is the best video you ever made!
7:31 completely agree.
Can't understand why the US doesn't have external exams like A-Levels or Scottish highers like we do in the UK (Although they have problems as well).
Wow - love this video! An adult telling children they are not entitled to something - what a concept. From a 52 year old trying to help his nephew get into college.
Straight up facts! Best video on CZcams about college admission process 👏🏼👏🏼
Excellent, Brooke. Probably the best video you've done.
I'm glad u r makin money & career brooke. This "elite" college iadmission is the biggest hustle goin. 95% of these kids can attend state Us .. have great careers and in whole lot less DEBT..
I don’t hear anyone whining that the LSAT is “unfair!!” Or that the GRE, MEDCAT or VETCAT are “biased!!” These complaints are socio-political yammering that didn’t even happen until fairly recently. The SAT/ACT are no more “unfair” than graduate aptitude tests. In my experience only inferior students complain about aptitude tests being stacked against them. Even the fact that nobody is saying this out loud confirms the social /political nature of such claims and complaints. School selection processes aren’t democracies and they want to know who is up to the task of academically succeeding. If you don’t like these tests then you’re very likely concerned that you’re in that group. If someone experiences a lack of privilege and this should influence their academic performance that is an entirely different issue that cannot and should not be addressed by the SAT. That person can locate a school that will not give weight to their test score and can worry about not getting a job they want 4 yrs down the road.
Omg she said everything I’ve been thinking. Some may not like SATs but they’re the fairest part of the whole application process. Like she said, it is much easier to coach a kid on the essays and essays reveal inequality in wealth. I know kids who had $$ college counselors “help” them on essays and by the end, we really don’t know who wrote it.
And with recommendations - kids at private schools get inflated recs from both teachers and counselors. My counselor has over 100 seniors to write recs for, while taking care of 250 underclassmen. I doubt he wrote any of us excellent recs.
Yep. If you remove SAT/ACT, then we are left with GPA which are inflated, extracurriculars and essays that correlates even more with wealth, letters of recommendations that are bias and sometimes low quality, and finally “Wow Factors/Passion Projects” which are extremely difficult to pull off. If you remove standardized testing, unless you can successfully pull off a “Wow Factor”, then college admission would be far more of a lottery than it is now.
Thank you for this honest take on the college application process.
Brilliant analysis, Brooke!
totally agree on gpa. it even matters which teachers you get in hs, not how smart you are
It's difficult to get a high GPA in college because there are a lot of C's for everyone and B's for everyone instructors, and you might not know who to take and who to avoid.
They should rather use the Standardized Tests to select the right applicants their various Campuses and facilities,
Unpopular opinion: complaining about the SAT is a loser's thing.
My POV: I am an international student who comes from a country with absolutely no standardization even among my school's teachers. We do not have ranks nor do we have any way to compare each other. Some students in my class do way better than others just because the teachers' grading policies vary so much. Since nobody from my high school ever went to the US (top school), there is absolutely no way to compare myself to other, and the SAT was the proof that I was qualified.
I do not understand the people who complain about the SAT not being "fair". It is SO fair, since there are so many-a plethora ;)- of free resources on the internet that allow everybody to have access to test prep. Neverhteless, there are still people complaining about rich kids having access to private tutoring... You know what? that's just life. Obviously, kids from rich families will have a headstart in everything in life, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Regarding the argument that you are wasting time, I do not agree with it either. The SAT truly teaches you to be critical, it helps you read faster, solve math problems quickly.... As I progressed on both sections, I saw my abilities and understand of english and math improve tremednously.
After all, I just think that people prefer to complain instead of work hard.
Let me know what you think ;)
I think you don’t understand why people complain about the SAT….
@@glaliemaster1334 a lot of people complain because they think that scores are related to wealth, and I tried in my comment to explain that everything in life is related to wealth. What do you mean?
Adding this video to my favorites!
Thank you. I’ll have to watch this again. and again.
I enjoyed this video ,it's very informative
Thanks a lot, Brooke! Makes a lot of sense.
The source you cited says that wealth correlates with essay CONTENT and not the strength of the essay. Also, writing "stand out" essays are a lot harder to do than getting a good SAT score... so I strongly disagree on that one.
