BS Class of 2021 Thread

@HMom16 our school’s gone to pass fail for this marking period, but if the student works hard and raises their grade (i.e. your scenario of needing to up the grades) that will be reflected in the end of year grade. Colleges won’t see p/f, theill see the letter grade at the end of the year. So the kid that needs to raise their grades still can. I hope your child’s school has a similar plan.

Also the school has said that teacher comments are particularly important this markingbperiod, and those kids who made a big effort to overcome difficulties will be noted. So it’s not only the kid who attends every class that gets rewarded, so do those that are working hard.

@cinnamon1212 Unfortunately, they don’t. Our school transcripts show each term’s grades and then a final grade. So, 2/3 terms will have grades and the 3rd term will have P/F. Seems like schools with semesters might have more flexibility than those with trimesters.

Schools with trimesters also have the advantage of giving seniors the opportunity to shine with their fall trimester grades, no?

What I mean is that everyone is in the same boat in terms of being off campus and in some version of distance learning. I don’t think anyone is playing sports or able to participate meaningfully in other ECs (MUN and the like). Of course not everyone’s circumstances are exactly the same, and there are pros and cons of any one approach over another. But everyone is in the same situation in terms of having to make the best of an unanticipated situation and has the opportunity to do so or not. My impression is that the faculties are working very hard to make sure every student gets what they need in terms of academics and academic and emotional support as much as is feasible and so that they’re not disadvantaged in college admissions.

I think we need a 5th year of school - for FREE to make up for this!!

Fundamentally, @CTMom21 , for a lot of students, that’s true. They are all making the best of the situation they are in.
But in reality, everyone isn’t in the same situation. Some kids have better internet. Some kids have their own devices, others have to share
Some kids have a good space for work, others may share a room with a sibling. Some kids may be expecting to help out with younger siblings who are also at home. Some families may expect the kid to treat school as their job, others may have different expectations. In some families, someone may be sick.

On the college front, I appreciate the schools that allow the students to choose whether they what a p/f or a grade. A kid who was working hard and needed that better grade to pull up a GPA, perhaps for hrad school apps, should have that option. Likewise, the kid who comes home to sick parents or sibs in need of tending should be able to take a pass.

BS is so much of an equalizer on this front when kids are there. But when they aren’t, yikes. I suspect that the BS will do as good job of representing the work of their students-- in whatever circumstances – to colleges. Part of the beauty of those close teacher connections.

This doesn’t affect students from the class of 2021, but I just read this morning in the LA Times that the Assembly of the Academic Senate, comprised of University of California faculty leadership and representatives, voted unanimously 51-0 (with one abstention) to keep the SAT and ACT as admission requirements, for the class of '22 and at least the next four class years after. (As @Golfgr8 already told us, the UCs dropped the testing requirement for the class of '21.) They also endorsed the elimination of the essay portion of the SAT and ACT as a requirement. In separate comments, faculty bodies at nine of the ten UC campuses supported retaining the tests. The tenth school, UC Irvine, failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

The UC Regents have not yet taken up the issue. That’s supposed to happen next month.

Thanks for the update @CaliPops ! Swarthmore just made an announcement - looks like they are going test optional for 21-22.

https://www.swarthmore.edu/news-events/swarthmore-college-implements-test-optional-policy-amid-covid-19

Hi guys - good opinion piece from a college admissions dean for high school juniors in today’s Washington Post. I am going to copy link below - sorry if this doesn’t go through.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/04/20/college-admissions-dean-writes-open-letter-panicked-high-school-juniors/

For those who are looking for virtual college information sessions, try thi (I hope it goes through)

https://www.strivescan.com/virtual/

It’s over a 2 week virtual college fair with hundreds of colleges represented. Multiple information sessions, panels, Q&A’s, etc.
DS has already done a few sessions and they were very good.

Cornell just announced TO policy

And here’s a perspective on who is likely to benefit the most from TO policies at certain schools: https://thecriticalreader.com/coronavirus-test-optional/#more-16237

Thanks @CaliMex. The article’s reasoning mirrors my own thoughts in many respects.

Also, thanks to @buuzn03 for the virtual fair link.

For anyone whose children are taking APs, good luck. DS has his first one today (as I learned last night). I had no idea they had started Monday. For some reason, I thought they were later this month. I’ve lost all track of the days.

Also, the college fair I mentioned above continues to add sessions and more schools. DS has scheduled multiple individual school sessions for next week. So, if you didn’t see anything interesting before, there may be some now.

Thanks @buuzn03. Also, for anyone who has a child on the doing-nearly-nothing-to-explore-colleges-post-COVID-train, rest assured my child has reserved a seat on it too.

A friend’ son took the AP Physics 2 exam earlier this week and had tech problems that caused issues with many. Anyone else on here had that?

@CaliPops many of DSs classmates are similar to your kiddo. I hope I’m not coming across as too pushy or aggressive. Hey…we started touring BS’s when he was 10. We are just planners…and my son is very much like myself. Plan, analyze, research, analyze some more…unless it’s tedious work that he’s not too interested in. Then, on the way to class it’s, ‘oh yeah. I have this Xx project due today. Does anyone have some extra cardboard?’ ?

Not at all @buuzn03 ! I actually wish my kiddo were taking a more active role now, and I appreciate knowing what’s available. DC enjoyed the pre-COVID live tours we attended, and already has a mental list of schools (including a clear first choice) based on those tours, mailings received, and the Fiske Guide, but just hasn’t felt compelled to go to the school websites or conduct virtual tours at all yet.

@CaliPops , totally off subject, but is that your dog? We also have a shibe. My eldest is too young for the college stuff, but maybe it’s better to be a little distanced? It will help to insulate them from the stress that accompanies the process.