Thanks for the 71 notifications, guys.
Time to read it all.
At my school, we generally have between 15 and 20 vals per year (classes of ~530), all based off of having an UW GPA of 4.0 (which is somewhat unfair, but either way, there’s always going to be that one person who took an absurdly hard schedule, had two hours of sleep a night, and definitely deserved to be val). We got rid of weighted GPA and class ranks because of stress levels, although I believe they tell you if you’re in the top 15% of your class (I think only 3 Bs by the end of junior year?).
TBH I’m not going to study much for my chem final. My teacher makes his finals really easy (as in, I got a 96 last semester without studying, and half of my mistakes were stupid ones), and we have a 20-point extra-credit project coming up, which’ll raise my grade around 1.5%, getting me wayy out of dangerland.
@topaz1116 20 points extra credit? Grade inflation much? Wish my teachers were like that. The average grade for AP Calc BC is a D and the teacher won’t give any extra credit because he doesn’t want students to “take advantage” of him.
@Frigidcold yeah, it’s a lot, mainly because a lot of people are doing bad from homework–20 points doesn’t even begin to make up for the low grades I’ve gotten on homework this semester; it makes it impossible to get above a 93-ish in his class even if you get perfect test grades. He’s really, really, anal about grading homework. In addition, a lot of people who take Honors Chem really shouldn’t have taken the class in the first place and therefore have horrible grades. Our classes really get hard when you get to the AP level.
That happened with an old teacher for Calc BC–now he’s not allowed to teach AP/Honors courses anymore. His courses are still harder than AP/Honors… He’s not allowed to fail anyone, either, so a 50% is a C (although for higher grades, you must reach the general thresholds). Only two people have As in his precalculus class right now out of three periods…
Don’t people have to be A students to get into Calc BC? That’s how it is at my school (from honors precalc, at least, and nobody takes AB then BC at my school). If the average grade is a D, something is seriously wrong… And it’s not with you guys. A D average on a test, I get, but as the overall grade? That’s insane.
My school doesn’t have Ds (just As, Bs, Cs, and Fs) but if there were, there’d be very few people in AP Calc BC with Ds. That’s not because everyone in my school is super smart, but because there are plenty of chances to weed out the people who don’t do well in math before Calc BC. For example, if you start at Geometry in 9th grade, in 10th you either go to regular Algebra 2 or Algebra 2 plus. From Algebra 2 you to to pre-calc, but from Algebra 2 plus you go to Acc. Pre Calc/ AP Calc AB. If you don’t do well in Algebra 2 plus you’d be forced to take regular pre-calc instead of accelerated. And if you don’t do well in accelerated, you take AP Calc AB again instead of going on to AP Calc BC.
At my school, AP Calc BC is technically AP Calc AB B first semester and AP Calc BC B second semester.
In other AP classes like AP World History, there are a lot of people who shouldn’t be there. Since we don’t have honors, just AP and IB, anyone who wants to take a weighted class will have to take an AP or IB one which are usually quite rigorous at my school. And then they don’t do well.
@dsi411 that’s pretty much how it is at my school as well. We only have a few Honors courses (English 9-11, Geometry/Alg 2/Precalc, Chem, Bio; all of them, except for precalc and English 11, are for underclassmen), and no other accelerated/advanced courses besides AP, which you can only take in 11th/12th grade.
@topaz1116 Yeah, you do need at least an 85 in AP Calc AB, but the step up is huge. That’s why many seniors opt to take AP Stat to avoid him. He’s a nice guy and a good teacher, but he’s just so hard on his students. He just does no padding at all. The only grades that count are tests and he doesn’t tell you if there’s going to be a test. So I had to drive myself crazy, studying at least an hour or two for every class so that I could pull an A. The good thing is that next year Multivariable Calc is self study. The same teacher administers tests, but he goes really easy.
All of the courses at our school are at least honors courses. My school offers a lot more in terms of STEM AP courses, but you can only take AP humanities in senior year. Hoping that the dual enrollment electives make up for it.
