<p>Are these TX class ranks weighted or unweighted? It seems like weighting would alleviate some of the pressure (although I am not a fan in general of using class rank as a factor in admissions).</p>
<p>Yikes! Youdonâtsay - that is ROUGH!! How many have all Aâs???</p>
<p>As to that and our school - if there are SOOOOOO many kids who are making straight Aâs, donât you think there is a flaw in the grading system (inflation) or that the curriculum is not difficult enough?</p>
<p>My oldest went to private highschool, and I donât think there was 1 person who had straight Aâs all 4 years. Also, there were no number grades on report cards, only letters like A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc. (which you only got at the semester, no 6 weeks grades), and the grading system was based on a 93-100 A. It was hard and people had to work their hinies off for grades. They also didnât rank (but you could kindof figure it out based on the numbers). The thing I found there was that it was just ridiculous how hard it was, and what the teachers expected, but it was kind of like being in bootcamp - they were all struggling and working hard together (misery loves company ;)).</p>
<p>I donât know, I just feel like if that many kids are kicking booty, then maybe they need to make it tougher, otherwise it kindof cheapens the A⊠Of course, then my son might have a bunch of Bâs - I donât know if heâd work any harder than he does now.</p>
<p>What do yâall think?</p>
<p>At our school district they are weighted like this - preAP, and AP get an extra point, but you can only get extra points in 4 classes out of the 8 classes you get credit for each semester. </p>
<p>Each district does it differently too. Like we are on a 6.0 scale, so all Aâs would give you a 6.5 gpa.</p>
<p>Texas is weird! They have a bill in the legislature to standardize the grading scales statewide right now - but there is a BUNCH of controversy about it, so I donât know its future.</p>
<p>LIMOM, weâre not looking for scholarship money, just admission to UT! :eek:</p>
<p>My second son was a valedictorian and didnât get a penny in merit money because heâs in the business school where everyone is ranked at the top. If he were in another college, he might have. My youngest wants engineering, and based on his test scores, (if he gets in) he might get some $$ because Texas (the state not the univers) is trying to get more kids to major in the sciences, so theyâre throwing money that wayâŠ</p>
<p>keix, in our case itâs weighted.</p>
<p>ag, apparently the 39 kids ahead of him! :)</p>
<p>One issue at our school is that all honors courses are weighted the same, with an extra point. But there are big differences in the level of difficulty between the level of honors classes. For instance, I see some of you write AP, pre-AP, honors, college prep, etc., to describe the level of classes your kids in. Same thing at dsâs school, but kids who take the lower level honors classes can score higher with the easier material, say a 96, than kids who are taking the more difficult courses and scoring a 92. So the kid in the less-challenging course earns a 4.6, while the kid in the harder course got a 4.2. I would like to see the lower-level honors courses get a .5 bump and the higher-level courses get the full point. It would help stave off some of the grade-grubbing. In my example, a 96 would earn something like a 4.2, as would the kid in the harder course with the slightly lower grade.</p>
<p>Itâs the same with our school - the so-called AP-lites like Environmental Science are weighted the same as AP Physics, so there is definitely some gaming in the system ;)</p>
<p>Youdonâtsay - NO haha 
I meant how many are ahead of your son if he has 1 b and is in the 21%?? </p>
<p>I know that at our school, if a student is in all academic classes (no extra weight) and have straight Aâs, they are not even in the top 25%. They are somewhere around 32%. So you are kind of forced to take the weighted classes (unless the kid just doesnât give a ratâs patooty).</p>
<p>I can see how youâre weighting system could provide some odd resultsâŠ</p>
<p>Wow, some incredible numbers being floated here. At our HS, class rank is based solely on weighted academic GPA, as it should be. Less gaming of the system. Our honors classes do carry same weight as APs, which tend to be harder so everything canât be perfect. So my S is in the lucky realm of being class rank 3 of 519 at the end of first semester, jr year, with a weighted academic GPA of 4.6267. Non-weighted itâs a 3.8933 and Iâm certain there are students not taking his AP load whoâve surpassed it.</p>
<p>In CA, what counts is being in the top 4% (based on the UC calc of academic courses, and they only allow weighting up to a max cap.) If you reach the top 4%, you are guaranteed into âaâ UC school. It may be UC Merced and all bets are off for UCLA and Berkeley being a lock for anyone, especially from what Iâve been reading on threads this year.</p>