Right but that essay content is often preferred content
Bold and well reasoned!
my school has grade inflation, but they dont send the percentages, they send the letter grades only. Would that help me or still hurt me if i get usually A-'s and As?
So many enrollment professionals are unnecesarily weeping and gnashing their teeth about the methods of what they call "highly rejective" universities.
Same issue with standardized exams -- too much crying by EM pros.
I believe that standardized tests are flawed, But I tend to agree that they are in some ways less flawed than the other goalposts used to evaluate admissions. My own additions to your list are not original to me, but I will state them anyway. One is that the survey material on return on investment (ROI) for uni degrees is an important statistic. The corollary is that too many uni choice counselors focus too much on the selectivity of the school, and not enough on the ROI of the particular degree from the particular school. I am all for liberal arts degrees and pursuing one's dreams. But the notion of going deeply into debt to achieve a degree with limited career economic rewards is less viable now then 45 years ago when I was college-age. The amount of debt one must undertake is just too staggering in some cases.
I worry that the academic-industrial-complex of selective admissions involve a lot of expense and investment of effort to get into a top x uni when a public uni or less elite uni with more substantial financial aid is likely the best choice for the student.
luv it. wait, I thought you were not allowed to be brutally honest and straightforward on youtube! just kidding. What's even more brutally true- colleges matter less than the student's motivation, discipline, goals, and plans. If you don't have one or more of those - it matters little which college you go to. Also, picking the right major/career choice is so so much more important than which college you go to. Lastly, for some, cost of college should trump more than the rankings so you are not overburden with debt when you graduate with a communications degree that pays little or confer very little advantage in job search when you graduate.
In my area the public schools have highly inflated GPAs, while the private ones are often slightly deflated.
I would somewhat agree because I have not had to work very hard for a 4.0 GPA at my public school. If there were tougher classes in my school (which is expected at private schools), that would probably make the 4.0 a lot harder to get.
@@nashminor8305 yah, I think it really is very dependent on the individual school districts and private schools in each region of the country though i do believe as a whole there is more grade inflation at private schools
Which is why she said no standardization in GPA grading.
@@dachshundlover2650 I definitely agree. That’s why standardized tests are so important. Not a massive fan of them, but I can admit they are very useful.
Same in our area. My child's private school has NO extra credit, retakes, etc. Your grade is your grade. While the local public schools (top ranked in the US) have all of those things and more.
Thank you for just stating the truth!
Like it or not, the standardized test are standard. The GPA has no standard. Schools should use a numeric grade on a 100 pt scale because letter grades are inconsistent from district to district.
Great video. 👍
@@user-hl1ip7if9r You're right, the instruction received will impact scores. However, the school districts are inconsistent with how the grades are valued. Not within the school, but within the state. For example, some schools have +/- values for letter grades A - D (A+ to D-). Some do not (A - F). Some districts do not have + grades, only - grades (No A+, but yes for A -.) Some dropped A+, and the +/- for the letter grade D. And that's just the regular unweighted grade of a few local districts.
If the student has a grade of 97 with APs, the weighted grade could be A+ (GPA 5.33), A (GPA 5.0) or if your school doesn't offer weighted grades, that 97 with APs is an A (GPA 4.0).
Meanwhile, the actual grade of 97 is constant, but not the GPA.
And I'm not going to talk about any school that had a pandemic curve. High school grades shifted from F to C.
Brooke on her menace arch 💀
Impressed with your honest thoughts.
I completely agree! I just don't understand how they are going to evaluate students with SAT for all the reasons you cited.
One interesting note about test anxiety. My son has severe test anxiety. So, I just made him take the test every time they offer it. He took it 7 times. That is a lot considering there was no SAT administered for about 1 1/2 years. After a few times, taking the SAT just became a Saturday chore. He wants to go to law school, so I figure I will make him take LSAT every chance possible.
There are medicines available for test anxiety. It seems you’ve put him through unnecessary hard time. Many elite colleges are aware of the kids who perform terribly on the standardized test in spite of their great gpa and great ECs. I have seen kids getting into HYPS with rather low test scores.
