<p>I’ve had a fairly easy ride for the past four years. My school is an inner city public school with about a 60% dropout rate, so teachers really focus on these students rather then on the high achieving ones. (as they should.)</p>
<p>I have (almost) made it through the IB program though, and I’ve had a few difficult classes. But getting a 4.0 has never been too difficult. </p>
<p>Next year, I’m headed off to Haverford College–I’m ridiculously excited but also a little intimidated. </p>
<p>I know I shouldn’t expect to get 4.0s, but what should I aim for, and how should I reach that conclusion? Did you give your children cut off GPAs? How did they/will they decide?</p>
<p>I told him that I expected him to learn what he was being taught, and to keep a 3.0. He needed that to maintain his small scholarship. Other than that I didn’t care.</p>
<p>You should do the absolute best you can. You don’t know what you want to do or be at this point in time, and your gpa can be very important in a number of situations, particularly for medical, law school, competitive jobs, etc.</p>
<p>Scholarships have cut-off GPAs and I suppose I’d be upset if my son was getting nothing but C’s, but really truly what I care about is whether my son is learning. Both my brothers got at least one D their freshman year when they bit off more than they could chew. I recommend dropping a class that’s clearly over your head, but it’s not the end of the world if you stumble once or twice as a freshman. Admittedly some grad schools - especially the professional schools will care about your GPAs. So more important than aiming for a particular grade is to go to office hours, make use of study groups, and ask questions if you need help.</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb, I think most colleges accept students that they think are capable of making at least B’s in most of their courses.</p>
<p>Same as tsdad: Keep the GPA necessary to maintain the scholarship. I’m turning the goal-setting over to my son! He wants to do well, and it’s time for the incentive to come 100% from within himself instead of from outside sources. Based on my own long-ago experience (easy high school, difficult college), I’d advise you to be prepared to work much harder. If you think setting a GPA goal would be a good incentive, that’s fine, but don’t punish yourself if you’ve done your best and the letter grade is not what you expected. Be sure to balance your coursework during your first year so that you don’t, for example, take all reading- or writing-intensive courses. This may sound like “slacking off,” but you need time to adjust to the new and different demands of college studying. Good luck!</p>
<p>I don’t think you will have any GPA requirements for your financial aid at Haverford. My advice to you is to give up the idea of a “target GPA” altogether. You shouldn’t need to see your grades to figure out whether you are learning up to your own standards. If a grade is surprising (and disappointing) to you, that’s a wake-up call that you aren’t on top of your work, but you could be getting Bs or even Cs in some courses and still be learning a ton and getting a lot out of it.</p>
<p>So focus on setting learning goals, not grade goals. And one of your learning goals should be to learn the standards at Haverford, just like you’ve learned them at every other school you’ve attended. The grades will help you with that; they’re feedback from your teachers about how well you’re getting it. But the thing about college, especially a small, selective college like Haverford, is that absolutely everyone did pretty much exactly as well as you did in high school, and half of you are going to get worse grades than the other half in college. (Actually, probably about 2/3ds of you are going to get about the same grades, with a few doing better and a few doing worse.) </p>
<p>You may never even know your class rank in college – no one cares much about that. If you are learning and getting Bs, that’s great. If you are not learning, sliding by, and getting As, that’s not great.</p>
<p>I am eternally grateful never to have known my college class rank. I have done just fine in life in spite of it. And yes, I had a great education!</p>
<p>Firstly, thank you so much for all of the responses! it’s really helpful.</p>
<p>I’m most excited for Haverford because I can’t wait to be surrounded by people who are driven from the inside. Who want to learn, to learn, and don’t see their degree as a means to the end. </p>
<p>I love the uncompetitive nature of the student body and the intense academics. I want learning to be my first priority in college. </p>
<p>If I understood what “learning goals” were, i would probably be asking about them. </p>
<p>How can I know I’m doing the right amount of work/learning enough at college without grades? Will the answer to this question become apparent to me once i start my classes next year? (i hope so!)</p>
<p>these probably seem like silly questions, but grades have always shown me that I’m doing the right (or wrong) thing. I understand and I’m excited to focus on learning next year, but I’m a little confused how to do that without setting a “target GPA.”</p>
<p>The big adjustment in college is a course grade based on just a few assignments–not the whole range of homework, quizzes, presentations, tests, and exams that you had in high school. (Finally–freedom from busy work!) This means putting in a consistent effort across the board. My H is a college professor, and he gets those “what can I do for extra credit” questions (usually from less diligent students). His answer is not what they want to hear: Do your best on each assignment! </p>
<p>Remember that your teachers have office hours for a reason. You’ll know if you’re not understanding something. Don’t wait–make an appointment. Also take advantage of study groups. Some of my happiest times in college were in study groups for things like intro art history, where there was lots of memorization.</p>
<p>And to answer your question (which isn’t silly)–yes, the answer will become apparent. You sound like you love learning.</p>
<p>Oh, I think you will LOVE Haverford–enjoy this wonderful journey! Make the most of your classes and profs, read the assignments, speak up when you have questions or comments. And enjoy everything the school has to offer outside of the classroom. I think you will naturally do fine.</p>
<p>Ah, my freshman year at H’ford. It was thrilling and scary. My classmates knew how to navigate an educational system that was completely foreign to me. </p>
<p>My advice would be to not be shy about seeking help. When I broke down and went for tutoring things really turned around. Your professors (unless things have changed at the Ford) will be more than willing to help but you must seek them out.</p>
<p>Don’t let your classmates psych you out! They don’t know as much as they pretend to know.</p>