<p>DeskPotato, good point about honor roll. At son’s school kids with GPAs above 3.5 graduate with Honors and 4.0 + graduate with High Honors. Then, it is the top ten students, salutatorian and valedictorian. I think about top 20-25% of the class graduates with High Honors.</p>
<p>I’m a little late to the party, but after reading the thread, here is my take. OP is very concerned about junior fulfilling dad’s plan for him. Part of dad’s plan includes doing well enough on the PSAT to get scholarship money since he can already get into the school he wants. After simply going along with the GC’s suggestion and what junior wanted to do, he is now upset that he might not have gotten great advice and is placing all his emphasis on one good math score.<br>
Perazzinman, not once have you even responded to the suggestions about going to talk to the math teacher about grades. That is the most basic step you should have done long ago! You need to find out what the problem is. Whatever the problem is would most likely transfer to the new school with your son. The other thing you pointed out is that there was information availible to you online through the school web site that you finally read. While I don’t particularly like the helicopter parent approach, there is a certain amount of interest in your kids education that you need to take. I sat down with my son to look at his options of what classes he took each year in HS. We still review them together while he is in college. We don’t leave his education to chance and the assumption that the GC/advisor will be able to make the decisions for him. Since I had not attended college and didn’t have the ability to make suggestions on my experience, I studied a lot. A lot of time on the computer learning about the processes and procedures. Learning about options, timeframes and just figuring out how the college thing works. Maybe it was a little excessive but I want him to have opportunities I didn’t have.<br>
Bottom line is that you need to find out what the problem is before making any moves. Talk to the teacher to find out their take on the issue. You can’t make an intelligent decision before you get to the root of the problem. As others mentioned it could be something simple to correct.</p>
<p>I just read through this entire thread. Sounds to me like perazziman’s kid’s biggest problem is perazziman.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am not sure, what his PSAT score has to do with all this, but thanks anyway for taking a guess.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>Some of you guys are over thinking it, I think. This thread started with me asking if any of you have kids who got Cs in freshman and sophomore year in math, but close to 700 in SAT math (at the end of sophomore year)? If you do, then I was wondering why you thought it happened?</p>
<p>Actually your question was
which is a little different. I don’t have the time to reread through the thread but off the top of my head I would guess your son did not hand in required homework.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, actually here is what I said:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You said, it may have been because my son did not hand in required homework. Is that what happened to your kid?</p>
<p>Having the innate talent to do well in math as evidenced by SAT scores is a marvelous start. However, there are other, just as important skills for the kid to develop. Ability to meet deadlines, responsibility for seeing that finished work actually gets into the teachers’ hands, ability to positively participate in class; these are all qualities crucial to his ability to function in the real world, even in science and math professions. </p>
<p>Your son is still young. Support him in developing the self-management skills necessary to showcase his intellect, and open the doors to that financial aid you seek.</p>
<p>OP, I was very fortunate in that my older kids were both very self directed on getting homework done. Their scores were comparable to their grades. I do know our school has regular homework that counts as much for a grade as tests.</p>
<p>fauve, those are all great points. thanks. I brought him to this school so he could learn some of those skills. He came from an all hispanic school, where he seemed to be communicating quite well. Perhaps that is part of the problem.</p>
<p>Infact, this is why I am thinking of taking him back to the old school- he communicates well there, earns As and does well on the standardized tests. So, why keep him here? Clearly, I did not bring him to this school because college financial aid was my top/ major concern. People move their kids from hard schools to easy ones not the other way around, who have that concern.</p>
<p>Hi, OP, Texas parent here. I have read the entire thread. Isn’t this all about rank? You’re not the first parent to get a wake up call when rankings are announced fall junior year. And you’re not the first parent who has responded to a disappointing rank scenario by pulling their kid from the top area HS and putting them in a lower-performing school where he won’t get the best education, but he’ll get the rank you want him to have. Is that what your son wants? Is home schooling really a viable option? There are plenty of less drastic approaches to dealing with the problem of Cs in 9th and 10th math pulling down his GPA and rank. </p>
