My oldest wanted to drop Calculus BC and take AB after giving it a try for 7 weeks but GC wouldn’t allow it. This year with my junior who got a 78 and a 89 on BC tests and was very upset as he never scored anything under 95, his GC said that it would be fine if he wants to take AB to keep his GPA up. My son decided to keep trying but I’m wondering how does it work at most schools and if these scores are going to be transfered to his transcript?
You need to ask your school what goes on the transcript.
Just a general knowledge question as junior doesn’t want to give up.
Yes, if he gets an 85 as a quarter grade, that will be on the transcript. Usually schools don’t record each test score or homework assignment.
At our schools, only final end-of-year grades appear on the transcript for college. The four quarters, mid-year exam, and final exam are incorporated and calculated into a single end of year grade for each class. The quarter and exam grades appear in the school’s online grade system, but not on the transcript for colleges.
You can just as easily ask this question at your school as opposed to asking it here. It is a fair question, and I definitely asked it of both son’s high schools (one public, one private - different states) and both had the same answer.
At the end of junior year, I suggest that you or your child request a copy of his transcript for you to review, to see what the colleges will see and to see if there are any errors. At the private HS, we found that four HS classes taken in public MS were missing. These grades did not get computed into the HS GPA, but we did want them listed on the transcript to prove that he had taken them. Algebra, Geometry, Latin 1, World Geography. They were added separately at the bottom, showing the grades. Some high schools might not show those MS classes on the HS transcript. It depends.
This question is high school specific. From what I’ve read on this site, high schools do not all have the same policy about what appears on the transcript. The only way to know for sure what your high school would do, is to ask them.
My son’s school includes this information in the student handbook so you can start there and if it’s not there ask the GC. I read your question a little differently and thought you were asking what would appear on the transcript if he moved from BC to AB. So, for example, at my son’s school if a student were to go through an entire trimester and feel they can’t manage to go through the course another two trimesters, the course that would appear on the transcript would be Calculus AB. Very school specific as some schools might choose to list BC for the first trimester and then the AB for the second two trimesters. Find out how your school will handle it.
You need to talk to the guidance counselor to see what will appear on the transcript sent to colleges. Our HS transcript only has year end grades but it varies from school to school. I would also find out when the final date is that a student can switch to Calc AB if that is still a consideration.
I’m a bit confused. Are you talking about two different sons, one currently a senior perhaps and the junior?
Your junior finally has a class that is challenging- he will have to learn how to study more than he did in the past. He will be better off having had to stretch his brain and seems willing to rise to the challenge. Better to find out you can’t always get the top grades now instead of getting to college and first needing to study hard. Even if his grade is low for the semester (I’m used to letter grades- numbers can mean more than one grade) he will have learned a lot- about himself, his capabilities, studying, how to learn material… That shock could have come in college.
Son’s HS had final semester grades- and some classes were one semester in length. btw- since he’s a HS junior he will have AP exam scores to submit in time for college applications. A slow start with a top finish would be better than just getting top scores in the class and not doing as well on the exam (eg a student could study a lot and get A’s in a class but only 3’s on the AP exam- or conversely dislike the way a course is taught and get a C in it while getting a 5 on the AP exam- true happening).
Thanks
For Ap classes I think adcom focuses on grade and not the exam score.
@SculptorDad We were just told the opposite at an information session-that so many high schools have grade inflation, so the course grade is given less weight than the AP exam score (which is a national pool).
@siliconvalleymom Not sure how many adcoms focus on AP exam scores over school grades when students are not required to submit AP test scores, and they don’t come out until July so senior year scores wouldn’t even be in…
Son’s school only has final course grade on transcript (which is % based off 4 quarter grades, mid term and final exam grades) Agree w others to check your school specifically.
Also Just wanted to let you know Calc BC is really Calc AB for the first half of year, then moves on to BC material for second half. The AP test is actually divided into 2 sub scores calc AB and calc BC portions for final score. If you submit, schools will see the AB score separately.
So the material your student is struggling with right now is AB work (being it is first half of year still). Dropping down to Calc AB class just draws out the AB material for a whole year. I would suggest having your son go on you tube videos for more in depth explanations of the concepts as there are tons of fantastic (free) videos from great teachers to explain these concepts…
Since it is early in the year, and your other student had a less than great experience w same teacher(?), It may just be a matter of getting used to how the teacher teaches and tests… but tell him to check out You tube for more in-depth explanations of concepts… that helped my son out a lot.
@siliconvalleymom, Adcoms figured out different approaches to consider the grade inflation; They compare a student’s gpa with other students from the same high school. And they ask for SAT subject test scores. AP exam score does not reflect how well did a student do during entire year and only check mastery of certain areas at the end. If AP exam scores mattered more, we would be seeing more students self-studying for the exam without class or being encouraged to do so.