3.0 to 3.3 (GPA) Parents Thread (2011 HS Graduation)

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’m not too worried about the AP score in general, it’s that it was in his most important subject for his major. We’ve had a few conversations about programming in general and one thing he says is that he has to work harder at it then other people in his class - he’ll get the answer but it takes a bit longer. And he doesn’t mind that it takes longer, he even enjoys the process, but if the only way to be evaluated is by just a few tests in a course, that may be a big problem. That’s why I think a smaller school may be a better choice, because from my experience those professors will take the time to make sure that each student gets what they need. At larger colleges with larger classes, I think a student would have to be much more self reliant. </p>

<p>As for UVM, it’s been on the list because it’s in Burlington and we’ve planned to visit Champlain in Burlington from the get go. We added both St. Mike’s and UVM because of their locations. St. Mike’s is another appealing school and we still want to visit there. A neighbor’s daughter is getting a full scholarship to UVM and they are one of the semi-rare state schools that routinely give aid to OOS students. [College</a> Navigator - University of Vermont](<a href=“College Navigator - Search Results”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=University+of+Vermont&s=all&id=231174)</p>

<p>yayabe, I keep forgetting about Ithaca! hmmm.</p>

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<p>Ithaca was one of the only schools that did not offer my son any merit aid. He could have completed a seperate application in the hopes of getting 7500 for leadership. He did not follow through on that (ok with me at that point). FA was lousy for him (second to the worst offer, if you can call it an offer).</p>

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<p>Another bit on the AP Comp Sci - he’s the second person I’ve seen on CC to have a surprisingly low score. In the other case I believe it was found that the teacher had decided not to teach to the test (something about not working much in Java?). </p>

<p>I think anyone who takes an AP that is directly related to their major thinks twice about accepting credit for the introductory class. OK, maybe in language, maybe in math, they can feel confident about moving ahead to the next level, except in both a school can just give you a placement test anyway. But in sciences, history, literature - again, IF it’s your major - you’re almost surely going to take the courses at your college no matter what you got on the AP. </p>

<p>My D1 was a tick away from passing out of 1st year Bio, but wouldn’t have even if she could. She laughs at the idea of her HS AP class being considered at all comparable to the Intro Bio class she took for her major. So, the more important the subject - the less important the AP grade or score. Just consider it a bit of a leg up when he takes it again in college. </p>

<p>I’m actually disappointed that my D1 got out of a semester of English with her 4 on the AP; she’s so science-y that she is thrilled to have taken as few humanities classes as possible … and I wish she would have taken more, to be better educated. Plus, at her college, you don’t save money from APs; you have to take 8 full semesters, regardless, so all it does is advance you or give you more freedom in choosing electives.</p>

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<p>An in-state school offers rising seniors the opportunity to get a decision before school even begins. You fill out the app online (fee is waived) and then you bring your SAT/ACT scores and transcript with you on a visit.</p>

<p>While you tour, the admissions department looks over it and when you get back from the tour, you get a decision.</p>

<p>At least I should have one college FOR SURE under my belt before school begins!</p>

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<p>What college is that CIA? I’m sure it would be of interest to most people on this thread.</p>

<p>EmmyBet - Unfortunately, our HS has an excellent record with AP scores on the CompSci test and no student had gotten less then a 4 since it’s been offered starting four years ago and most students that take the class take the test assuming they will score well. Son was not expecting to place out of Java especially, but at least an entry level programming class. It also makes it plain problematic to talk about in any college interviews. The worst thing is that it just makes my boy feel bad. :frowning: But onward and upward. His GPA went up and his unweighted GPA is now about 3.4, and unweighted is 3.2. </p>

<p>Thanks for the link Northeast mom regarding AP scores. He will definitely not be reporting that one. And now I remember why Ithaca fell off the radar - it was what you told me! thanks times two! We may do a drive-through on the way back from RIT next week. Anyone else going to this event? [RIT</a> College & Careers Homepage](<a href=“http://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/careers/index.php]RIT”>http://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/careers/index.php) I asked the gang on the main 2011 grad thread about attendance there too. Son is mainly going for the different career major info and because I know it really helped my older son when he did it.</p>

