Opened at OP’s request.
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D ended with C+ and B- as final semester grades. Guess what! she got an AP Score of 5. To me such a failure of the system when enforcing uniformity across the country, some of her other teachers allow replacing school grades to A if kids get a 5 on AP but not in math. I am sure other schools in country would allow for Math as well. She has big dent in grades because of this math class. She enrolled in an online course for repeat and she is getting all As. Not sure how admission officers will accept the repeat course. Any idea?
Admissions officers don’t need to “accept” an online course sincerely her transcript clearly shows she already took and passed the class . Retaking a class you’ve already passed doesn’t signal anything to an adcom except that your D has time on her hands and no creative ideas on how to fill it.
Time to move on.
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That 5 will speak volumes that there was some kind of disconnect with the class. Especially if she gets a strong math sub score on her standardized tests.
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Well! She has plenty of advanced courses and tons of extra curriculars, I am not worried about someone getting an impression that she wasted a lot of time redoing the courses. But I value your perspective. She is approved to take next level college course in community college. She does not want to do Calc -BC in HS because of harsh grading at her school. Let me know if you have thoughts about that, You are right, time to move on
It’s crazy she was in AB as a Sophomore. Perhaps she just started late - meaning she struggled at the beginning?
She’s in 11th grade. She should take the class at her school - not skip to another school. That’s like running around your backhand in tennis.
Someone who doesn’t get an A - can’t say - well - it’s because of the teacher. Guess what - life isn’t perfect and your student doesn’t need to be.
Maybe they earned the grade they got - for various reasons beyond course comprehension.
What lesson is the student getting by running away?
I did not think if taking a college level course was like running away. If you can kindly elaborate.
Please help me agree to your philosophy of perfection. To me it is a pursuit of improvement, aren’t we as human(student) of something, striving to do better every day
What math classes does she have available for junior and senior year?
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I wasn’t implying that she’s wasting time. Just that there is such minimal value in retaking a course that she’s already taken and passed- surely there’s something else she could be doing besides grinding away at calculus- learning to bake French pastry? swing dancing? volunteering at the local public library? Making smoothies in the cafe at a nursing home???
And if she doesn’t want to take Calc BC at her own HS (for whatever reason) then don’t take Calc. It will still be there when she gets to college. She can take Stats if her HS requires four years of math, no?
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Repeating a course where one originally earned a C or B may look like grade-grubbing and is discouraged. For example, when UCs in California see repeated courses, only the first C or higher grade is counted when they recalculate the applicant’s HS GPA.
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Thank you! Do you suggest she should skip adding her repeated outside course with a better grade in college application? Do you think it applies to UCs only or in general for any other college she applies to ?
If she already earned 5 on the AP test, I think it would be generally seen as grade grubbing. Clearly she’s not retaking it to learn the material, so the only reason to take it is grade grubbing, no?
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Any course that gives high school or college credit should be reported on college applications for incoming frosh.
You need to check with each college of interest.
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Her HS has Calc-BC as highest course, She has no interest in Stats. She does not have any Physics yet so all her spots will be taken by something or the other, Community college has offline Calc-2 , which is equivalent to Calc-BC. She want to do either in biological or chemistry major in undergrad.
"She does not want to do Calc -BC in HS because of harsh grading at her school. "
That is running away. Maybe she struggled at the beginning or didn’t follow assignments well.
I was talking with a relative who has gone from a Micro Manager at work - to one - who lets him do his thing but they meet once a week to go over.
He told me he excels with both - but many don’t.
Your student will screw up - at work, at home, at school - it’s ok.
She has the next class to take at school - the class grade is more “telling” overall than a one day test (in my opinion).
But because she finds school harsh, she’s running away. That’s how I interpret it.
She obviously has improved during the year - she went from a C+ to a B- - and this is part of life - stumbliing, dusting yourself off, and trying to do better.
That’s my opinion - if she’s going to try and do better, she should tackle the monster in front of her, not one that’s avoiding it…
Just how I see it.
Best of luck to her.
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She needs stats for any lab science… whether she is interested in it or not. And she needs it for real life as well-- should she get the shingles vaccine? Does she need the upgraded warranty when she buys a car, or is the standard warranty sufficient? Her doctor is recommending a genetic test for AB and C but her insurance company only covers A- should she pay out of pocket for B and C?
She will use statistics in her real life every single day as an adults. Doesn’t need to be AP-- just take statistics in HS so that when she has to take the hard-core stats with programming in college where she is learning to manipulate large datasets she has a reasonably familiarity with the core concepts!
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Thanks for the valuable feedback, I will talk to her
This is probably why our high school only allows repeats for a D or F.
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There’s a zillion schools she can study these - most every - and if she’s this advanced, she’ll have no shortage of opportunities - hundreds and hundreds of school possibilities.
But only one chance to be a kid.
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How far into this class is she? Is it actually AP Calc AB or something else, like Calc 1? It’s too bad you didn’t post here before she started this class. She does have to report it on college apps (if she finishes it) even if her HS doesn’t put it on the transcript. Admissions officers think and behave differently across schools and even within schools, but I don’t love to see repeat of a course with a C+ and B-. Especially with an AP test score of 5.
What will be her math classes for junior and senior years? Junior year sounds like DE Calc 2? Some schools will see DE Calc 2 as less rigorous than AP Calc BC at her HS. Then what is planned for senior year? Does the HS offer AP stats?