<p>Now, even my hopelessly uncoordinated son gets A's in PE.</p>
<p>At least at my older daughters school, she had As in PE because she had a good attitude, she showed up prepared every day, she worked hard despite a lack of natural talent/ability.
IMO, she earned her As- certainly much more than someone who might have had more athletic skills, but had an "attitude".</p>
<p>My younger daughter was able to have her PE requirements waived, because she not only participates in community league teams, but has been on school sports teams. Fortunate because the way district graduation requirements are written, it would be impossible to meet most college entrance requirements without waiving courses.</p>
<p>My son struggled to earn his 89.6 in art. He is so not artistic; I don't even know why he wanted to take an art class in the first place (it was in 10th grade). The projects were graded for artistic integrity. His must not have had a lot of integrity. Looking back now, it was probably a gift that he ended up passing the class at all. I'm not sure telling people they are doing "A" work, from an artistic standpoint, when they're not, is such a good idea. But nowadays, with the grade inflation and competition to get into good colleges, it's common practice to grade on effort and not outcomes in some subjects. </p>
<p>This is probably why many colleges recalculate GPA, removing all non-academic classes.</p>
<p>I tell one person (in the real world - none of us know each other here and we are all here for objective advice) my kids' SAT, ACT and school grades to - my mother. She is the only person it is not bragging to tell. She is also the only one (besides my husband) I tell when my kids do something disappointing.</p>
<p>Although a few people each year seem to end up with a 3.92 or something close to that, my understanding is that my former high school has never had anyone with a 4.0 in recent history; the school reports that only 8% of this year's senior class has a GPA of 3.75 or higher.</p>
<p>That's not for a lack of student quality, though, and colleges seem to understand that grading varies by school.</p>
<p>This is interesting, personally I think you keep things relatively quiet. I'm wondering right now what to say to my friend whose daughter went to school since kindergarten with my S and her D is coming home from college this Christmas and not going back :-( something I just heard through another friend. This mom was always very quick to point out to me where her DD excelled vs. my S. I always thought it made her seem very insecure and as if she was living vicariously through her daughter. One never knows what is going to happen after life in High School. I have never and will never believe that scores and grades are universally predictors of life's successes or failures so I'm careful not to run around sharing anything but generalities. For example last year when S was a senior and people would ask how he did I would say, "he did great, we're really proud of him". If they asked about how he did on his test I would either say "better than he expected" or "just about what he thought he would get". Plus it sets a great example for our kids - humility is good and generally an appreciated trait.</p>
<p>What could be interesting would be certain programs like the IB program. A senior taking an IB world lit class in California, is taking the same class as the kid in Georgia, as is the kid in London, Paris, Tokyo, etc... The teachers are trained specifically to teach these classes. So, the only difference if 1 student CAN get a 4.0 in one school in this program, and another student CAN'T get a 4.0 in his school doing the same program, would be if the one school had a weighted system and required a higher number to be a 4.0. My kid's school doesn't have a weighted system; (Which is somewhat unfair to the kids taking AP and IB curriculum), but anything over a 93 is an "A" and an "A" is a 4.0. Each school seems to be different.</p>
<p>Two constants among colleges however are "Class Ranking" and whether or not the kids took AP or IB classes. If you took AP/IB and weren't in the top 5-10% of the graduating class, that will be overlooked if your AP/IB classes were pretty good. If you didn't take AP/IB classes and wasn't in the top 10% of the class, you would be hard pressed to get into the so called "Better Schools". It definitely looks bad if your school DOESN'T weight the grades, you have a 3.85 gpa, and you AREN'T in the top 10%. That implies that your school isn't very challenging. </p>
<p>This however is one reason the IB program has their OWN Diploma requirements. It's an international diploma that requires certain scores on final IB tests. Tests that are graded neutrally. I believe my son's tests last year had to go to Montreal to get graded. Of course this degree is only useful if you want to go to college overseas. However, like AP classes, many colleges give college credit for the IB curriculum. My daughter had her first semester waivered. Her roommate had her entire freshman year practically waivered. She received 24-27 college credits. So, I guess the 4.0 gpa issue really depends on the school.</p>
<p>A weird thing my son's school does is not weight anything but AP courses. My son has been in Honor's classes and Advanced courses (a year ahead for most, two years ahead for one) but received no extra weight for that. And they only offer ONE AP course before senior year, so these kids are taking Honor's courses with no weighing, except for the one AP course. Every year one or two kids with NO Honor's or Advanced or AP course is in the top 10% of the class, and some kids who have taken the hardest courses the school offers lose those top 10% scholarships that are out there. :(</p>