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<p>Kathiep, to be fair about Ithaca, our older son got a package that was relatively better than our younger son’s package. For our older son Ithaca would have been “doable”, but still it was a big stretch. For our younger son, NO WAY!! To keep it simple, we have 2 in school next year and our EFC is lower than when the older son applied. Well, they were asking us to pay nearly 10,000 more for our older son than they asked us to pay for our older son, despite a lower EFC! Just wanted to add that our younger son has a stronger GPA and took a much tougher course load, but our older son had better standardized test scores, if that matters. Just to add, the difference in standardized test scores btn. the two was not huge. It should not have made the package cost us thousands of dollars more for our younger son!!</p>

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<p>Speaking of schools which do not “cut you a break”, Rutgers just announced another hike that brings instate tuition plus room and board to over $23,400 a year</p>

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<p>Which is why a lot people leave our state! Our instate offer was nothing off of list price (of course Safford loans were offered). Forget it.</p>

<p>Yabeyabe, where did you read that?</p>

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<p>It is one the front page of today’s Star Ledger. Lots of B+ kids get aid from private schools which make their cost similar to Rutgers, or even less.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the info. I just read the article. It states the instate tuition cost for UMD, UDel, and SUNYs in the article, so NJ families can see the difference in cost.</p>

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<p>My D finally opened her AP scores. She waited until after midnight on her birthday yesterday - didn’t want to ruin it! I understand.</p>

<p>She did fine on one and poorly on the other. She’s taking 3 more AP classes next year, not sure if she’ll take all 3 exams. </p>

<p>Is it true that you can’t pick and choose which scores you send out? I thought you could, at least in the past. We don’t plan to send them in to supplement applications, especially if the bad score goes along. But likely she will send them to the school she goes to, to get credit where she can. She’d prefer to send only the good ones, though.</p>

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<p>Emmy, I hope this does not get her spirits down. I do not know the answer to the question, but am sure it is a common one. Is there an official website you can check?</p>

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<p>EmmyBet - I am pretty sure that you CANNOT pick and choose which AP scores to send and which to not send - the whole report goes out. However, the typical procedure is that you only send an official AP score report to the college you are actually going to attend - and you send it in July after graduation.</p>

<p>You can self-report AP scores on college applications - so you could pick and choose which scores to self report.</p>

<p>AP scores were not originally intended to be part of the college admissions process - so its not like SAT scores - where you request your scores be sent to 8 schools - AP scores typically go just to the one school you will be attending. When you request an official AP score report be sent out - it does not go to admissions - it goes to the Academic Dean or equivalent person at the college - because they really are just using it for placement purposes or to see if you will get AP credit for a course.</p>

<p>When the student fills out their answer sheet - there is a place for them to list one - just one - college for the scores to be sent to - again because it is meant to just go to the one college that they will be attending. So juniors would typically leave this section blank and seniors would fill in the one college.</p>

<p>If a student takes an AP exam and immediately knows it was a disaster - they can contact AP and cancel the score. They will never know what they would have gotten - it will not be on the report. You have a few days after the test to do that option. But once you have the score report - there is no way to remove a bad score.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the kind words and the info. She’s OK, and never had big expectations on the test that went bad. </p>

<p>I thought a few years ago I knew a kid who bombed one test, otherwise did excellently, became an AP commended scholar and all that, and I thought they asked to take the bad one off. But it’s not a big deal. Some schools will take 3s and others only 5s and an occasional 4, credit-wise, so depending on the school, her “good” scores will either be good enough or not. When any of them see the one really bad score, she’ll already be in, and I can’t imagine their caring. It’s just a little embarrassing to think that they’ll see it.</p>