<p>The real problem I see here is your lack of education about your son’s education. In a nutshell, from what you’ve described, I can tell you your son’s HS coursework, APs and DAP track, as well as predicted test scores, are all very “normal” for kids who come from Texas elementary G/T backgrounds. The only thing that happened between then and now is, you didn’t stay involved in your son’s school life, so you’re not in the know! You’ve got to quit blaming the school for perceived wrongs and stop focusing on an alphabet soup of data you don’t know how to use. Instead, go inside your son’s current HS to get up to speed ASAP on everything you’ve missed the past 2-1/2 years. That “rich, suburban” HS you transfered your son into…presumably because you wanted him to get the best possible education…is only a “country club” as long as you stay on the outside looking in! There are tons of parents there just like you, and I can assure you, there have been and will continue to be school-sponsored parent meetings galore, a college counseling and career center, newsletters, handouts, PTO/PTA meetings, etc. explaining DAP, AP, rank and everything else you’re spouting off about here with no clue how they apply to your son. Start today by digging deeper into the school website–there will be tons of helpful materials about college admission, merit scholarships, financial aid, etc. Talk with your son to learn more about his goals (does he want to go to TAMU and study in a STEM field?) and lay the foundation for the collaborative process you will need to employ from here to college matriculation. Then go to his HS and get involved so you can acquire the information you need to properly support your son either at his current school or elsewhere.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As I have stated already, son has a 1380 (math + Verbal) on the SAT after finishing sophomore year. This guarantees him admission to TAMU (auto. academic admit), so this is not about being in the top 10% if this is what you mean by class rank. </p>
<p>[Academic</a> Admits](<a href=“http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshmen/gettingin/waysAdmitted/academic.aspx]Academic”>http://admissions.tamu.edu/freshmen/gettingin/waysAdmitted/academic.aspx)</p>
<p>It is about class rank in the sense that when a child is in the top 5% nationally on standardized tests, but his class rank is not in inline with these scores. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is some very good advice, thanks. Perhaps, you are right, I may not have been as involved as I needed to be. I have never needed to be that involved in other schools he attended.</p>
<p>I can understand OP being concerned about his/her son not living up to his potential and performing as well in hs as he does on tests. However, switching to a lower performing school doesn’t make sense. Figuring out why the son is underperforming is much more important. When the son goes off to college, he will also need to adjust to being in a group with more qualified students (as he did when he transferred to this more challenging hs). Why not solve this problem now?</p>
<p>
OP, how is the S doing in Physics and Pre-calc this year? Has he had first quarter grades by now?</p>
<p>Sylvan, S still has a test and finals to go. Semester will be over in the middle of December. Looks like he will have Bs in both Physics and Precal. Physics could end up being an A. It is his favorite subject. He also enjoys CS and should end with A in it too.</p>
<p>Okay. I find the B in Precalc somewhat concerning. Is it an improvement over last year’s math grades in general or more of the same?</p>
<p>Hi, perazziman, you still avoided the rank issue. You don’t have to answer publicly, but does your son currently have the top 25% ranking he needs to get auto admit to TAMU with his predicted SAT score? He would’ve received his rank through sophomore year this past September. I assumed it was your discovery of that rank…and perhaps that it was below or close to 25%…which caused you to be so upset as to consider transfer. Note, the rank he has at the end of this junior year will be the rank used for applying to colleges. I’m sure he realizes that! The junior year is awfully stressful on those kids as they try their hardest to get their GPAs and rank as high as possible.</p>
<p>It sounds like your son is thriving overall. As to the disconnect between his standardized test performance and math grades, as other posters have suggested, you simply need to get to the heart of the matter of math with your son. He obviously possesses some natural intellect and aptitude for math; he should have a good idea of what’s hampered his academic performance. A B in Precal doesn’t necessarily alarm me. It’s much better than the C’s of the past, and it would be great to learn he’s shown an upward trend since the course began in August, as you’ve really got to be building up from a strong foundation to excel in Precal and then in Calc thereafter. For that reason, some Precal teachers do set a high bar to be sure students master the concepts. </p>
