Our 8th grade DS got into the competitive boarding school of his choice. He now thinks he can kind of coast to the finish line of this 8th grade year, particularly with the advent of online learning. As parents, we think he may be right, but he may be wrong.
My question is how far can he let his grades slip before his boarding school un-invites him? If he was an all A student until now, are a few Bs ok? A few Cs? A few Ds?
This may be one of those unanswerable questions, but it is causing some conflict in our household, so if any one has even some anecdotal experience, it may help.
My kid has committed to going to a not-as-competitive boarding school, which was our 1st choice.
In the acceptance letter and contract, it was stated pretty clearly that the acceptance was predicated on successful completion of the current year of school. (And public conduct of both student and parents - oops!) I would think a more competitive boarding school would also want their new students to continue to perform at the level that merited that acceptance letter.
It is possible that individual cases might merit some exceptions, given the circumstances. But if he’s just goofing off, then no, they might look upon his performance negatively.
At the very least, your son is displaying a lack of maturity.
Some slippage is fine, and in this environment, I suspect most schools will be quite forgiving (even when forgiveness isn’t deserved!) But your son needs to understand that school doesn’t exist to be an admissions test - it’s about learning.
And just as middle school doesn’t exist to create the credential for high school but to give you the foundation for it, the same will be true for the relationship between high school and college.
He will be expected to be independent and to embrace his academic opportunities at BS. He needs to own this!
Agree I think there will be extra grace this year with slippage. But D’s? (And — Plural?) This would absolutely concern me if my DD had this happen — both in terms of potential repercussions from the school but perhaps more in terms of what this was saying about how my kiddo is doing and feeling. (Assuming if DK got into a top school that this would represent a drastic change in academic patterns?)
I would say that a few B’s are okay. Straight B’s is a risk, especially if there are C’s scattered in. I think D’s are way to much slippage, especially if there are more than one. It also depends on the other grades. You might be able to slip by with all A’s and B’s with one D. Any slippage that goes past B’s is a risk.
Thanks everyone. In our particular case, our son takes 5 classes. His whole transcript is all As in 6th and 7th and the first two terms of 8th grade. He is probably looking at 3 As and 2 Bs or B+s this spring. But he may crank it up here at the end of the term and do better. He is a good kid, and basically kind of “done” with his current school, but he thinks he is entitled to coast and that concerns me. I agree Cs and Ds would likely be a problem. But I don’t actually have any idea, so I figured I would ask.
I asked the same question of a college rep from Pomona, so perhaps we can extrapolate to prep schools. He said a few Bs were OK, straight B’s would get a letter from him, and a D would get rescinded. I’m sure, especially now, a few B’s will be OK. Most prep schools have gone Pass/fail for the last marking period, themselves.
At competitive boarding schools, an underlying assumption is that the students they admit are genuinely interested in learning and are self-motivated. And I suspect that love of learning was a theme in one or more of his essays, the parent essay, and school recommendations. No school expects their students to be perfect, especially in these crazy circumstances, but I can see issues arising if a student’s grades are so divergent from prior performance that they call into question whether the student is self-motivated enough to be successful at the school. Certainly, there could be real reasons for significant slippages, but absent such reasons, I would think you would want to be in the ballpark of past performance. Like the other posters, I doubt B’s would be a problem. Beyond that, I suspect personal circumstances would matter a fair amount. But that’s just a guess; no inside information here.
@Altras : The kid has been accepted at a competitive boarding school - he hasn’t taken a class there yet.
The issue is, after being accepted, how much can the kid let his grades slip at his current school before it triggers a withdrawal of that acceptance at the competitive boarding school.
That is the question: how much can a kid slack off after M10 before it becomes an issue. The answer is: it depends. It depends on how far the drop in grades, and why the grades have dropped. (It depends on the school, too.)
There are kids at the epicenter of this pandemic who are still doing their schoolwork to the best of their ability. In fact, there are middle schoolers with BOTH parents sick with Covid-19 that are still doing their schoolwork and earning good grades.
@stalecookies
I’m very clear on what the question was and don’t need you to walk me through it. The OP stated the grades and his child is “just fine.” The safety of his child’s acceptance is not a case of “it depends.”
Stick to making your own comments and adding value to the discussions.
I think BSs are going to be understanding in the extreme if there is grade slippage. COVID, distance learning, and changes in domestic circumstances will have significant psychological and economic impacts on many families. BS admissions offices understand this, and I can’t imagine this last term’s grades will mean much of anything. Many middle schools have gone to Pass/Fail this term, making it even harder to judge relative academic performance in an equitable manner.