<p>Hang in there seiclan - this too shall pass. He is not throwing away 10 years of good grades. He has all that knowledge and he has a strong work ethic. Even he can’t take that away from himself. There is still time. Please keep this in perspective, he is still that wonderful boy you love. He is more than his grades. I have had to remind myself of this many times. I remind myself that I value my son, not my son’s grades. Life is long and can be quite an adventure. Good luck to your DS and to you. Many, many universities offer really wonderful opportunities.</p>
<p>I think a first semester slump in grades junior year is pretty common. My D’s first trimester was her worst ever. Junior year is just like the transition freshman year of high school. The academics really ratchet up (AP is college level after all), they make the varsity team, have leadership responsibility in clubs and ECs, and yes run,run,run, like gerbils on the wheel. My D is beginning to find her stride again midway through the second trimester. Here is hoping it lasts and she finishes strong. So sieclan, cyber hugs, you are not alone.</p>
<p>Seiclan… I’m right there with you. My DS finished his first semester before winter break so they just received their report cards in the mail. I had kind of forgotten about grades coming because my S is home right now getting ready to leave for another school 2nd semester. My husband called me on my cell and said, " there’s something in the mail from the school" GULP… I knew what it was… of course my husband was afraid to open it… raced home with heart beating and sweaty palms… i actually had NO idea what his grades were… first quarter grades were REALLY good for the first time… but I just had a sinking feeling… Well… all but 2 of his previous A’s were still standing, the rest B+'s and 1 B. I was so disappointed because he REALLY needed those A’s to pull up his lackluster GPA. One teacher even commented that she hated to give him a B+ because he had aced the final, but because of unturned in homework he lost the A he would have had… URGH!!! Needless to say I was NOT happy. So you are not alone… on a good note at least his grades ARE rising.</p>
<p>So we had our first meeting with the GC at S’s school yesterday. My stomach was in knots going into that. She begins by pulling out his test scores and his first time seen computed GPA… of course I already had computed it before hand so I wouldn’t pass out in the office…LOL…My S hadn’t seen it yet though… He looks at both pieces of paper and says, " So… where do all the smart lazy kids go to college?“” I had to laugh… this is a kid who scored 2100+ on his first SAT in Nov. Gotta love those lazy,smart boys…</p>
<p>There was even an article in the NYT this weekend about the way boys and girls go into this college admissions thing. It said something along the lines as… " the girls have all their ducks in row, have done their homework, got all their recommendations and written their essays ahead of time, the boys come into the meeting sit on the couch and their eyes glaze over, their mom asking all the questions… of course they will get into the colleges in higher number than girls because the colleges NEED them… and they even make excuses when they admit them over a girl who had better stats… such as “he’s a late bloomer”. etc…</p>
<p>I don’t worry about the Bs any longer…every single junior at our Ds high school has earned at least a couple of Bs (by the end of last year). It had the surprising effect of relaxing us parents about grades.</p>
<p>IMO, if a kid gets a B or C in a tough class and sticks with it, then it shows persistence …and if he/she can bring up that grade during the second half of the year that shows success. Let’s face it taking 2, 3, 4, 5 AP courses at a time is very difficult - could be even classified as risky teen behavior!</p>
<p>I spoke with DS this evening (who is in good spirits despite the drop in grades) and he says that he thinks he can bring the grades up with the midterms (and thus save his GPA/rank from a severe drop). This may be wishful thinking but I am so glad to hear that he hasn’t thrown in the towel and that he plans to work hard in the next week. </p>
<p>I do wish that I were more zen about the whole thing and I really feel that I should be (since this is my third time at the plate) but my girls were very different personalities. </p>
<p>Do you guys remember the old Bill Cosby routine (I think he called it parenthood) when he laments, when the kids are driving him nuts, that all he wanted were some kids that he could send to college?</p>
<p>Seiclan, you’ll feel zen next year after college apps go in. S, who is a college freshman is doing great and I kinda regret all the drama I perpetuated through his soph/jr years. He’s right where he should be and everyone’s happy.