Hey, guys, I have a question. I’m applying to three different positions in the same club, but I don’t know what to put for the reasons why I’m choosing these particular positions. Could someone help me out here? That I want to be a communications officer because I use social media frequently sounds like a silly reason (this is an example; I hardly even use social media), as does that I want to be treasurer because I enjoy math, except I don’t know how to make my reasons sound valid.
@photogeek8 For my leadership positions, I wrote how each would bring out and cultivate different qualities within myself ie: secretary- become more organized; treasurer- get better at using excel and spreadsheets, as well as develop better business management skills.
@photogeek8 I would recommend talking about how these leadership positions could help you throughout your life/future major. For example, if you want a communications major in college, then the officer of social media can teach you how to interact with different people and know how to strengthen the activity of this club. If you want a STEM/business major, then the position of treasurer could fortify your financial skills. Secondly, you include how this/these position(s) could strengthen your skills as a leader and expand yourself to new horizons.
Out of curiosity, why are you applying to 3 positions in the same club? What if you elected for all 3 positions?
@photogeek8 I like what the others have said, but be careful to show that you can contribute something to the positions, and not just that they’ll help you-- your part needs to be clear.
@frigidcold what sort of school do you go to?
What student council position should I run for next month? There’s president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, historian, and communications. I want something where I can actually win, and help my school!
Thanks for the advice, everyone! 
@1LuckyBrave I’m to choose three positions and rank them in order of choice. It’s just so that the current officers, when choosing the officers for next year, have flexibility and can accommodate more people.
@photogeek8 Does it really matter what you write? The elections at my school are a bunch of shady dealings and popularity contests, which is honestly fine by me. 
Wow I had absolutely no idea that more than one valedictorian was a thing, let alone fifty! I’m so surprised. My school, heck my entire COUNTY, has just one valedictorian. And then there’s a “top ten”–the top ten class ranks are recognized. Number two is universally acknowledged as salutatorian but they don’t necessarily get to speak at graduation. The top ten votes for the second speaker. At least that’s how it works at my school… I wish it was a thing for the sal to speak, because then I would be a little more relax about getting 1 or 2.
But it’s not a thing so I am working harder than anything to achieve Valedictorian!!! The person who is currently #1 is a bit of a cheater (understatement honestly) and I heard he’s dropping in grades and stuff, so I need to just go forward as strong as I can and hope for the best. Wish me luck peeps
@bbbaaa784 Historian is usually a really fun position People rarely run for it because they think it’s boring, but it’s not!!
@photogeek8
The thing that really shows enthusiasm is when you explain how YOU are the person who will make the club a better place with THAT position. Like how are YOU the choice above someone else due to how you will contribute to the club with your talents and skills? How will you raise the club or show strong leadership as opposed to just wanting it for an application, as so many people do? Do you know what I mean…?
@Frigidcold Omg the student government at my school is literally the shadiest. The same girl is getting president every single year and it’s funny because the teacher chooses and she’s the seventh sister of her family to come to our school. It’s funny…
The person who’s gonna end up being valedictorian is probably gonna be one of the high-achieving native French or Spanish speakers since they can take AP/IB foreign language courses early. So for everyone else there’s really no chance of getting val since there’s already some kid who’s fluent in French who’s pretty much guaranteed to be valedictorian. At least that’s what I hear…
Hmm how does that make sense tho 
I mean… what if you take an AP foreign language your junior year… and just cuz they took it let’s say freshman year they have a better chance?
at the end of the day they still both took an AP foreign language right?
@Frigidcold It really depends on which club you’re talking about. At my school, there are so many types of clubs: those that are obviously created by a group of friends to ensure leadership positions, those that are also created by friends, but created because they actually have a common interest, and those that are created because of a genuine passion. I think the club I’m applying to falls in the second category. Popularity and connections are definitely important in creating favorable circumstances for anyone applying for any leadership position, both of which I unfortunately lack. 
@bbbaaa784 It depends on how your election process work. It it an interview process? Do you have to run in front of your class? Does the advisor grade you for your speech? Or is it all of the above? I would go for president if it is an interview process. If it is a speech thing and people voting for you, I would look to see how many people know you. If a lot of people do, then run for president. Otherwise, I would go for something smaller.