<p>I am amazed at all of the high-level stuff kids do these days during the summers – internships, etc. Back in the late 60’s I attended what is now a top 15 university, and during my summer breaks I was a lifeguard for 2 years and worked in a factory the other 2 years. It was all about earning money to help pay for college. </p>
<p>Similarly to White_Rabbit, my S got B’s in freshman year high school math. He is now a successful student at Stanford.</p>
<p>The counselor who suggested that the process starts in 5th grade should lose her job. What she is saying is that the die is cast, and that therefore she bears no responsibility whatsoever for the process or outcome. Is this acceptable? No, of course not. It is passing blame and making people feel badly about the normalcy, presumably, of their child’s lives. </p>
<p>As someone who lives in a country where children are ‘banded’ in first grade, streamed in 4th, tested repeatedly in first(with teaching directly to the test), I am loathe to think of an America where this is the norm . For some reason, parents here do not want to have more children and everyone is focused on how pressurized life is. </p>
<p>The worst thing about it all is that it is all about fear. People do what they do because they are afraid not to, not because they feel is right or healthy or warranted. </p>
<p>My 8th grader came home last week with a ‘plan high school’ worksheet. We sent it back blank except for 9th grade. She does not need to stress and she needs to be free to learn what she enjoys based on what she learns in 9th grade and move from there. </p>
<p>No one is holding a gun to our heads to make our children feel that this is all there is to life. Was your childhood like this? Haven’t you managed?</p>
<p>This is a very funny thread. I guess my 5th grader is doomed too because she does not have her life fully planned out yet. ;)</p>
<p>Mrs. Weasley,
Our school system include HS classes taken in MS on the transcript and GPA. Whether colleges take those grades into account is another story. However, a couple of colleges to which S1 applied specifically said they took the GPA on the transcript and did not recalculate. However, this school paid serious attention to the rigor on that transcript, so it worked out for the best. Many colleges seem to be cagey about how/if they recalculate grades, though.</p>
<p>Marian,
If there’s a struggle for the Bs in MS, then it may well make sense to take the extra year to further strengthen the skills. In S2’s case, he is simply a B+ student in those subjects as they are taught in that program, paired with great standardized test scores (though it looks like he is pulling off a A in AP Calc this semester!!!). His AAF teacher in 9th grade managed to get him caught up with what he should have learned from his MS math teachers. Painful, but ultimately successful. As you know, there is not much room for diversion on the IB track. We know the GPA would look quite different if he attended his home HS, but he has chosen this path and despite the challenges, is not sorry.</p>
<p>Counting, thanks, I agree. I believe that some colleges are cagey about their treatment of grades. That’s why I wanted a link to the info that OP had about UMd, which is of interest around here.</p>
<p>I know that some high schools will not allow grades from programs outside of the school to count towards the student’s GPA because the outside class wouldn’t necessarily be of the same rigor as what the high schools offer and high schools don’t want students bumping up their GPAs with easier classes taken outside of school. Not all high schools treat courses taken outside of HS the same, so I’m anxious to see if UMd treats all courses taken outside of HS the same.</p>
<p>My school district is moving to counting highschool course grades taken in junior high also. It has been a controversial discussion, but they are going to begin implementing it with next year’s 7th and 8th graders. </p>
<p>So, it will be computed into your cumulative GPA, which then affects your rank - which in Texas is HUGE due to the 10% rule.</p>
<p>
Mutual assured destruction.</p>
<p>mrs weasley.aacps.com regulation #608 is where i got the information.he goes to a charter school where they run through geometry and alg II in one year. in many years that happens in 7th grade but my son’s year did not test as strongly so they are doing this in 8th grade. it seems a bit rushed to me… why push so hard so early…but like i said he loves math and his teacher and friends and decided to continue on the accelerated path rather than drop down a class and re-do geometry (which he had already finished with an a)… if this hurts him in 4 years and he is on one of the depressing ‘rejected’ threads there are on cc, (all those mentions of trying harder earlier!!)that’s the way it goes…like posters all over cc have said, you can’t protect your child from everything…</p>
<p>kayakmom—with all due respect–he’s 14</p>
<p>please for your son’s sake, read the posts here. he is doing well and needs you to believe that…</p>
<p>In the first post, OP posted that his/her son said he is doomed, not OP.</p>
<p>she said, clearly he is doomed at 14 for many schools…</p>
<p>She was being humorous.</p>
<p>Kayakmom:</p>
<p>Our nephew goes to UMD. He had a number of problems in school owing to his being borderline Aspergers and having ADD. “Erratic” about covers it. But he got into UMD and a few other places, some with great scholarships.
My take has always been as long as the student enjoys himself and the class, follow his bliss.</p>
<p>I can only hope the original poster was “joking” because if not, she sounds sick.</p>
<p>Do people in affluent neighborhoods really think like this? This country can’t collapse soon enough.</p>
<p>You’re producing a generation of trained seals. Sick.</p>
<p>OP needs a time out in the corner. You better not pout.</p>
<p>It’s easy to get swept up in the grade/college/anxiety game. I remember being at a luncheon once and these “super moms” were discussiing the extra curriculars that would make a difference to college counselors -> I overheard: “Soccer is just a waste of time…every kid does it”… Their kids were maybe 7 years old. I acutally called my husband on the way home and said maybe we should enroll our grade school child in Chinese language classes to help her get into college. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him laugh so hard. </p>
<p>On that note…everytime I read Emory2013’s post #6 on this thread…I start laughing :D</p>
<p>oh, please read what kayakmom has to say about her son. He loves that class. They just want reassurance that the B which will appear on the high school transcript will not affect his chances down the line unduly.</p>
<p>I used to wonder whether it was a good thing for the grades my S got in college level classes were all converted into Pass. Of course, when he got As, we felt it was too bad they were. But that system gave him the extra confidence to challenge himself. The only issue he had was whether he was learning comfortably or struggling. And that really is the question the OP and her son ought to be asking themselves.</p>
<p>DS1 got a C+ in high school geometry. He’s at the top of his class at Johns Hopkins now. Don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Geometry in one semester and Algebra 2 in another semester of middle school, unless one is super good, this is hardly the way to build a solid foundation in math. Maybe the B is a signal to slow down a bit.</p>
<p>My D2, always a high achiever, got a few A- (gasp) in eighth grade. I just wanted to make sure she would have good work ethic in high school, or if she was encountering some difficulties I wanted to help out. </p>
<p>I asked her, “what’s up with your grades? Is this year more difficult? Should we get you some help.” </p>
<p>With a straight face she said, “I know starting 9th grade my grades will start to count for college. I am just resting up for it now.”</p>
<p>All kidding aside, I do think it is important for parents to keep track of what courses kids are signed up for from 9th grade onward. Many kids do decide by themselves to opt out of Honors or go on an easier track without telling their parents. My brother and wife did take their eyes off the ball with my nephew in 9th grade, now they are doing catchup in 10th grade to get him into AP and honor courses.</p>
<p>I expect all the parents or posters on CC are ones that understand the value of a college education and want their children to be happy, intellectually stimulated & fulfilled. We all have other things we could be doing rather than reading the posts, etc. on this site. It is a monumentaly important decision. I find this site interesting on many levels - not just facts and input for my Ds college possibilities, but also getting extra observations about the parental dilemmas we all face. </p>
<p>I do have empathy for the OP. Her son is on the verge of high school. High School level classes & 9th grade grades do show up on the applications for many universities. My 9th grader knows his grades are important, and each year builds on the prior year. I think the OPs wording made it kind of funny, not her concern as a good mom wanting to assure her son will have the college options he should have.</p>