If I were you, I’d get psychological help for him. My husband started noticing his anxiety with his college entrance exam, barely making it into SNU. He screwed up GRE due to sudden bowl movement and ruined his interview with Apple. He soothed himself with various addictions over the years. Nothing worked when his full blown panic attack started in his 30s. I really wish he’d gotten help when he was young. Various coping skills can be taught to a teenager, and they will prevent a lot of problems in the future.
As for my husband he got his first job through an internship at Intel on one of his friend’s reference and he followed his manager when the manager founded a startup company. 1st start up folded but the 2nd one succeeded. He made a lot of money. However, he still suffers from anxiety.
Toughening out leaves scars and it is not the only way to succeed in life. There are better easier ways for him.
@@slee8601 Thank you very much for your advice. I didn't mention that his anxiety comes from late-discovered ADHD. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of 10th grade. We thought he was doing OK, because he was getting about B average. I don't think I was putting pressure on him to perform. It might be the other way around. Looking back, signs were there since kindergarten. If I had cared more about his grades in elementary and middle school, I would have known that something was wrong. Instead, I sent him to Waldorf school, which is known for not putting pressure on kids. He is extremely smart, so he got 1480 on SAT but with 2.7 GPA. (This is a guy who says he never studied in his life.) His anxiety comes from he fact that now he has to make up 10 years worth of study habits and academic accomplishments in a short order. I am hoping there is a college out there that will look at the whole person and give him a chance. He is now on ADHD medication, anti-depressant and on weekly counseling with a psychologist.
@@slee8601 Actually, what are some of the medication that calms test anxiety? I would like to ask his psychiatrist who prescribes him ADHD medication.
It is not recommended to take SAT or ACT too many times! One should try to hit his desired score no more than five or six official tests.
@@DrPrag 5 or 6 tests is a lot.
I fully agree with what Brooke said in this video. I don’t believe in test blind. ACT or SAT should be one of the criteria for admission considerations. GPA and Essay without standardization test give room for more unfairness and increased chance of mistakenly select a lousy apple coated with shinny wax!
This was a very important video, Brooke.
1:03 that was a big truth bomb
Hard disagree on standardized testing
Brooke sounds so done with the rat race for college elitism lol
Are you ok?? You're looking a little sad? Or perhaps tired, upset..sick?? Hopefully just my impression
I completely agree with you!
I have literally seen a person score above 1400 on an SAT, and nearly fail the standardized CBSE test in India.
Wait, doesn't USA have some sort of board exam like A-level or international baccalaureate ? That would surely eliminate the problem of grade bias right ?
yes we have standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT
There are AP exams, but access to those vary by school.
Ha! No
Agree wholeheartedly with every take, I would hope that the hype towards elite colleges dies down tho.
Brooke spittin’‼️ 🗣🗣🗣
do you counsel kids for college admission, college selection, application help and essay help?
yes! Supertutortv.com/tutoring
I take no issue with any of your opinions but GOOD LORD you're so hostile in this video. This is the first time I've ever watched a video of yours and was glad * not * to be in the room with you. Sheesh. I also counsel teens through their college admissions process and this is something else. You could express these same opinions in a professional manner, if you choose.
Well said
A whole lotta reasons to homeschool.
100% agreed.
What is the link to inquire about essay prep services?
supertutortv.com/tutoring
Brooke is having her joker moment
Truth!
The GPA opinion is facts
Hey Brooke! Why does it look like you are not happy and you are a little sad. It looks like you have cried before filming this video. Is your health alright. Are you okay??❤
I think she lost her voice
SAT before around 1995 was a very good proxy for IQ. I think it still is pretty good from what I have read but not as good as before 1995. What do you think?
People who don't like the SAT and ACT plain and simple are people who score poorly on the tests. It is the one objective thing for college. I never studied for it at all and blew it out, so I liked them. Essays are a joke. You have no idea who wrote them and proofed them.
Oh damnnnnnnn, the energy I used to feel while watching her videos, isnt there. Get well soon
u sound kinda sick today brook
I was…
Is there a way I can contact you ?
Supertutortv.com/contact
@@SupertutorTV I just emailed you
Brooke are you okay you sound very glum now
Had a cold last week before we shot this so was just getting my voice back. Doing great now!!
UC is a test-blind joke. UC will pay for this.
Based