<p>@anaychi: That’s how I feel most of the time. It is very weird here. Seniors that have 2.5 GPAs somehow bump them up to 3.25 in a year to become an Honors Graduate is the weirdest thing I’ve experienced here. Plus, nobody here (even the valedictorian) looks at going to a top school in NC (Duke, UNC), but instead shoot for upper-mediocre (East Carolina, NCSU, UNCG). Plus, the average SAT score for a senior is only in the 1200s (I beat that when I took the PSAT in 8th grade).</p>
<p>@evanb that sounds like your school just wants people to graduate so they dont see them again. I mean bumping up a gpa that much is outrageous. I wish my school did it. ;)</p>
<p>@Evanb1996</p>
<p>My PSAT score in 9th grade was 162, which consists of 62 math 60 verbal and 50 writing (Highest score in the whole school among other Sophomores, Juniors).</p>
<p>Also, in my school, only 2 or 4 people are sent to Ivy leagues like every 2 years or so. Which is sad. It’s very wierd.</p>
<p>My AP World History class NEVER had a student who scored a 5 on the test. Which is kind of discouraging…</p>
<p>Also, there are people who dont deserve their gpa in the 3.5’s or 3.0’s because they cheat. I wished they get caught, but they never do :(</p>
<p>@Dan2014: They don’t bump (or that I know of), but I’ve seen people go from 2.9 to 3.4 (unweighted) in 1 semester! It’s not like they are taking all cores or all electives (my school does a great job with core/elective balance between the semesters). I think my school is just like “Please graduate so we don’t see you again!”, but they may see them again in about 10~16 years because most of them stay here and have families!</p>
<p>@evanb That sounds terrible! They’re setting up kids to fail! At my school they will fail you and not think twice about it. What happens when all the seniors are stuck going to a community college taking remedial classes because a school passes them?</p>
<p>@nothingto: I feel the same way about some of the people in my HONORS classes. They make C’s and D’s, but they “magically” come out with B’s. </p>
<p>Nobody goes to Ivys anymore from my school. If you go to an Ivy from where I live, you are like God to the county and they want you to come back and make it a better place! The last person to go to anywhere close to an Ivy from my school was my cousin (he went to Duke) and he graduated back in the late 90’s.</p>
<p>An AP World teacher without a 5 from any of his/her students! I would just get another teacher to teach it then!</p>
<p>@Dan2014: They just stay around and have families right here in rural ghetto poverty! Either that or they go to New York because it seems like NY is the main state sending folks down here. At my school, they give you 1-5 chances to make up a class (twice in the class and 3 times online) and after that, you’re done for.</p>
<p>So far, in the 6-7 year existence of my high school, we’ve only had 2 kids go on to Ivies (Princeton and the aforementioned Harvard admission), and those 2 were in the same year. It’s rather odd for a school that performs relatively well in the state of Illinois to have most of its Seniors go off to the local Community College.</p>
<p>@ evanb funny you mention NY because that’s where I live! And we don’t really send people. Well not on purpose at least. If we do it’s because of high taxes and high prices. But they let you retry classes online? That sounds interesting. For my high school we let people take freshman classes as a senior and you have summer school. If anyone can’t pass I’m not sure what they do. They might just pass them anyway.</p>
<p>Well my High School is similar. We have a 92% graduation rate, however, I noticed my High School seems to give out passing grades to everyone. Even if it is a 65% (in NYC, 65% is the passing score to pass a grade). My school just wants the seniors to pass and not mess the school reputation I guess.</p>
<p>@canonlyhope: Yeah, I was the one from TC Williams 
@evanb1996: Damn, <em>five</em> chances? That’s a lot!! At my school, you have to get higher than an F or else you get assigned to summer school.</p>
<p>The grading for individual assignments at our school is skewed in that you can’t ever get a 0%. The minimum is a 40%, so even if you get like a 7% on an exam, it’s bumped up a bit. Still an F, but at least it’s not a 7%. But this is CC so none of us should be worrying about F’s hahah</p>
