At my D18s school, seniors Can skip semester exams if they have an A in the class. Exams are next week and fortunately my daughter has none to take!
@memmom2018 our school most classes are year long so they don’t have to take finals in May if grades up but add us the group taking midterms second/third week of Jan. If S doesn’t get into his either two choices and at least some $, he’s going be swamped from Dec 18- end doing more apps. He already told me not running spring track because he wants relax enjoy himself…can’t blame him. off to figure out how to send a pm so I can join the FB group!
@mommdc you might be right on that! Which would make sense, I’m sure not all those given the scholarship accept. It would be inconceivable to my daughter haha!!!
@sushritto what an interesting concept. I look forward to your report on how the experiment goes!
I knew D18 would not escape the wrath of McGill - just got asked for mid year grades as well! At least we know we are in good company with your D’s stellar grades. I guess we wait until January on this one . . . my D is sporting straight A’s with the exception of AP Calc where she is a half a hair under a B so we’ll see where this goes. It’s probably the class she wishes she never took but live and learn and hopefully rescue the B.
Ugh…Calc is so hard for so many students! No doubt this is causing your D lots of stress, @my2caligirls. 
Hang in there.
My D is much more chill about the McGill thing than I am, and I’m grateful for that! D will get her EA Trinity decision in the next week or so. That * should * bring good news. Even though Trinity is a bit further down her list, an acceptance (and nice merit package??) would instill some more confidence and reassurance going into winter break.
@my2caligirls UGHHH AP Calc. Yup my D had a rough first marking period for AP Calc…she’s doing good now but it was a tough start. I feel for anyone in those AP Phys, Calc etc having to send those mid term grades. It’s brutal!
D is actually taking AP Calc, physics, and Chem this year. I was a bit worried for her at first, as generally she’s stronger in humanities than STEM, but there is a lot of overlap in these three classes, and her teachers are all good about helping the kids connect the dots between the disciplines. Having all three at once has been a good thing, D thinks, as what she learns in one class is reinforced in another.
That’s great @ShrimpBurrito , your D sounds amazing! But it does make sense that Physics/Calc/Chem have a good amount of mathematical overlap. My D has AP CalcBC but it’s her only heavy math class. Her others are AP Econ, AP Gov, AP Eng, AP German and a Duel Enrollment Anatomy/Physiology w/ Seton Hall. She seems to be doing ok but Calc BC hit her hard first MP. Thankfull she righted the ship and has an A now. It was just a bit of drama for about a month LOL!!! She actually wanted to take AP Physics but it was a conflict with her wind ensemble which she just couldn’t give up for a class that wasn’t necessary (she had already taken Honors Physics). I am thinking she’s probably relieve though LOL.
D18 has an 86 or so in AP Calc BC for this semester. I don’t think there’s any way she can get it to a 90 by the end of the semester, so it’ll show up on her mid-year report as a B. It’ll be the only B on her transcript. If a college balks at that … well, I wouldn’t want her to go to that school anyway.
@droppedit I agree!
@ShrimpBurrito we’ll be waiting on Trinity with you. Since Stanford is announcing this week, hoping Trinity can ease the blow. Sure hope I’m right anyway.
@Booajo - Right there with you on the Stanford expectation. S18 already has an acceptance and he really doesn’t expect positive news Friday.
I think about 30 kids in his class of 650 applied early to Stanford. They usually have 1 kid get accepted every year, but maybe two this year with so many apps?? I honestly don’t know how they can choose between these kids except by a “gut” feeling. They’re all awesome kids!!
@RoonilWazlib99 – D18 will find out about Stanford REA on Friday, too. I’ve tried to set the expectations appropriately but it’s difficult for a teenager to have the proper perspective. In D18’s case, she meets all the core stats, etc. so it comes down to “fit”. If she’s rejected then that means the AOs thought she wouldn’t be a good fit there (who would want to go somewhere where they don’t fit in?). The correct response to a rejection is disappointment, not devastation.
I’m just so hopeful for all of them! I helped seven of them with their essays and I’d love if they could all go. My son isn’t expecting positive news and has always been a realist (he’s the kid - honestly - who drew a picture of a headstone with RIP his name in first grade when asked to draw a pic of himself at 100 years old. We saved that!). He knows only 4 kids in a 100 get a yes, and I do, too, but I just wish it could be more!
We also have good family friends, both of whom attended Stanford, whose son applied four years ago. He is an Eagle Scout, had a 4.0 uw, went to an awesome private school for gifted kids, perfect SAT scores, was a licensed pilot as a teen, etc, etc. He didn’t get in early and didn’t even get deferred. Just a no. So that helps put it in perspective for us as well.
And as you said, he was perfectly happy attending Georgia Tech, where it has been a great fit and he has thrived. One no isn’t the end of the world or the road - it’s the beginning of lots of other opportunities.
@droppedit Proof that every school is different (as if we didn’t know)… an 86 in an AP class here is an A. The report card only shows a letter grade. A 94 and above is an O. The grading scales for honors and CP classes are different, too.
There have been times my daughter has squeaked into an A, and times she barely missed it. It cuts both ways unfortunately - no rounding here.
@bearcatfan , wow, that grading system sounds great! Ours is not so kind.
There is an AP Stat teacher in my D’s school who is about to sabotage a lot of kids’ grades, and possible trajectory. We’re talking passive aggressive grading for overachieving students, sneaking in assignments online at the last hour when it’s unlikely students will see them, and outright not teaching the class and telling them to learn on their own and to ask her questions if necessary (so they try, then get confused first before asking questions and having to relearn). She takes off unreasonable points for things they were never told, etc.
This kind of stuff burns me up! D has a friend who is stellar student, NMSF who applied early to Stanford and RD to all Ivies who may really be hurt by this. She has a C+ in this class (and straight A’s before this).
Teachers like that should not be allowed to teach! :-<
D is so upset that she took this class bc she didn’t need it (she’s already in AP Calc BC so it was an unecessary math elective). Our school doesn’t allow dropped classes so she’s in it for the duration of the year (Sigh).
Wow @Kayak24 that sounds horrid. I don’t understand how schools can say you can’t drop a class. Just seems so controlling. Both my kids started and then dropped physics because it was so poorly taught. I fully supported them!
Stanford is a huge reach. My H got a grad degree there, and we got the “thanks for your kid applying but things are tough now” letter from them. I found it quite fascinating. The positive–they linked him with his dad so he will get the tiny legacy bump. The negative–the stats they gave were scary (but we already knew that). I think I’m more nervous than S18. Oh well, 1 more day.
Good luck to all the kiddos waiting on Stanford decisions today. Is this the first decision day for a tippy-top? I haven’t seen mentions of others that I recall (HYPM etc). Anyway, I counsel being ready with ice cream. It works as both a treat for happy news and a balm for sad news. 
@Kayak24 We have definitely paid attention to what my senior says about certain classes and teachers, to better help my freshman plan her high school career. There are teachers and classes to steer clear of for sure. Sometimes you can’t control it, but occasionally you can figure out how to make it work out.
My freshman currently has the same lit teacher my senior had. Same books, same worksheets, same everything. Not that I’m one of those parents who saves stuff for cases like this … 