<p>Not only is it hard to be equally good across all subjects, I would think it is hard to display equal “passion” about all of them. If the most prominent feature of the college application is lots of AP courses (& exams), maybe this shows a passion for exams, not a passion for the subject matter. (Maybe AP Master is a better designation than AP Scholar.) In itself, the AP Exam does not show that a particular student relishes & respects the process of learning; it may show that s/he relishes or respects the titular prize, as opposed to the intellectual prize.</p>
<p>That’s why admissions representatives harp incessantly about <em>course</em> <em>work</em> – emphasizing both words here. To receive an A in any challenging course – an AP course or an unusual, specialized course, and certainly a comm. college course if it’s very demanding – with a teacher recommendation in that course that elaborates on the <em>scholastic</em> contribution made – but “only” a 4 on the AP exam, is more persuasive (according to reps) than to receive a B in such a course and a 5 on the exam. </p>
<p>Sometimes quantity and quality are equal & parallel, sometimes not. That’s why I believe in teacher recommendations that are responses to specific aspects of subject & classroom contribution, that include a copy of a detailed class syllabus, that include a copy of a work product submitted by the teacher. </p>
<p>Actually, the truly enthusiastic student may often, yes, enjoy learning in most fields – across humanities & sciences & quantitative analyses, including the technical – but among even the geniuses I have known & still know, no one is equally talented or promising in all those fields. Part of being a true scholar is having the wisdom & honesty to acknowledge what you don’t know, to be open about learning more, to be gracious about recognizing the contributions of your betters in particular fields. What really turns me off is when I see students who excel in math & science & are clearly most interested in those fields, trying desperately to 'beat" humanities students in some quantitative “race” & in an obvious effort to outdo them, rather than in a sincere effort to learn & contribute. (I’ve known both varieties of math/science students.) </p>
<p>Imperfection is not shameful: it is merely the human condition. If you’re perfect at 16 or 17, there’s nowhere to go but down. And there are psychiatric implications to that last statement.</p>
<p>We should rejoice that we’re imperfect; it means our opportunities are boundless.</p>
<p>“You all need to back off and chill. Jumping on a poor immigrant may be fun for you but not for me.”</p>
<p>Expecting our children to do their best is one thing. Expecting them to be perfect is another. Substitute the word child for immigrant. Think about it.</p>
<p>A little sidebar topic re: APs. Some of my d’s AP classes were offered as combination dual credit/AP and I highly recommend this route if it is available. (Dual credit was rec’d from a local community college. She was awarded GPA points equivalent to her final grade in her AP class.)</p>
<p>Mine didn’t want to take all her AP exams for a variety of reasons…wasn’t going to affect her GPA if she opted out, didn’t care about CB/AP kudos (though she did get them), was burned out from prepping for finals and py summer SATs, and cy graduation and senior activites were way more enticing, etc… So when she informed me she wasn’t sitting for AP exams in her dual credit classes, I was worried because the dual credit was only a guarantee for in-state universities. But no amount of talking was going to convince her to take all those AP exams…and I was really convinced this strategy was a huge mistake when she decided to go to school oos at UNC-CH. What a pleasant surprise when we found out UNC agreed to take the dual credit from our CC! </p>
<p>So if the AP/Dual option is available, it’s the way to go.</p>
<p>I’m trying to imagine myself in Laos, educating my kids and doing all I can to figure out the system. “Poor immigrant” doesn’t have anything to do with money. Poor also means, “I wouldn’t have to be asking this at home, I’d understand it all already.”</p>
<p>As hard as it is for parents to keep an illusion of authority in the household when there are teens and we make mistakes, how much harder for an immigrant dad with upwardly mobile hopes for his kids to look like he knows something in front of his own kids. </p>
<p>Adults give up a lot of emotional power within their families, when they move to a new country for economic betterment. The adults will never find the sense of comfort, opportunity and belonging for THEMSELVES. They lost it they left their native land. So, now it all rests on their kids. That’s a lot of pressure on everyone. Until the parent can trust their own kids to “make it” in the new country, it is natural to be extra-vigilant, I think.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who caught a playful sense-of-humor in that OP? I heard it. Why take him so seriously when he only came to inquire. To inquire about what a grade means is really just that, an inquiry.</p>
<p>yeppers…I thought laserbrother was conveying a concern, asking for advice all the while poking a little fun at himself. Maybe people will think I’m wrong…but I did get the humor in the OP as well.</p>
<p>Regarding the posts by LB, one should check the entire BODY of his posts on CC before jumping to conclusions. There are indeed several very humorous contributions (such as besting others for the title of Mr. Frugal who steals the soap and shampoo in hotels) but also posts that are less self-deprecating. </p>
<p>However, the poor Laotian references are hard to accept. Laserbrother is an extremely well educated person who should possess the intelligence and acumen to segregate the egregious advice and reports he seemingly listened to in the past from the … more reasonable given here. He is a US-educated PhD who spent years in Research and Development.</p>
<p>LB does indeed come here for advice (and he has gotten plenty of it) but is visbly more interested in finding vindication for his positions than … listening. He does say he pays attention but comes back a few days later with a very similar story. </p>
<p>I think that this board is genuinely interested in providing help and sound advice, but aren’t there allowed limits to repetitive inquiries? </p>
<p>^^. Just want to make it 100% clear that I NEVER “steals the soap and shampoo in hotels”. That is a personal insult and I am 100% offended by that.</p>
<p>When anyone check into a hotel, there are shampoo and soap for one to use during the stay. Since one will not complete use that one bar of soap in one shower, I will take the used bar of soap. That is NOT stealing because they are part of service I paid. It is like any one brown bag their food from a food place. </p>
<p>BTW, I have seen ( I can’t find them now) that there are other posters who ask exactly the same type of question as I do. I have not seen many of you jump on them.</p>
<p>Laserbrother, you know what? This is getting old! While I have been direct, I’m not picking on you. As I told you before, I could ignore your posts as opposed to trying to UNDERSTAND where you’re coming from.</p>
<p>I wrote about your self-deprecating and humorous posts. My words were, “There are indeed several very humorous contributions (such as besting others for the title of Mr. Frugal who steals the soap and shampoo in hotels)” </p>
<p>Yes, I wrote humorous, as the intent was not to “pick on you.” Also, I did not make up anything. Aren’t those YOUR exact words describing how you “collect every soap and shampoo from the room and bring them home?” </p>
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<p>Would it have made a huge difference had I used the word “collecting” instead of “stealing?” People understand what taking the little shampoo bottle means!</p>
<p>Xiggi, this is the Parent Cafe. If you can’t treat adults who post here with deference and respect… then please don’t post here. Most of the topics on this board are geared for students – this is the one place where a parent like LaserBrother should have been able to come and share his anxieties without having to worry about some kid coming to tell him off.</p>
<p>It seems to me that you have succeeded in driving him underground – and I am sorry to see that. I don’t tend to see things the same way that LB does, but I consider him a valued, if somewhat eccentric, member of this online community and I’m sorry to see your efforts to discredit him and invalidate his contributions.</p>
<p>I agree with Xiggi, and I am a parent, after reading all of LBs posts and I see a parent who is always disappointed in his child, though he claims to not be.
LB has anxieties of his own making as he wants perfection that is just not attainable.</p>
<p>And I am sorry, but this constant claim of not knowing stuff while LB has been on this site for 3 years is just silly</p>
<p>OBW = Oldbutwise. YOu can do a quick search and find a plethora of threads about all the “Ivy obsessed” parents who live on this site and who cause their children to have emotional issues and eating disorders</p>