<p>@LikeSomeJelly: I know right!!! I don’t get why they give you five chances to redo a class!<br>
@Dan2014: I heard the online version is harder because it uses the national standards, not the state standards. </p>
<p>At our school, it is so messed up because you can’t miss more than 8 days in a semester class (16 in a yearlong class). But, if you miss more than 8 days and you don’t make it up, you receive a grade of a 60 instead of an Incomplete. But, if you fail a class on your own, you have to receive whatever grade you earned (if you get a 37 and came to class everyday, then you get the 37 unless the teacher bumps you up to a 70).</p>
<p>Something else that is messed up is that “better high school” in our district (its a New Tech/STEM school) is that they don’t accept regular math credits except Algebra 1. They would put me back in their equivalent of Geometry, even though I took it in 8th grade and it could be used. Plus, they sent two of their smartest kids to the community college as part of a “transfer program” where they are automatically sent to whatever NC school they want. I was like “What the ****? They didn’t tell our seniors this!”</p>
<p>They let you miss that much? Evanb your lucky! My school says you miss 14 days an you fail. Period.</p>
<p>@Dan: I’m serious as a heart attack. My school just seems like everyone’s last resort because we take dropouts and people who fail at the “specialty” schools in our district (an early college and a STEM high school).</p>
<p>@Evanb that’s sounds terrible. How big is your school? If you take everyone else who isn’t good enough for the better schools, yours must be huge. It sounds like with everyone being forced into your school you have more competition, for class rank and such. But do you get more classes then? We have maybe 5 APs at my school but if yours keeps getting more than you must have a lot of choices, which could be a plus.</p>
<p>@Dan: Our school only has 460 students and fluctuates slightly during the year. Competition isn’t that bad. You only have a few people to watch out for (I only have 3 and they’re some of my best friends. Plus we all have 4.0 unweighteds but my weighted is 4.5 and theirs is a little less, so I’m #1 for now!). We only have 4 class periods, a 25 lunch block during our 3rd period, a 5 minute homeroom period, and a 20 minute tutorial period for people who are failing a class required for a state test or graduation. We only have 3 APs, but more are coming with the start of an exclusive Honors program at our school.</p>
<p>@Evan so your a valedictorian? Nerd! Just kidding. I wish I was. Some kids got to take an advanced math route and I didn’t even know until the class started and I could have. My class was a joke. I want to be valedictorian but some people got to skip certain beginner classes like Spanish 1 and an English class in middle school. Now they’re ahead of me which really stinks. And an honors program?! That sounds amazing! I wish my school would do something like that. Some kids just shouldn’t be in some of my classes and I shouldn’t Be in some of there’s. And what APs is your school adding?</p>
<p>@Dan I think that they will be adding Physics, Environmental Science, and English Language to Calculus AB, Statistics, and English Literature. I wish that we could skip beginner classes, but they discourage any type of advancement at our school. I would be lucky to even get to Honors Spanish 4.</p>
<p>I am required to take the Spanish regents to get a Advanced Regents Diploma with Distinction. </p>
<p>However, I am given the option to take 10 credits of CISCO (Computer) classes rather then a spanish regents. So I am taking the easier route and taking computer. I might have the chance of getting a CISCO certificate as well to get a me a good 15-20$/h job right off the bat.</p>
<p>I already have 2 credits (2 semesters worth) of credits. I have to go through 8 more credits!!! I dont know how though… I only have 6 more semesters left…</p>
<p>We got rid of Spanish 4 and now we go right to a college level course. So that means that I’m done with Spanish after junior year! Which means room for more classes. And all those APs! Sounds like a dream. I think my school actually got rid of some APs this year due to budget cuts. I know we lost some teachers. My school keeps on shrinking and this year is no exception. We have less than 100 kids in the freshman class. That means even less classes. They must be going to your school. ;)</p>