My kid has a low GPA?

watskison92
Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:19:11 +0000

My son has a not so great GPA. When he was in middle school he didn’t really have a lot of friends because he was shy. On the first day of his 9th grade year I dropped him off and told him this was a clean slate for him to show people what a cool kid he was. He ended up making a lot of new friends but his grades were put on the back burner because he liked having friends. This is exactly what he told me. He has never been a disciplinary issue at school but all of his report cards said “Scott is a really good kid he just needs some more help” or “He’s a lot of fun to have in class he just needs to focus more on the work”. Most of the year he recieved C’s and a couple D’s. He told us that he needed help with his school work but was embarrassed because he didn’t get how to do it which was no excuse. At the end of the year he started going in for help which was a little too late so my wife and I sat him down and told him he was going to turn his school work around or he would be attending one of the local public high schools in our city. I didn’t feel the need to pay thousands of dollars a year just for him to not get the help he needed. He promised he would do try harder and he kept his promise. In his first semester of sophomore year he got a couple high C’s and Low B’s and in his second semester he maintained a B average. At the end of his sophomore year he saw that his GPA was 2.3 and that really discouraged him. We told him that colleges look at the whole package but he’s having a hard time believing us. This year we really see his full potential and what he could’ve been if he applied himself more in school. He is a junior this year and he has maintained a 3.3 - 3.6 GPA all year and made honor roll this quarter. When we went to his conference all his teachers said he was a very likable person, great to have in class, and that he does outstanding work. He even maintained a 101.56% in his American Literature class. We even had teachers offering to write him letters of recommendation for when he starts applying to colleges. One of those teachers being the dean of students which would be a really big recommendation for him to get. His school has a system that you have to have pre rec’s to get into honors and AP classes but they only have 4 or 5 AP classes just because the school is small. I think this was a great opportunity for him to not get in because now he doesn’t have to worry about biting off more than he can chew. He was put into a few basic math and science classes because of his low performance in 9th grade. The “basic” classes though are actually the same textbooks and material they are learning in the average level classes in the public school system so the school he is attending is accelerated. We are expected his GPA at the end of the semester to be around a 2.5 or 2.6 and even higher at the end of the year. He has already committed to himself he would not stop taking the ACT until he got a 26 or higher to increase his chances of getting in. He does not want to attend an Ivy League school he wants to attend a state school. Some schools on his list are LSU, Iowa, and Kansas State. Every school on his list though has a 70% acceptance rate or higher. Has his 9th grade year ruined his chances of getting in? We are trying to avoid the community college system as much as possible because it is weak. I attended the community college so I know first hand that there are constant budget cuts and it doesn’t provide a great education. He really is a great kid who is a talented athlete and active in his school. He dedicates a lot of his time to working in his clubs hoping to get a presidential position. He is also sure he wants to major in the business field. Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy thread. I will make sure Scott reads all of your answers because he doesn’t want to listen to me or his mom. This is also his account so feel free to message him if you would like to help him in any way possible. God Bless!