<p>I am glad that I donât live in CA or TX! I would hate the pressure of making class rank. As it stands, I still get state jealousy (would love to be in-state for W&M or St. Maryâs, for instance) but Delawareâs in-state admission standards are decidedly lower than OOS. The âguaranteeâ is based on grades and coursework (B average in honors with a certain spread of core academics); after that they will do holistic review, but the bar is âcan this student succeed hereâ rather than âhow does this student measure up to the others in our pool.â And still the university has only 30% in-state, I believe the lowest in the nation for a flagship (and probably in general). ButâI wish there was a public LAC option! DSU is around the right size but is a HBCU with a poor academic rep.</p>
<p>Our high school does NO weighting. So basket-weaving counts exactly the same as AP Physics. They give ranks only as top 10%, 20%, etc. S takes mostly honors and AP classes, so Iâm afraid heâs not in the top 10%.</p>
<p>If you take 5 weighted academic classes plus 2 unweighted electives and you make 7 straight A grades, your GPA and rank will be lower than a student who takes those same 5 weighted academic classes plus 2 study halls and gets 5 straight As. Luckily for my D her school doesnât rank which makes for a much more relaxed and collaborative environment among the students.</p>
<p>FindAPlace - Dâs school doesnât rank (except for 1 & 2, and they donât find out for sure until the end of junior year). And of course things often change by the time the val and sal are selected after the mid-year grades are released senior year. Honors and APs are both weighted, though APS are weighted higher.</p>
<p>Keilexandra - not sure whether it offers the programs youâre interested in, but have you looked at SUNY Geneseo? SUNYs are relatively inexpensive, but theyâre not known for their generous financial aid, so that might be an issue.</p>
<p>No val, or sal.
No weighted grades.
No ranging.</p>
<p>I think itâs a good thing, but S could have used the weightâŠ</p>
<p>Our HS weights âregularâ classes on a 4.0 scale, honors on 4.5, and AP on a 5.0. Dâs and Fâs are always 1.0 and 0, respectively. </p>
<p>Val and Sal are based on weighted avg.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is our trip to Franklin & Marshall for Junior Open House. Let me know if anyone would like me to raise a question or listen for anything in particular.</p>
<p>OK, I have a question that I feel like I should (a)already know the answer, and (b)should be able to find the answer more readily, but I canât and donât, so here it is.
I donât understand how the finances work with colleges at all. We make too much for financial aid and we saved what we thought was enough for undergrad. Of course, we do not have the savings we used to, like everyone else. When I look at colleges, and it says âexpenses and feesâ are $37,500 and then rm and board, etc. Big question is: Should I expect to pay $37,500 unless merit aid is offered? Or will I find more scholarships as we get more involved in the process? My H keeps yelling, âno expensive schoolsâ, but I donât see much that isnât that expensive, and she would not do well at large state school. I donât understand how we are supposed to look for the money, so we can keep certain colleges on the list. It is too confusing for me. Do I just take Cornell off the list or is there a way to find money to go there, even if they donât offer anything except need based aid.</p>
<p>WhirledPeas - have you done the EFC calculator - I think itâs on college boardâs website. Some schools have their own. It should give you an idea about what your EFC will be. I donât think you can count on scholarships, unless a school offers across the board scholarships to everyone above a specified cut-off (3.8 GPA and 1450 SAT, or something like that). Youâd have to go to each schoolâs website to find out the specifics.</p>
<p>I havenât done the EFC calculator yet myself - but I will - as soon as I get up the nerve to do so.</p>
<p>Also, some schools offer merit aid which is separate from aid based on financial need. Look at the schools your D is interested in and see what types of FA is offered. I donât think Cornell offers much, if any, merit aid - but if you live in-state, some of colleges at Cornell are land-grant schools and offer lower tuition than the non-land-grant schools.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - have fun at F&M, and let us know what you think of it. Iâm curious to know about its surroundings - is it in downtown Lancaster, or in the midst of farms?</p>
<p>ââŠand she would not do well at large state schoolâŠâ</p>
<p>We have taken private schools that do not offer merit aid off the list after doing a lot of research. In addition to private schools that offer merit aid, weâve identified two state schools that have really good honors programs for the âschool within a schoolâ experience. </p>