T
Your S sounds very conscientious and is challenging himself in school. As the previous posters said, it’s all about persistence and good work ethic.
Hang in there!</p>
<p>Good morning all!</p>
<p>Yes - boys with high test scores and medium grades. What more is there to say! seiclan - i wish we were sweating a few B’s popping up! I was on the edge of my seat hoping there would be no C’s on this report card. There weren’t, but darn close. S and I identified two pieces of good news. 1) if he does as well this semester as he did the last 5 weeks of 1st sem, he would get straight A’s, and 2) he very strategically set the bar low on 1st semester so that he can have an impressive rise in grades 2nd semester. LOL</p>
<p>I will say, my older son, who had a couple/few C’s and an UW GPA of 3.2 (3.6 W) ended up with a full tuition scholarship to a really good school that he absolutely loves and got a 3.93 his first semester! I think some kids just have trouble jumping through high school hoops day in day out. It’s not as simple as laziness - it’s just an unwillingness or inability to do every little thing that has no discernible intrinsic value every day for four years coupled with lack of organizational skills and/or spaciness. Frankly, I would probably have trouble doing some of these daily assignments on time every time too. It takes either a natural tendency toward keepin’ on chugging along or an incredible amount of will power coupled with truly buying into the idea that each and every little tiny assignment matters. </p>
<p>Now, if S will just cure cancer by September, I think we’ll be all set for the application season…</p>
<p>Very well put PN! High school isn’t for everyone, many kids do better in college because there aren’t as many “must do because I say so” kind of assignments. They prefer to be engaged in whatever it is that they are doing and to understand the reason for it other than “it will be on the test.”</p>
<p>My older daughter loves to learn everything, it’s all fascinating to her. As a result she takes too many classes (sophomore in college) and stresses out occasionally. My younger daughter (junior in hs) can’t wait until she only has to take those classes she’s interested in. One of her requirements for college selection is that there are no core requirements, especially no language requirements.</p>
<p>Different kids, different strengths. Both will succeed in college and life, just in their own way.</p>
<p>It’s nice to hear these things amtc and lilmom, as I’m stressing right now myself. D is an assiduous student whose math/science abilities aren’t great so she’s often had B’s in those classes. This year she’s worked and worked, all A’s…but her AP USH teacher hadn’t handed any of the second quarter tests/papers back…until yesterday. She’s asked and asked, thought she was doing well but how to know? She had a solid A first quarter. Now she finds 80’s on these and the semester is nearly over, no time to remedy it. </p>
<p>What do I do? (I emailed him, nicely-- I know he’s a good guy. And I’m pretty sure I’m stressing excessively. Still it’s an important grade and…) Well any advice, I’ll appreciate.</p>
<p>Gwen, no solutions, but I share your concern. Psych IB teacher just keeps telling the kids it will be ok…but no quizzes get returned. Semester ends in a couple of weeks, she’s on the line between A/B. D’s worked so hard, it just seems like the materials should be returned in some reasonable time frame.</p>
<p>Gwen and Mom2M - it is really stressful when teaches don’t hand graded assignments back! </p>
<p>My son had that 1st quarter in AP Lit - most of his grade was based on a huge (over 100 pages handwritten) summer assignment. In the other AP Lit classes in his school, teachers graded it fairly leniently, made it a small part of the grade, and had it graded within 3 weeks of school starting. S’s teacher made it most of the grade, graded it hard, and had it graded a day or two before the quarter ended. Can you tell I’m still bitter? They made a big deal out of giving all of the AP lit classes the exact same summer assignment for consistency (about 8-10 different sections offered), and then let each teacher decide how to grade it and how many points it was worth in the class, I guess to balance out consistency with…inconsistency? </p>
<p>I don’t like it when making students feel hopeless is considered a motivational tool. </p>
<p>In the meantime, I’d really like S to have some fun classes next year, but he’s having trouble finding things he wants to take. He’s excited about his Math & Physics choices, but can’t find anything else to get real excited about.</p>
<p>Do your HSs record +s and -s on the transcript, or just whole-letter grades?</p>
<p>Our school posts +s and -s, but they don’t give any boost or subtraction in calculating GPA.
