<p>Wow vistajay! It sounds like a great opportunity to teach your daughter to keep things in perspective. It’s a lot of stress for a 14/15 year old to get straight A’s her entire freshman year and have her family freak out when she gets one B. I’m sure that’s not how you and your wife are feeling, but it may be the message she walks away with if you don’t make sure you express yourself well. Good luck!</p>
<p>vistajay, it sounds like your D is a great student. I can’t imagine a B in your D’s freshman year is going to put her out of the running for any school or scholarship. Bring your wife and your D some ice cream when you go home and maybe they’ll both feel a little better. </p>
<p>My D is slacking a little too. I’m trying to get her to work hard for the last 2 and 1/2 weeks, but she can smell summer coming and her motivation is waaaaaaaaaning.</p>
<p>Thanks Suzy100 and PinotNoir, I was looking for a little perspective. She is a great student, which makes her first B that much more difficult for her to bear.</p>
<p>Lots of freshmen get their first B in high school. At our school it is normally Biology. D2 had honor’s day last week. Out of a class of around 380 their was about 20 kids with a 4.0. Freshman class tends to have the fewest 4.0’s as kids start taking weighted AP classes sophomore year which raise the GPA.</p>
<p>Agree with Suzy, you can set the tone at home and could be a good lesson for D (in time) Hugs and some perspective needed.</p>
<p>vistajay – the first B is the most difficult one. Best to get it out of the way. :p</p>
<p>Tell your wife:
(1) Plenty of kids get into great schools with one or more Bs
(2) Plenty of kids get scholarships with one or more Bs
(3) Colleges don’t give much weight to freshman year, because they understand that the transition into high school can be difficult. Some colleges (e.g., the University of California & Cal State colleges) don’t even look at freshman year grades.<br>
(4) College admissions committees love to see a “rising trend” in grades. </p>
<p>Mom freaking out doesn’t help anything. But it can have lots of downsides. It may discourage D from being honest with Mom in future, damaging their relationship. It may teach D that grades are more important than learning, leading her to a habit of cheating just to get mom-pleasing grades. It may lead to D to conclude that there’s no way to be good enough, so that she just tunes out and disengages from her education. Or it can “just” lead to D getting really stressed, which can in turn lead to stress-related illness, burnout, or depression. :(</p>
<p>I suggest you take your wife to go see the film [Race</a> to Nowhere](<a href=“http://www.racetonowhere.com/about-film]Race”>http://www.racetonowhere.com/about-film). Find a screening [url=<a href=“http://www.racetonowhere.com/screenings]here[/url”>http://www.racetonowhere.com/screenings]here[/url</a>].</p>
<p>vistajay–my older S doesn’t have a 4.0 (unweighted). He does have a very high GPA but not the 4.0. He received fantastic merit scholarhips to all the schools who accepted him. Truly, your D should be told it is ok–it is more than ok. College wasn’t even on my older S radar as a freshman (nor mine, to be honest). S2 is more college aware though because he just witnessed the process up close and personal with S1.</p>
<p>vistajay - You are getting lots of good advice here, all of which I hope has been helpful at home 
A B on a transcript is not worth any drama, and as others have said, many “elite” colleges (including at least one Ivy -pretty sure it’s Princeton) disregard freshman year grades. By all accounts, an upward trend is what is more eye catching to the Admissions Office. Your D is clearly under enough stress as it is - this shouldn’t add to it at all. My older D got her first less than perfect grades in her sophomore year - her last year of being a straight A student was freshman year! -and she was accepted into, and is doing very well, at an Ivy. Having that perspective is really helpful for me and her younger sister ('15). So take a deep breath, give your D a hug and a smile, and let it go - celebrate the end of her freshman year! The fact that you know she is doing the best she can makes anything she brings home good enough, in my opinion.</p>
<p>OK, so my D is having about 15 girls over for a birthday get together this weekend. The plan was just to be low-key, have a bonfire and let them make hotdogs, s’mores, etc. over the fire. Well, it’s going to be in the 90’s here, so I don’t see how they can do that. Anybody have any suggestions for what they can do instead? I’d love to keep them outside most of the time. I’m actually thinking of buying a slipnslide thing. Any other thoughts? (Unfortunately the swim club doesn’t open until Saturday, or we’d move it there.)</p>
<p>suzy100–slipnslide sounds like a lot of fun. Squirt guns too? or would that be too weird?</p>
<p>This is a problem I never have, living in the PNW–as a matter of fact, it feels a little like February here right now. Slightly depressing.</p>
<p>Hello folks! Checking in. Freshman year is almost over! I hope all students survived the year and learned somethings about themselves in the process. </p>
<p>Vistajay- I think B’s are entirely normal. S has his (English) this year. It was for a 90 as well. I think it is entirely normal and will not have an impact on a lifetime of happiness. </p>
<p>If a B is the worst thing that can happen, then consider yourself blessed.</p>
<p>momsings, thanks for the suggestion! I don’t think that would be any weirder than the slipnslide. 
