Completely disagree. Grades are not dispositive of SAT performance. A kid playing on three teams who did not elect honors or who opted out is going to score the same, give or take a percentile.
Let's not deal with anecdotal information, let's deal with specifics. An honor student will take Algebra in eighth grade, Geometry in ninth grade, Algebra II in tenth grade, Precalculus in eleventh grade, and Calculus AB or BC in their senior year.
A non-honors student might not start Algebra until ninth grade and might be placed in an 18-month or 24-month program before sitting for the Regents. That places this same student in Geometry in tenth grade.
While the SAT Math section only requires Algebra and Geometry, which student would you say is better prepared as a junior to sit for the PSAT/PLAN and SAT/ACT exams?
Coming back to the 90th-percentile question, a Math score of 680 is needed to meet that requirement. Verbal scores require a 660 and writing requires a 650. Bottom line is that a 90th-percentile performance is 1440/2090.
Originally Posted by Anonymous
And the competitive Catholic schools like Chaminade and Regis that do not technically offer AP have classes that are in fact harder than most similar AP courses in the publics. I know because I have asked and have seen the curriculum.
Unless you have sat for the Calculus BC course, how can you make that assessment?
Let me ask you a different question : Do you know why specific schools do not offer an AP course? (Hint : There is a reason why some schools are not permitted to offer AP courses. BOTC will let you do that research and there is a reason.)
Originally Posted by Anonymous
In my high school the two kids who scored over 1450 on the SATs both had high 80s in non-honors. Our valedictorian had a 1300. Grades "may" be indicative but they are not determinative of SAT performance.
Individual cases in isolation cannot be used to prove or disprove the point. For example, consider the following question : What were the scores of all non-honors students with an average in the high 80s? We strongly suspect you are highlighting statistical outliers and concluding that such is expected performance.