<p>50% bragging and 50% to show those who think any kids with a 4.0 GPA has no life. </p>
<p>DD just got nominated by her HS for the Toyota Community Scholarship. This is one student (2 if class size is >600) per school nomination. Considering we are in this school district for less than 2 years, DD has done a lot outside the classroom to earn this nomination.</p>
<p>DadII, I think the problem here is that you have a tin ear. When someone at work, or at a cocktail party, asks about your D in a friendly & casual way, they are expecting a breezy general comment. "She's a great student who loves to play the saxaphone. Looking at colleges is sure a crazy time for us all." Throwing out her GPA is gauche. Christcorp talks about people "soliciting" info. Well, not exactly. If someone takes you aside & asks for details as a way to really understand the college process, or tips on how to motivate their kids, or just wants to use you as a sounding board /"chances" evaluator, then stats are likely to come up. Otherwise, they probably were expecting a general statement like "Son is doing great & wants to head to the west coast for college." </p>
<p>Like Counting Down, I would NEVER talk about grades or stats among H's family. My M.I.L. would be less than subtle in her bragging & it would make my neices & nephews feel inadequate if their stats didn't measure up. </p>
<p>2x2: The biblical reference that was ingrained on my psyche by parents, family, & a long progression of nuns & priests is from Matthew. To say my mom whispered it into my ear at bedtime every night is only a slight exaggeration. "Don't blow your own horn." Excuse my vernacular; Biblical scholars out there would know the actual verse if anyone is interested.</p>
<p>In my son's 11th grade class of 333 there is one unweighted 4.0. Several kids got tripped up in 9th grade by the same tough grading ineffective teacher.</p>
<p>I don't even ask about colleges when I talk to parents or their kids- I ask generally, so hows it going?</p>
<p>they will share or not- up to them, but NO ONE has ever told me their kids GPA, SAT score, or anything like that....I just can't imagine them doing that...</p>
<p>when they ask ME where my D is applying, I say, oh, she really wants to be in the city, she likes the idea of studying communications, etc</p>
<p>But even if a person asked directly for my kids GPA, I would never share it, to ask is gauche as well</p>
<p>I never said a 4.0 has no life- often its deserved, often its just handed out</p>
<p>Its just something I would never discuss outside my own family- with H and D herself</p>
<p>"Identifying kids by their accomplishments, whether they are academic, artistic or athletic, is in my opinion, Not Done. It is like casually mentioning the kind of car you drive or the brand of your purse."</p>
<p>I agree. Say that your kid has really taken a shine to making movies or writing or science or photography or whatever. But to actually tell someone a GPA or class ranking or SAT/ACT? I can't think of any circumstance where I would reveal that to anyone outside of our own family. It's no one's business, aside from a college counselor or someone else in a position of needing to know. It doesn't matter if the GPA is a 4.5 on a 4.0, the class ranking is a 1, or the SAT is a 2400.</p>
<p>"I'll tell them about the many schools he's applied to and how he's been accepted. If they ask how he did in high school, I will most definitely tell them. If they ask me his class ranking, I'll tell that too. As well as his athletic and EC accomplishments."</p>
<p>That's embarrassing. I think the only answer to "how is he doing in high school" is "he's doing really well" and then maybe something about how he particularly enjoys this subject area or that subject area. Maybe making the honor roll. NOT "he's got a 4.0 (or 3.8, or 3.5) and he's ranked X in the class." Ugh. Anyway, I really doubt people go around asking other parents for their kids' class rankings -- and if they were, those people are too tacky to indulge with the answer.</p>
<p>"well, it is not like I just started every conversation with "4.0". It is always coming up when colleagues found out our DD is a senior in HS."</p>
<p>I can't think of any real life conversation I would ever have where people would be inquiring about how my teens were doing in high school, where I'd bring up their actual GPA. No matter what it was. It's a lot more gracious just to say she's doing really well, Dad II.</p>
<p>I have to agree with pizzagirl. Honestly, my s did not have a 4.0 uw for many years, it was high, but not a 4.0. I never had a conv. about the gpa, even with my closest friends when they (the kids) were applying to schools. We all knew what the kids gpa's were about, but none of us came out and said the actual gpa's.
I know this was said b4 b/c I was 1 of them that said it. When they get to colleges, many kids who were the never got lower than an A freak on their
1st B (heck, Gilmore Girls did an episode about it).
All that truly matters is they try their best if it is an A ...great, but the kid who hired a tutor and never gave up, but only a C will be more of a success in this world, only My opinion</p>
<p>Also my DH was one of those kids that school came easy to him. I had to fight for my 3.4 gpa. When we went to college it took him 5 yrs to complete, I did it in 3 1/2. I already had the mindset of how to buckle down and was able to get with the program quickly. It was hard for him to understand you actually have to put work into it, then opening the book the night b4.</p>