3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread (2011 HS Graduation)

mazewanderer · 06-05-2010, 09:05 PM

In May of 2009, ReadyToRoll started this thread New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread for the reason given below:

New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread

I was getting a little frustrated by the turn in the current B+ parents thread so I'm starting a new one.

This thread is for parents of kids who have GPAs from 3.0 to 3.3. This would be weighted or unweighted. Please if your kid has a 3.3 GPA but it's weighted up to a 4.0, there are many more options open to your child and many more threads at CC for you. This would not be your thread. Similarly, if your child has a 3.5...again...out of the range of this particular thread. The parents here would be working on finding colleges that will accept their B to B plus student, perhaps colleges that may place more emphasis on areas other than GPA.

There are lots of B or B+ students who are fantastic kids and may shine in other areas...test scores...ECs....community service...or whatever. Or maybe they are kids who haven't found their groove yet. Either way, this thread is for encouragement, sharing of information, and support. Please...no "one up-ing". There is enough of that elsewhere on CC as we all know!

If you don't like the criteria, please feel free to start your own thread. I hope there are enough parents here whose children fit these criteria, however, to join me on this thread so we can post about our experiences.

Thank you!

That thread in about a years time is still very relevant but has gotten to be over 250 pages and is difficult to find information.

Hence I am starting a thread based on the year when the student will graduate (2011, 2012, 2013). I would think that focus would help parents based on which year in school (junior, senior) they are in. The parent thread (New 3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread) should continue as a general overall thread.

Thanks

holliesue · 06-05-2010, 09:18 PM

count me in...sometimes D's gpa UW goes over this, but her mindset is always aligned with this group.

Shrinkrap · 06-05-2010, 09:25 PM

Yay! Looks like my son is looking at 6 A's and a B this semester, which FINALLY(depending on how you calculate GPA's, ) makes my posting here legitimate! I KNEW he could do it, so I started posting awhile ago....

EmmyBet · 06-05-2010, 09:26 PM

I'm in, too. This definitely is our home!

EmmyBet · 06-05-2010, 09:33 PM

Yes, please, anyone who is new to this, understand that it's more about mindset than numbers. Maybe your student has very high scores, and can reach for some top schools. Or maybe it's the elective grades that keep the GPA decent at all (that's kind of our situation, lots of As in the arts).

About the only thing that has gotten tricky is when the schools people are discussing are really disparate in their admissions criteria - on the "big" thread it was clear that most people's kids were looking at match and safety schools that were welcoming and appropriate for students with a fair number of Bs, and even some Cs, and where SATs of 500s-600s were perfectly acceptable (if you'll excuse the expression), as well as ACTs in the 20s.

Hey, congrats, Shrinkrap! We might actually see the same thing, although it ain't over until it's over ...

holliesue · 06-05-2010, 09:50 PM

Shrinkrap and Emmybet...opposite here. grades went down this year, but difficulty of classes was the main reason (ap and honors, in the regents level classes her grades were high). Love that D likes a challenge, but realize that it will effect where she applies and merit aid.

EmmyBet · 06-05-2010, 10:20 PM

I understand, holliesue. Don't forget that colleges really do appreciate rigor. I know about the merit cutoffs, though. Probably now that she's gotten her feet wet, she can show big improvement next fall, don't you think? It took my D all year to get how to handle the AP classes.

2011VAMom · 06-05-2010, 10:48 PM

Thanks - I appreciated the other thread so much but this will be really helpful.

holliesue · 06-05-2010, 11:03 PM

here's hoping Emmybet!

kathiep · 06-06-2010, 08:48 PM

We still have a couple of more weeks of school and I don't really know what Son's gpa will be. It's been listed as 3.17 unweighted all year on the on-line grade thing but last semester his weighted grade was 3.8. This semester has been a good one, but I'm worried about those finals. He just doesn't do that well on finals. One more project to finish up for AP Euro. I'm a bit worried about the three other people on this team. It's a video project and Son will (as usual) be the editing person which means he'll stay up until very late the night before working on it. Sat is the ACT, which he's done minimal studying for. I really want him to be done with ACT/SAT's.

We are anxiously waiting to find out if he has a summer internship doing IT at a local company. If he gets it we have to rearrange vacation plans. If he doesn't get it, I want to get on the stick and make appointments to visit some colleges that have events this summer. Wouldn't it be nice if Colleges of the same type had some sort of week long open houses, one after another?

rodney · 06-06-2010, 09:15 PM

hope everyone had a good weekend!! yes, of course, I'm in...even though given my daughter's grades, not sure I belong....very heavy in the B- category with spatterings of B's and B+......no C's, but no A's either.....at least she is consistent!!...but at her school, this puts her squarely at around the 50% point (they do not rank; just # of kids within each GPA range on the school profile)

27 ACT from April; not bad at all....she wanted to retake Saturday but with prom this week, should be interesting; not expecting an improvement...which is just fine.....

EmmyBet · 06-07-2010, 09:03 AM

My D is retaking ACT, too, and hopefully for the last time. She had 27 in April, too. Another point or 2 would be great. If not, it's up to her about taking it in the fall. I don't think it will make a huge difference to the schools she's applying to. She wanted to get over 25, and she did that already. She did flukily badly on English usage, which we didn't realize gets wrapped up in the writing score, so it brought that down; this time is specifically to get English and Math up (and Writing, with the combo). I can't keep track of which schools "superscore," but I'm figuring all of them will see the high points in the various sittings (and if they don't, that's their problem!).

I recall, rodney, that your D also has chosen pretty rigorous courses. There surely will be some notice of this by schools.

rodney · 06-07-2010, 01:18 PM

^^how weird; she also did "flukily" poorly on the english (expected the math to be her lowest, but with 102 fever, didn't expect much).....and yes, this time is "specifically to get English and Math up" as well.....her #1 school does superscore the ACT (how lucky we got!!).....last time, she chose the essay option where you "create your own proposal" which is not the ACT norm and it did not work out well; this time she will either go pro or con and call it a day.....

her rigor is probably a 4 on a scale from 1-6 (just made that up, no idea).....but her school is quirky; very few kids in honors and AP's and only 1-5 who take them across the board......so we'll see.....

she is starting essay brainstorming at the end of the month and is actually looking forward to it; never saw a kid like to write like she does.......would take a paper over a test anytime......

EmmyBet · 06-08-2010, 04:57 PM

One more day of finals! She's done at noon tomorrow.

Rearranged her schedule for next year yesterday - keeping AP Lit, AP Gov, Calculus, Honors Chem, Choir, and 1 semester of Econ (required). Added an art class and Yearbook and registered for "Student Tutoring," which might switch to or combine with a music independent study.

So she has a mix of rigor and relaxation. She's very pleased. We're all still marveling that she's essentially a senior ...

dkitty21 · 06-08-2010, 08:25 PM

Hi guys! I'd like to join this thread. My daughter has a solid 3.3 GPA. She has some significant medical issues which cause her to miss a lot of school. Because of that, she has not been able to take any AP or honors courses. Her SATs are 1800. Looking forward to finding good match schools for her.