<p>My kid never had a B in his life until his Sophmore year of high school. Then he started collecting Bs like they were going out of style and threw in a couple of Cs as well.</p>
<p>There were some issues outside of academia he was struggling with. We put our focus on those and let the gpa fall where it may. We cheered him on and reassured him that there was plenty of time. We also reminded him that there are thousands of colleges in this country and that one of them is his “match.” </p>
<p>A side effect of getting the non-academic stuff under control was that his grades soared. Now he’s at the end of his junior year and looking at some “name brand” colleges. But his sophomore year taught us that our job is to support him in anyway we can, to provide prespective and remind him to not get caught up in the what everyone else is doing and just do his best. </p>
<p>If he graduates from Harvard or from a state college (& not even the flagship!), we will be bursting with pride. We’re his parents, that’s our job.</p>
<p>kayakmom, my S took French II at the HS when he was in 8th grade, and he managed to get some kind of B because of not turning in all of the homework. He was an 8th grader, and not accustomed to the more rigorous structure of the HS. Despite his B, he went on to get 5s on both AP French Lang and AP French Lit, placed first in the state in the Grand Concours, was given the Langenscheidt French Award for the state junior year, was presented with the Language Award at graduation, and is now a student at a highly regarded school. The only consequence of his B was that he had to “wait” until 10th grade to get into the French Honor Society, with everyone else. </p>
<p>So my advice is to take the 8th grade experience as a learning one, and don’t be overwhelmed. Yes, grades are important, but be glad that he has discovered what happens when you don’t turn things in now, so that he can be on the ball freshman year, when maturity will help.</p>
<p>The fact that he loves math is far more important in the long run.</p>
<p>i really appreciate all your comments (even those from people who clearly did not read or ‘get’ my original post!) </p>
<p>i just know that after all this drama last night he’ll come home today having fogotten all about it (sorta like when he thought breaking up with a girlfriend…they must have sat together at lunch for a whole 3 weeks!!..was such a tragedy…until he found a new girl to like the next week!)</p>
<p>as some of you have said he is my first child to go through puberty and what a roller coaster ride it is!!</p>
<p>but the good thing is…now i have so much more perspective and good advice…thanks again!</p>
<p>Please, relax a little! My son got a C- in Chemistry in 10th grade, never got higher than a B in any math course except Geometry, got “only” a 670 on his Math SAT, and ended up getting into both the University of Chicago (where he’s now a freshman and doing just fine, getting B’s and B+'s in the core curriculum math and science courses and A’s in everything else) and Johns Hopkins, among other schools.</p>
<p>My son is a junior and I come here all the time for perspective, it’s a great place for it. Come back anytime. Best of luck to you and your kiddos.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread, but even if your high school includes 8th grade grades, colleges don’t. (And many high schools that do still calculate the gpa for each year and show it on the transcript, so colleges will know that the overall gpa includes it and recalculate the gpa.) Indeed, some colleges, e.g., UMichigan and Princeton, don’t count
9th grade grades.</p>
<p>jonri, the fact that the HS uses it in GPA calculation affects rank. I think that’s part of what is driving OP’s concern. At least that’s what causes concern at my ds’s HS. :)</p>
<p>I understood that concern, too. It would also be interesting to find out how the high school calculates grades taken in college classes.
Rank may not matter at many colleges; furthermore, many high schools do not rank any more.</p>
<p>dear trust…i don’t think you read the posts!</p>
<p>and yes after reading the regulations (as suggested by one post) the courses will be calculated in his high school gpa and will affect class rank.</p>
<p>Both of my dss have taken college courses just for fun over the summer, not to fulfill any graduation requirement. It never occurred to me to try to get them credit for the classes until the registrar mentioned it. All those grades would be weighted, so it’s something we’re going to look in to!</p>
<p>kayakmom:
My S graduated early so he was not ranked. But the school might have found it very hard to rank him. He did not get all As on his college courses, but he took quite a few and went well beyond AP-level. What’s more the school does not weigh grades, so all these college courses would have counted as much as some non-honor class grades. None of that mattered. He applied to two top colleges and got into both.</p>
<p>My daughter got all A’s in all Honors and AP classes at her competitive HS, including Honors Chemistry, Honors Biology, AP Biology and AP Physics.</p>
<p>Got A’s in HS Honors Algebra as a 7th grader and HS Honors Geometry as an 8th grader, 35 Math ACT, and DIDN’T get into UChicago! </p>
<p>Clearly college admissions is not all about grades and test scores.</p>
<p>I’m really sorry that happened, je ne sais – but I know your daughter is very happy at the wonderful school where she did go – another important thing to remember!</p>
<p>Who knows; maybe it was something of an advantage to my son to have the truly outstanding grades and test scores and AP scores and “best student I’ve ever had”-type teacher recommendations that he did in humanities, social sciences, and foreign languages, rather than in math/science. I sometimes think there are fewer kids in high school (especially boys, perhaps) who stand out in those areas, and he may have had slightly less competition as a result. </p>
<p>Or, whoever threw the darts that day at the applications pile missed je ne sais’s daughter and hit my son. As I said – who knows? Still, though, nobody’s “doomed” by one grade that isn’t an “A.” Especially in 8th grade!</p>
<p>OP – If your S is taking Alg II in 8th grade, colleges will pay WAY more attention to that than to a B+ in 8th grade. </p>
<p>The seven Bs and one A S2 earned in Alg I, Geometry, Spanish I & II in middle school nevertheless enabled him to attend a very competitive selective entry HS program. Yes, they are in his HS GPA, and it hurts. I have faith that schools will look at the good trend line, acknowledge he has persisted and done well in subjects that don’t come easily to him, and that he has taken an incredibly difficult schedule. </p>
<p>My other S got Bs in MV/DiffEq junior year – he’s a math major. Got into two stellar math departments anyway, as the schools knew the strength of the program and teacher involved. Both my kids have a healthy smattering of Bs. I’d rather they learn to deal with tough classes and how to work through them <em>before</em> they get to college, and if that means a B for Busting Your Butt, so be it. That is not to say I am never neurotic and anxious about grades. ;)</p>
<p>jnsq, I have been meaning to say this, but when I read your post about how your D has blossomed this year, I cried with joy. I know how heartbroken you were, and I am thrilled she has found a terrific school where she is thriving and clearly meant to be.</p>
The darts landed right where they were supposed to.</p>