re: LSU needs to go to a 3.0 GPA for admission policy

quote:

---

Its not hard to do it but its easy for a grown adult to say that when they aren't in a 15 year olds mindset. Also every school is different so how do you measure that? I went to St. Pauls with a 6.5 grading scale and was right around a 3.0 because I screwed around 8-9 grade. I'll put up half the people with 2.5 and lower from my class vs some 3.0 from another school.

---

Fair point - not every high school is created equal. I can see how a 3.0 GPA should be the floor even in the worst high schools in Louisiana.

I am sure there are many places where a student can make a 3.0 GPA but can barely break a 20 on the ACT.

A 2.5 at Episcopal is the equivalent of a 4.0 at
Belaire.

Standardized test scores are the answer.

Exactly. I had a 3.0 and made a 24 on the ACT. I know more people who had a 2.5 and 20 on the ACT that are still in college compared to people with 3.5 and 30 on the ACT. It all means nothing. The only thing that matters is how you grow up and adjust to college once you are there.

quote:

---

There's not too much of any TOPS money

---

bullshite. The minimum requirement for TOPS (for the Tech award) is an ACT score of 17 (otherwise it's 20) and a GPA of 2.5. This is for all in-state students.

Of that, the income group that takes advantage of it most are those families making $150k per year or more ( LINK).

As time has passed the retention rate of TOPS students has dropped slightly for 1st and 2nd year students but at least as of 2015 the retention rate for 3rd and 4th year students is 0%. Unless they were all magically getting only Associate degrees, this is a fricking abysmal waste of money.

At the beginning of the study (2006-2007 school year) there were 13,101 students on TOPS. Of those, 4,056 (roughly 1/3) came from families making over $100k/yr. Flash-forward to 2015-2016 and of the 15,360 students on TOPS, 7,454 (or almost half) come from families making over $100k/yr. The largest of that group are the students that come from families making $150k/yr or more (3,247, or roughly 1/5). When looking at the year-to-year changes across the categories it shows that as time goes on more kids from families that can afford to pay for college out of their own pockets are instead opting for TOPS and then spending their kids' college funds on apartments or condos for the kids (thus the housing boom around LSU and down Burbank).



TL;DR - it's becoming a program for kids from wealthy families to not live on campus and for kids to go for only a year or two then drop out.

I agree the requirement is too low. Im saying it seems TOPS is slowly dying. Even if the requirements change I still don't think it will be sustainable. Especially considering how our education systems are ran.

You trying to eliminate all sports teams?

quote:

---

As time has passed the retention rate of TOPS students has dropped slightly for 1st and 2nd year students but at least as of 2015 the retention rate for 3rd and 4th year students is 0%. Unless they were all magically getting only Associate degrees, this is a fricking abysmal waste of money

---

That seems almost impossible. Damn

You people are confusing LSU requirements and TOPS requirements. Yes, you can get TOPS money with less than a 3.0.

If you want to get TOPS money AND go to LSU, you need a minimum 3.0 GPA.

quote:

---

o. GPA is useless in today’s age. Test scores should be the determining factor if anything. Don’t make it unfair for students who actually attended a good school, got a lower GPA than someone who went to an LA pub school, but probably has a high ACT / SAT.

---

GPAs can be easily manipulated by legal means (giving more credit for homework, etc) or illegal means (straight up lying and changing grades).

If you focus too much on test scores, then you only teach the exact information needed, in the exact way the test measures it. This may help you get a good test scores, but it's causing lots of problems in the real world, when these kids get jobs and can't accomplish anything.