Should I take the hit?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>Hello. I’m currently 15, and in concurrent enrollment.</p>

<p>I’m taking 2 classes at the local university, physics and precal.</p>

<p>In physics I have and will get an A. No worries.
The problem is precal. There’s 5 tests total, each counting for 100 points. I got an 82 on the first test, and a 40 on the next. My average is a 61; if I get all 100s, it will go up to an 84.4. Should I get the maximum possible on all tests, a 105, it will go up to an 87. Usually professors with 5 tests drop the lowest one at the end of the six weeks. BUT, I can’t count on that.</p>

<p>Now, here’s the dilemma. I have a perfect A average. I kind of want to drop the class. There’s extreme grade inflation at our school, and even though I scored the highest on every single exam this year, I’m only #11/491. I have a 93.1375 GPA and our valedictorian has like a 98.3. So while the top 20 will be getting High/low As(in PreCal, oh and btw our Valedictorian already took it and she got a 97 average) I’ll be stuck with a class that I got a mid 80 in. They both are weighted the same, so that doesn’t count.</p>

<p>The entire reason that I want to take this course was so that I can get into Math HL, the equivalent of Calc AB/BC/other weird ****, at the local magnet school, because I want OUT of my current one. Here are my options.</p>

<p>A.) I can drop the class. And take PreCal(math studies SL) at the magnet school. I know I will do better, because it’s easier. I asked friends to help me on my homework, and even though they got 7s on their exam they were unable to help me.</p>

<p>B.) I can stay with the class. This has its benefits; I’m sure that in Calc(math HL) I will get an A, because it’s a lot more relaxed than a summer course, and it’s not at the level of a university. And even if I don’t get an A, I can do well on the exams, showing that I do have academic prowess, despite my grades.</p>

<p>What should I do? Besides beg for mercy. :(</p>

2

<p>Be consistent, stay with your current class. Endure the hardship now because suceeding in math HL is going to be your award.</p>

3

<p>Yeah. I was thinking that too. I’ve never quit anything. I’m just so scared as to how it is going to affect me in terms of rank. Thank you~</p>

4

<p>What does SL and HL stand for?</p>

5

<p>It’s for the IB program. The rival for AP, I guess here in the U.S.</p>

<p>SL courses are like AP courses; you take them for one year and you’re tested over them.</p>

<p>HL courses are courses you take over two years. You only test at the end of those two years over everything you have covered in the course.</p>

6

<p>HL is a 2 year course…2 years of the same classes…</p>

7

<p>Yupperz~ hehe</p>

8

<p>IB is far more impressive than AP.</p>

<p>I too thought I was going to have to give advice on taking a hit for the first time. lol.</p>

9

<p>I disagree with the assertion that IB is more impressive than AP.</p>

<p>I think that IB and AP’s strength lies in the quality of the teachers. Our IB is a magnet school. It’s pretty selective, requiring an interview, et cetera. ALL of our good teachers went there this year. Therefore, our AP program is extremely weak now. In this case, IB>AP.</p>

10

<p>well I guess it depends then…I did AP and thought it was a joke. I would have preferred IB since the kids I meet that have done IB seem so much smarter than the people I was with in AP class.</p>

11

<p>lol, our IB requires an interview that nobody takes seriously…we have 11 people in our IB class</p>

12

<p>Some schools don’t take IB while taking AP. AP is the standard in US. Thus:</p>

<p>AP > IB</p>

13

<p>I don’t want this to turn into a debate. Thank you to all who have offered criticism and advice so far. :D</p>

14

<p>AP is for lamersss.(Kidding) Lol but seriously, IB is much harder to get into and succeed in… every other person in the US has at least one AP class whereas in IB you HAVE TO take at least 6 (at my school) classes that are all IB and if you choose not to, then they kick you out. Anyways…take the HL test… it will be so much better :].</p>

15

<p>If you can drop without any penalty, then i think you should, because on a math test, it’s difficult to get a 100%. You’ll make a stupid mistake somewhere and get a point or two deducted even if you knew the material, and consistently scoring a 100% on every test thereafter is even harder. Plus it’s very stressful to keep telling yourself that you need a 100% on every test to bring your grade up to a B. Plus you should do better the second time around, you will know what to expect and you’ll be more prepared for calculus. But if you’re sure of the B, then keep it. Getting your first B will be a painful, but it’s okay. As for getting an A in calc, I don’t know about IB, because I took Ap calc bc, but i must say that that precal is much easier than calc no matter where you take it. I got a B/A and that’s for bs-ing half the assignments and doing the other half the day before the tests. I put more effort into my Calc class but i got a C/C. A friend of mine took a summer precal session at a JC, managed a B but got a C in calc.</p>