So a transcript full of A-s is a 4.0, same as a transcript full of As or A+s.<br>
(I think A+s are very rare. Also, I’m leaving out any extra-point weighting.)</p>
<p>Do college adcoms weigh a transcript full of A-s differently than one full of As?
Would they see an A- as worse than a A?</p>
<p>Our school doesn’t indicate class rank, but they do note top 2% and top 10% at graduation.<br>
I don’t know whether they give consideration +s and -s in deciding who’s in which category.</p>
<p>Our local high school doesn’t do pluses and minuses. 90-100 is an A. All As are weighted the same, except there is extra weight for pre-AP and AP classes.</p>
<p>The boarding school my daughter is attending gives numeric grades. (So, the student gets a 92, not an A or an A-). There is a chart at the top of the report card that says 90-100 is an A, 80-89 a B, and 70-79 a C. That school doesn’t calculate class rank.</p>
<p>Ours has different points for +'s and -"s. B+ = 3.333, B=3, B-=2.667. Then colleges either accept the GPA as it appears on the high school transcript or recalculates it based on their own method, which can vary school to school.</p>
<p>Our HS doesn’t score an A- different from an A+. However, weighting vary. </p>
<p>Regular courses are on a 4.0 scale
Honors courses are on a 4.5 scale
AP courses are on a 5.0 scale.</p>
<p>Our HS loves to use + or -. In fact, + is for all scores above an 8, so it is common to see A+ on sememster grades. They also give .5 weight for honors and 1.0 for APs.</p>
<p>Ours gives points for + and -, and weights for honors and AP, and then…bases class rank on the unweighted grades. It does make me appreciate the need for standardized tests! Thanks for the commiseration yesterday btw-- it’s nice to know others have dealt with the same things.</p>
<p>Digging out after 14 inches or more of snow. Had a great snow day yesterday!</p>
<p>My understanding of GPA is that every high school calculates GPA differently. Therefore, GPA is a good tool to use to compare kids from the same HS, but a horrible tool to use to compare kids from different HS’s. GPAs and grades differ from school to school, its all really relative. Additionally, colleges use HS GPAs differently. Some colleges recalculate GPAs based on their own formulas. Others do not. A high GPA with a low class rank tells the college something, if they care to look. It is all relative. That is why so much weight is put on standardized test scores. Everyone is taking the same test across the country. A “B” from one HS might be the same as an “A” from HS Y; both kids take the same AP test or SAT2 test though adn score what they score. It is not a science, more of an art. </p>
<p>In our HS, teachers do not have issues with giving out Bs or Cs. Most kids here go to college, not very many go to “elite” colleges. My DS12 has a least one B a year, so far. I think he will have 2, if not 3, this year. I think we as parents, have to realize as we read the CC boards that everyone here is looking for different things. Some parents have really smart kids who need merit money to go to any school, so some things are very important to them. Other people here have smart kids and are just trying to get them into a top 20 school. Other parents have smart kids, but aren’t going to knock any standardized test out of the park. Every parent here shares information based on their own reality. I think it is great, but sometimes it is hard to keep perspective.</p>
<p>Every school grades a little differently - that is why colleges look at class rank - that is why many school refuse to rank - that is why many colleges use standardized test scores - that is why some people hate standardized tests - an on and on and on. There is only so much high school kids can do. Get the best grades you can, get the best test scores you can, write the most interesting essays you can. There is no secret formula to ensure that the college you want picks you. At some point, the kids need to let go and just see what happens. Oh yeah - and then there is the money!</p>
<p>Hear, hear, glido!!!</p>