I’ll see if I can find a bunch - really, who doesn’t like to have a squirt gun?</p>
<p>Sorry your weather is crummy there. Brother lives in PNW too, but doesn’t mind the weather much after 4 years in hot, flat, humid Houston. I’m in Ohio and we’ve just had crazy warm weather here. I’ve enjoyed the mild winter, but I’m NOT ready for the 90’s. It’s way too early for that.</p>
<p>what’s the impact on the GPA?Two AP’s and rest honors class.Three AP’s and the rest honors,assuming straight A’s and 5’s in the APs.</p>
<p>Could anyone clarify?Please.</p>
<p>Tripleamom - I don’t understand your question about GPA. Do you mean what is the GPA of straight A’s in two AP’s and the rest honors vs. three AP’s and the rest honors? How does your high school weight honors classes and AP’s, and how many classes does your student take?</p>
<p>In D.'s school, if she takes AP and gets an A, she’ll get 5.0. Honors A is 4.5. Other classes, A is 4.0. Whether a student passes AP national exam doesn’t matter, as long as she takes the exam, she will get a 5.0 with an A in school. I personally don’t like the last rule, but that’s how it works. The students really don’t take the national test seriously. </p>
<p>Based on the rule, if one takes more AP courses and get As, she will have a higher GPA.</p>
<p>That is interesting. Our high school does not do weighted GPA–honors and AP are weighted the same as all the other classes. Most of the colleges older S applied to did their own weighting systems.</p>
<p>D15 is taking AP euro,AP BIO,Precac/trig H, English10 H,Chinese II H,Journalism.</p>
<p>Her counselor pretty much scheduled all four years of classes and adviced us not to take any class outside of school if D15 wants to be a val.D15 found that a couple of her classmates are taking AP calc next year along with AP euro and AP Bio.In that case will they have a better gpa than D15? Thats my concern.</p>
<p>I know there’s along way to go.But its better to correct things then and there.Its the counselor’s advice that D15 should try to be val to get into top schools as her HS is an average school.</p>
<p>Thanks maxwellequations.</p>
<p>@tripleamom, If your school works as ours, then taking more APs will make her rank higher. Do those students who take AP calc also take AP euro and AP bio as your D? Some students take different APs.</p>
<p>tripleamom, does the school give the same weight to honors classes as it gives to AP? If so, then all things (grades) being equal, it shouldn’t matter that other kids in her class are taking AP calc next year. If they weight them differently, I’m not sure what you could do anyway as I would think she needs the precalc before taking calc.</p>
<p>My D’s school is similar to maxwell’s. An A in honors or AP = 5.0. However, there are pluses and minuses factored in as well. So an A+ in honors or AP = 5.33. An A- in a regular class = 3.77.</p>
<p>Do your schools have A±? Our school doesn’t. It makes things very simple. I like it that way. D. got 103 (because of extra credit) in her algebra II, it’s an A. She got 91 in bio, it’s also an A. </p>
<p>Other than that, an A in AP is 5, and so on, like Maxwell’s. </p>
<p>Yes pre-calc is required before taking Calc in our school too. so next year D. will take H. precalc, and hopefully she’ll take AP calc the junior year. </p>
<p>What do students do after AP calc? I know there are kids who are more advanced than my d - they’re taking calc in sophomore year. Then do they take college math courses in junior and senior years? I’m thinking about having her take AP statistics as a senior.</p>
<p>triplemom:</p>
<p>My elder D was Val. It was clear from early on she was on that path. A very good friend of mine guided her along the way to make sure we didn’t do anything to compromise her chances. The first being in 8th grade where she advised D not to take Algebra 1 for HS credit. She took the class it just did not appear on her transcript. The reason being that she didn’t want that extra 4.0 in the calculations. Our school system weights AP exam 1.0 point. Nothing extra for " Gifted" ( honors classes) She finished up with 13 AP’s and I can’t recall how many non AP classes. Let’s say 19 if she had that math class she would have had 20 and calculating GPA it could have made the diff. </p>
<p>On outside party, we had an outdoor movie last year for d2’s birthday. Hooked up laptop to a projector ( borrowed) and shown on a white pull down screen ( also borrowed). The kids watched" Ferris Buellers day off". As they were just starting HS it was a great hit and many of the kids hadn’t seen it before. Very easy and we would do again.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the last day!</p>