<p>Thatâs just how weâve dealt with it. Iâm sure others will have different perspectives.</p>
<p>WhirledPeas2u: This thread should be helpful:</p>
<p><a href=âhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/492777-swallows-capistrano-financial-aid-myths-realities.html[/url]â>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/492777-swallows-capistrano-financial-aid-myths-realities.html</a></p>
<p>Also use the Financial Aid Board to also help answer any other questions you WILL have.</p>
<p>âShould I expect to pay $37,500 unless merit aid is offered? Or will I find more scholarships as we get more involved in the process?â</p>
<p>Use the financial aid calculators posted at various sites to get an estimate of what your EFC as determined by FAFSA will be. The FAFSA determines your studentâs eligibility for federal aid ie., Pell Grants, SEOG Grants, federal work-study, and subsidized student loans.</p>
<p>Some schools also require the CSS Profile to determine institutional eligibility. This often times is different than what is determined by the FAFSA. There are also other schools that have you fill out their own forms specific for their respective schools, Penn, Princeton, Colby and others.</p>
<p>Is the 37.5K tuition only or is that the total estimated Cost of Attendance (COA)? One of my sonâs COA is about $34000 tuition + $18000 for room, board, books travel and student health plan, for a total of about 52.K.</p>
<p>It is need-only school so merit scholarships from THAT institution are not available. Need can be met with all of the above federal aid and if we lived in a state that gave aid from the state that would be applied as well.</p>
<p>He received scholarships from OUTSIDE sources that are then applied to his account. This is where schools can differ with respect to HOW they apply outside funds. Some schools replace loans first or work study or studentâs summer expectation or familyâs contribution. Funds from the respective institution that are designated merit award often reduce the need-based aid FIRST and then if there is anything left over it will go towards the EFC. And this can vary from school to school.</p>
<p>Some schools have instituted a NO LOAN policy with regards to meeting NEED. This does not apply to parent/student taking loans to meet the schoolâs determined EFC.</p>
<p>So, first you need to determine your familyâs EFC. If it exceeds the COA for a particular school then you will have no need. If that is in fact the case then in order to reduce overall cost outside funding would be necessary, whether outside scholarships, savings, loans, employment or gifts.</p>
<p>This is where AP classes or local summer school can come into play IF matriculating school accepts one or both. Sonâs school limits ability to transfer classes from other schools during the summer to 2. Very little credit given for APs. Contrast this to our state flagship where he was also accepted with 17 AP classes, they credited him 78+ units toward graduation of 120 needed. And would have easily accepted his summer school classes he has taken (from them!) 9 classes after this summer. However he did not choose this path.</p>
<p>If you have more questions or if any of the 2010 parents do please ask. Sybbie in the financial aid board, curm from the above thread and at least 10 others can give you the briefing on finances. Some have more details than you could imagine.</p>
<p>After having 4 kiddos go through this in the past 7 years I still can say it is still confusing with other the different scenarios.</p>
<p>Just know that the more offers/packages (merit or need) you have in hand the more options and leverage you have.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Look forward to your visit report DB. Will be interested to hear anything related to the admissions breakdown as is described in the > 50% early thread, where F&M takes 70% of their class ED and the yield for the remainder is 7%. Mostly curious no real interest in the school.</p>
<p>Although GC wants to put some Penn schools into Dâs basket, I donât know if F&M would be one of them. If we were to add any, I would want some generous with merit and from reading that thread it doesnât seem F&M is in that category.</p>
<p>H and I are also revisting our financial discussions, unfortunately the ideas of what we can afford after market changes and how Dâs current choice of major/career direction would also affect outlay are not eye to eyeâŠ</p>
<p>Whirled Peas</p>
<p>I always think of the COA as being like the list price at the auto dealers - and from there you negotiate down. Obviously it depends upon the student -e.g. 2400 SAT will be in better shape than 1000 SAT - and on the school (some school give more merit aid than others). With my son, at some of the schools he applied to, the net COA was less than the University of California - at others he got basically nothing and so the net COA was 40K+.</p>