<p>It never occurred to us to cancel the score after the test; I’m not sure she was allowed that option, one of those things where the class grade was connected to it somehow.</p>

<p>Anyone looking at her grades can see she’s not a math/science person. She does her best … not a new situation for a 3.X kid, eh?</p>

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<p>Well we just returned from Ohio University. I cannot say enough good things about this school. It is a beautiful campus and everyone was so willing to answer all of our questions. They have a sliding scale for aid, so we might even be able to get some scholarship money. Daughter fell in love with the school and they actually have her exact major. She really likes that it is somewhere totally different from our home in Virginia Beach. They have a wealth of opportunities for students to get engaged in the learning process. This is an excellent fit for students in this range. We are officially done looking at schools. She said she will be torn if she gets admittied to COFC and OU but will probably go to OU. We are awaiting her Alabama decision as she has already applied there. She no longer wants to visit any more schools. Yeah…</p>

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<p>Yay for you! What a wonderful place to be in, finding a place she loves that’s a good bet, and done with your list!</p>

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<p>Emmy I think she will be fine and like you said she will be in when they see the one score. If you are considering cancelling her score, I think the information is in the packet with her scores. Best of luck with your search</p>

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<p>Good morning, friends! Here’s what I found on the College Board site:</p>

<p>"Score Withholding
You may have one or more scores withheld from the report sent to the college you indicated on your answer sheet. To have a score withheld from the indicated college, AP Services must receive your written, signed request by mail or fax by June 15 accompanied by a $10 fee per score, per college. If your request is not received by June 15, the score is automatically sent to the college indicated on your answer sheet.</p>

<p>The score will be withheld from any future score reports sent to that particular college. You may later release the score to that college by sending AP Services a signed written request.</p>

<p>If you later decide to send an AP Score Report to a different college, however, you need to contact AP Services to have the score withheld from that score report.</p>

<p>A request to withhold a score does not permanently delete your score, and all exam scores, even those withheld from score reports sent to colleges, are sent to you and your school.</p>

<p>Score Cancellation
Score cancellation deletes an AP Exam score permanently from your records. Scores may be canceled at any time. However, for scores not to appear on the current year’s score report, AP services must receive a signed, written request by mail or fax by June 15. Please complete the Score Cancellation Form (.pdf/113KB) and return it to the address or fax number indicated. While there is no fee for this service, your exam fee is not refunded. The score report that you and your school receive will indicate that the score has been canceled."</p>

<p>SO - it looks like we can easily suppress any scores, just have to do the paperwork. We didn’t ask yet for them to be sent anywhere (since she’s a jr), so there’s plenty of time to change the report. She will be relieved that they’ll only see the ones that are relevant.</p>

<p>I’ve seen discussions on CC about “but what if they know you took the class and they don’t know the score, won’t they think automatically that you got below a 3, etc., etc.” Well, that’s more about applications, and we’re just not going to sweat that one! If they really want to know, they’ll ask. She took AP classes because she is “smart” enough, and the regular classes are a joke. But she’s not a good tester, and that’s that. She’s managed to get a decent hold on ACT/SAT, where her scores are in line with her grades, and that’s great. But APs - a total crapshoot, in my opinion. More than half of her schools will give her credit for 3s or up, and we’ll just hope she can get a few more of those, just to free up some elective credit. But this is not high on our priority list - and we’ve got a whole year to forget about the whole thing! Depending on where she gets in next year will determine which test(s) she even takes.</p>

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<p>EmmyBet - it says by June 15! It is now mid-July. I guess that language is directed at seniors - it does not specifically speak to how the procedure affects juniors - but my understanding has always been you have to cancel it before you actually see the score - hence the June 15th date. I’d call to clarify how this policy works for juniors.</p>

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<p>Wow, UVM $47K, it was the most expensive state school when I went there at $7500 many, many years ago. Pretty nice campus though. Champlain- was a 2 yr technical school when I was in Burlington. Sounds like they have expanded.</p>