@2014novamom I meant during college apps season, and then recently among some of my freshmen(!) friends. A lot of the non-TJ kids feel like failures. Sorry for the confusion, and nice job sending a kid to TJ! And I didn’t hear about that girl, but yikes… people in NOVA are just crazy. I miss it, but at least middle TN is not a pressure cooker.
All this “college name recognition” and chasing certain colleges for the sake of prestige and name are foreign to our family. One “C Plus” would not change anything for us, as “C Plus” was not possible, even B never happened, but any aspiration for the Ivy / Elite or for that matter a state flagship college was not there either. The kid simply choose the college that matched her personal criteria the best and had a ball there, absolutely the best experience that anybody could possibly be looking forward to have at college. One thing she forgot to do is to check the ranking of her choice, I guess it was irrelevant. Ended up among kids just like her, valedictorians who were accepted to Honors program that had only 200 spots. Curve or no curve was never a concern either. I one gets 100% or close on each exam, there is no concern for a curve.
@MiamiDAP, we’re all so happy that it was “not possible” for your daughter to get a C+ or even a dreaded B, but please remember that most children are not perfect and many of them do go to very difficult high schools where a C+ certainly is possible, even if they’re quite bright.
That’s pretty funny. What an earthshattering occurrence! All those kids in poverty, single parent homes or homeless, they should look to her as a role model…
I think MiamiDAP’s point is that it doesn’t take a C+ for some people, they are smart enough to find a fit whether or not society thinks they are “wasting their gift”.
A C+ doesn’t matter if the student isn’t fixated on getting into a particular college. My kids weren’t grade grubbers, nor seeking perfect resumes. But they had demonstrated talent. A C+ was not a scarlet letter.
One is an artist, for whom grades were secondary and talent was primary. With good outstanding SAT’s and good but not perfect grades (a C or 2) in a comprehensive academic program, augmented by summer pre-college art programs and an excellent portfolio, she got into several of the best art programs in the country (MICA, CMU, RISD), and later into a top 10 MBA program. The other had outstanding, almost perfect 800 SAT’s, but a C+ in an advanced math course (too much emphasis on his EC’s). He did not feel stigmatized by the C+ because he wasn’t a climber or conformist, and he also had several B’s in courses (including art!) where he wasn’t inspired by the teachers. However, he was very academically, I should say intellectually, inclined. He attended an outstanding private university and has gone on to a very successful career.
Getting into, and out of, college is not a “one false step and you’re on the street” phenomenon. Kids who have talent and focus, even if they occasionally slip up in a course, will make out just fine in life.
“…because he wasn’t a climber or conformist, and he also had several B’s in courses (including art!) where he wasn’t inspired by the teachers. However, he was very academically, I should say intellectually, inclined…”
I just described one of my kids this way at a parent meeting over the weekend. Loving that kid, too. Always find myself watching and smiling at that one…