How many valedictorians are there at you guys’ schools? At my school, you get to be a valedictorian if you have a weighted gpa of 4.0 or higher. So at my school, there are about 50 valedictorians per graduating class. I do not think it is fair that kids with easier classes still get to be valedictorian when we work our butt off in all honors and ap classes(still have a 4.0UW GPA, but I work so hard for it in more challenging classes and they don’t).
@athenanv13 We have 1. Our class is only 60. I’d say that it’s pretty unfair that I’m working my butt off with AP classes that no one else is taking and pulling a 4.0 UW GPA, but I have almost no chance for valedictorian. This is because my school does UW numerical QPA when selecting val. So, my 96 in AP Calc BC is counted for less than say, a 99 in Geometry which is what most people are taking. Good thing my school is too small to rank.
That’s true. I come from a class of 600 students so it makes sense to have like 50 valedictorians. @Frigidcold I’m sorry, that is totally not fair, you deserve valedictorian. A 96 in AP Calc BC, that’s amazing and you are a sophomore!!! You must be a genius, because I’m not taking it until next year. Yep, life is not fair, we take harder classes and work our butt off and the people who take the easy classes still have a high class rank :((
Anyone conflicted about which sat to take???
Does anyone else have to do an independent research project in Chem?
50 vals??? My class has 50 kids! At my school there’s only 1 val, based only on weighted GPA.
(so you get rewarded for AP/honors classes)
@bbbaaa784 Yep, that is the case. For having AP or IB classes…Which I don’t see as fair…because you can only have a class rank of 1 for like 50 students and the next rank after would be 52nd place (NO such thing as a class rank 2 or 3 or 4 or so on…) so even if I have better grades than another student with a few B’s and they still manage to have above a 4.0 Weighted, then they have the same class rank of 1 as me. The funny thing is the number of valedictorians get bigger each year, (each new class has more students because my community is a new community) so when I graduate, there will probably 100 valedictorians! I probably shouldn’t complain because on my application I can put that I have a class rank of 1 but I still don’t think it is fair.
My class has 900 kids and there is usually just one valedictorian (unless there’s a tie). It’s based on weighted GPA.
@a20171 The old one for sure, taking final one in October.
@Cornbread1999 No, in AP Chem we just have 2 boring labs. Although, last year in AP Calc AB, we did an independent research project for our final. Needed a 20 page paper + presentation, not fun…
I get on after a while off because so much work. I have like 215 notifications. Ugh.
Edit: Got some summer homework stuff…2 books for English, 96 multi-parted questions and 4 chapters on reading for AP Chem, and the rest of my summer work is unknown. Yay.
Also, after a bit over 2 months of waiting, I finally got my research paper back.
Do you guys think homework is beneficial? I’m doing a project on this but I want to know what you guys think. I think it is but it’s very hard to find evidence to support my assertion.
@dsi411 I think it is beneficial in some cases. In most cases it is busy work. In math, I think homework is beneficial so we can practice what we learned or else we would not be able to understand the concept. However, in history, English , chemistry, etc., it is busy work. We stay up late doing homework that has no good sense behind it. It doesn’t help us remember anything, it just gives us stress and late nights. Pile it up with ECs, volunteering, sat, act, and we don’t have time for anything. Going along with the stress, it is not good for our mental health because we are so overwhelmed. We have a need to be good at everything to impress our superiors. Having this much stress in an teenage mind is not good for us and it encourages cheating. I’m usually good about doing homework the night of but nights when my teachers pile it up one day and make it due the next, I find myself debating how much would my grade drop if I choose to make this homework assignment better than another. I end up choosing that I want all my homework to be top quality and end up getting little sleep, but that just makes the quality go down as it gets later in the night. (That’s probably not a good reason for you, but to me it hurts because I want everything I make to be quality, and when you just have busy work, you’re quality goes down because you have to focus on so many things at once). Yes, I believe that homework is beneficial to some extent to practice and get better at certain skills, but excessive homework does not get you anywhere.
I also think that teachers should give you more time to do each homework assignment, not just give it in one day and expect it to be done the next. Time management is crucial to success and teachers need to understand that if you do a little each night, you will remember more in the long run. However, assigning a homework assignment due the next day just makes us do it to get a good grade, then forget it the next day. Personally, I like it better when teachers assign homework that carries on stuff you learn on in the last few units. It keeps the past things fresh in your mind while prepping you for the final. I know everybody hates that because they are scared they will do bad on the test because there was something from last unit that no one remembers (comes with doing homework night before) but in the long run, you remember more.
Nice. Very insightful. I think my assertion will be something like “Homework is beneficial, but excessive homework can actually be detrimental to students.”
I think that chem homework at my school actually is beneficial. World languages, social studies (especially history) and English do usually have busy work.
I agree with the general sentiment. It’s funny how for my harder courses, the teachers don’t check homework. But, I actually do it because it helps me understand the material. Meanwhile, for the humanities it’s just busy work that has little to no impact.
For us, if you have a weighted GPA of over 4.0 and are in the top 60 students and have straight A’s first semester senior year you qualify for Val…I’m not sure how speeches work because it’s my first year, so I’ll know in two weeks!
@athenanv13 Shweet! Can’t wait! Do you know how are the dorms?
There are 23 valedictorians for the first time in my high school. Lol. It is totally unfair for those who actually work hard. However, the results definitely show. Our top valedictorian is going to Stanford, while the “bottom rung” of the valedictorians are going to places, such as Chico State, Grand Canyon, etc. Then again, academics is just a factor in the holistic admissions, and the type of university that one attends has nothing to do with success further in life. It’s the person, not the school.
@dsi411 At my school, homework is barely worth any points, yet it is mandatory. Tests make up 75 - 100% of our grade. In my honest opinion, homework is not beneficial (for me), because it doesn’t prove that one really understands the material.
Out of curiosity, how are finals for you all?
For anyone doing a research project, can you tell me how to write a kick-butt abstract?