<p>On the other hand, a B could reflect any number of issues of concern, ranging from serious (e.g., a learning disability) to easily reparable (e.g., failure to show work, turn in homework and/or manage test time or study/homework time–common in boys! often a natural maturity issue that contributes to poor fresh/soph performance but should be waning now + he should be affirmatively employing tips and techniques to conquer–you probably have some good ones to share!). Maybe he’s not been that interested in math, but is now realizing he must master it to support his physics passion. Maybe the teacher is awful! Learning how to deal with a bad teacher is a good life lesson–perhaps you could help him on that one, if applicable. Maybe he just needs to dig deep and kick it into gear now?! Does he hang around with any older kids at sports, arts, etc.? They can be good influences! My kids were classic standardized test aces who underperformed at school…they didn’t get motivated to do what it takes to bring home the top grades until junior year when they saw older friends going off to good colleges and senior friends agonizing through the college application process. A little late for parents’ comfort, but it all turned out fine–both got into fine schools! </p>
<p>If he really needs math help, it’s likely there are peer tutors at his school–perhaps he should take advantage of them? Has he asked to conference with the teacher about any struggles? HS kids are reluctant to ask for help, but learning how to recognize when they need help and where to go to get help are important skills to develop for college (and life) survival. </p>
<p>As for the importance of the SAT score generally, please understand it’s just one piece of a college application. (Although you’ve talked about TAMU, your son may want to apply to other places as well. My kids’ college lists were in motion right up until the last “submit” button was pushed!) People like to argue about which is more important, grades or SAT/ACT; grades usually wins the argument. But, a high SAT fairly insures your app will be seriously considered, and it can be useful in a few specific instances like the TAMU path to guaranteed admission. Be sure to develop a working college list before the spring is out so you can determine whether your son should take any SAT subject tests this spring (they’re not required at TAMU or any Texas publics, but other schools on his list might require them, and even at TAMU, they could be a plus if he applies to the honors program). You talked upthread about your son’s PSAT score and possible National Merit status. He should be getting his school either before break or in Jan. (it depends on how your school handles distribution). If he’s semi-finalist (he won’t know until the qualifying score is announced in Sept., last year’s qualifying score was 219 for Texas students), you will definitely want to get expert advice from your school counselor and elsewhere, as many doors will open at TAMU and elsewhere if you use that status to best advantage. If he’s commended (the qualifying score for commended is the same for all kids in the nation, last year’s was 202, the cutoff will be announced in April), it is a nice point of pride for student, parent and school, but that alone will rarely yield a tangible benefit either in admission or merit money, i.e., it will be a national award to put on the app, but the colleges will still evaluate for admission based on his SAT score plus grades and all the rest. </p>
<p>It’s great you are interested, and I do hope you can make the time to get more involved! Unfortunately, Texas, like most states, doesn’t sufficiently fund counseling, so your son’s counselors simply don’t have enough hours in the day to give the level of service you imagined he would receive. However, I would expect that the counselors at your competitive HS are very well-qualified and experienced at advising families on college options. Your son should be assigned to a specific counselor by now (or perhaps in the spring–every school does it differently). He’ll probably have at least one private meeting with the counselor before the end of his junior year, and then that counselor should be more available to him during senior year to support him, as needed, with college applications. But the college application process overall is the student’s responsibility. And it can be a big job! So it’s really helpful when parents can learn and help. </p>
<p>Do check out their career and college counseling center. In some public HS’s, parent volunteers man those centers and provide “office hours” to students and families who need support in accessing the paper and computer resources to aid college search, filling out applications and financial aid forms, etc. At the school where I volunteered, we offered occasional evening and weekend hours for working parents and busy kids.</p>
<p>You are on the right track! Feel free to PM me if you need help with Texas-specific stuff or if I can talk your son into considering UT’s physics department. 
Hook 'em!</p>