I got some great responses last time and now we’re getting closer to helping out son choose ninth grade classes. I think that took to heart comments some of you made about the honors classes being (typically) better, kids learning more etc. But I’m not sure I see my son ace-ing at the honors level. I don’t see him drowning either. Since these classes are highly weighted, a B is a 4.0. but will this hurt him for college? I’m tempted to say I don’t care, and that pushing himself will be good for wherever he ends up. I have little thought that he is a tip-top school kid. I have seen that some schools strip out the honors?
Tempted to say from our own one-child-so-far experience if you’re not aiming at tippy top then it’ll be ok. D19 had a number of Bs on her honors/APs courses and got into a top 30 college (caveat, most of her actual AP test scores were 5s). I’d say just make sure you’re not hurting the unweighted GPA too much from where it would be otherwise, as not all schools look at weighted the same way, because it’s not consistent across schools.
(I may be wrong but I think the stripping honors issue is largely for UCs and out of state students?)
In regards to weighing and “stripping out”…it all kind of evens out in the end. Colleges will look at the weighted GPA, what your schools’ weighing system is, also they will look at the unweighted GPA, and the “rigor of schedule” which means taking into account what courses the student took. So it all gets accounted for. Overall a college will want to see that the student pushed himself and the grades are important. A student who had straight As in all the “basic” classes for all four years would be ranked below a student who had mostly As and a couple of Bs in honors and APs, because the first student should have chosen more challenging courses that obviously he/she could handle.
The easy answer is to put your child where he best fits, where he will be challenged but not setting him up to fail. If your teachers tend to give right-on recommendations, I have found that ours know the students well, learning style, motivation, etc and give good recommendations. Since GPA IS important, it could be wise to not go too aggressive for freshman year, since it is hard to drag up a low GPA if you say started out with some B- or Cs. I know that my son added more honors and APs each year and built upon earlier years’ successes and also, quite frankly, became more motivated. (FYI as a side note there are a couple of schools who only use the GPA from grade 10-12, but I dont’ know, I wouldn’t worry about this).
None of my kids were tip top school kids. My son who is in the process now (the one who didn’t start out in all the highest level classes) is getting great acceptances and merit aid from schools that fit him, and deferred from his reaches, which is kind of as it should be. He has mostly As, some Bs, and several honors and APs but his schedule has not been all-honors/APs the entire 4 years. Ill be going through this with my current 8th grader and would probably use the same strategy of not aiming too high freshman year but then amping it up if needed.
The most important would be honors English (regular English is often very light on writing, an essential skill) and Honors Math (because most schools ‘track’ in math with rigid progression).
For social science, honors typically means more interesting, involved discussions.
Keep in mind it’s usually easier to ‘drop down’.
But all in all, getting B’s in Honors - as long as his GPA is 3.0± is fine for college.
If he dips into several C’s and a few B-s at the end of first semester, adjust.
Look for the 3.0-3.4 thread where parents chronicle their college search: it’s very uplifting.
Our approach with #1 was for him to take honors courses whenever they were available. This was mainly with the idea of keeping him intellectually engaged. (He was easily bored by regular courses.) He followed our advice except in one case when he decided to take regular “government” course to lighten his load a bit while he was so actively engaged in demanding EC’s (newspaper and policy debate) – but he got a 3 in that course because he didn’t like the teacher! Grrr. But it didn’t matter to his later career and life, and he had never been a GPA grind. His test scores were stellar, and so life has been good.
My youngest would probably have gotten a B in either the regular or honors classes, so putting him in honors was a no brainer. I think his rigorous schedule served him well even though he got a lot of B’s, especially freshman year. He was better prepared for college. By the time he was a senior he surprised us all. He got 5’s on all the APs he took as a junior and wrote really engaging essays. I think he set some new GPA lows for our school for colleges he got into. There are hundreds of colleges out there for B students, especially B students who have taken rigorous courses.
I’m the parent who urges her kids to take the honors/AP classes - to strive for the highest level. I understand, and make sure they understand, that they may not make that higher grade. But, having the experience will help you tackle the next hurdle. D20 did not want to take AP Lang this year. I encouraged her to give it a try. Last semester, she surprised even herself with an A for the semester. It did tons for her morale, not just in English but in other subjects.
There are some schools that just unweight your grades and apply a formula, at least for merit. Two examples that come to mind are Trinity University in Texas and U of Arizona. So, you may have some schools at which the lower level with the A would be preferable, but most somewhat selective schools do a holistic review. And, sometimes the lower level course ends up being just as much work and/or harshly graded and he’d be better off taking the higher level course.
For my kid who had the University of Michigan in her sights the best strategy was to take Honoes in the classes she thought she woukd excel in and regular classes in the others. This gave her a 3.95 unweighted. Michigan only looks at unweighted and she had enniugh honors classes to qualify as a “ rigorous record”.
Her sister went to a top 10 school and we’ve had no students get in to those ( without being a URM or having an athletic hook ) without taking the most rigorous schedule possible and getting close to,all A’s.
If you are expecting Bs in honors and don’t have something special about you I’d do more of a mix.
I think you just need to pick classes that he can handle. I regret my junior taking AP Lang (I did not have any hand in setting up her classes). It is not her level at all. She was beside herself after earning a 79% the first semester, just a percentage away from the honors point she needed to keep her 4.0. I told her a 3.98 is still nothing to sneeze at but she was so sad. I don’t even know if she can boost that up second semester and have her GPA go back up? I am clueless about that stuff. It makes me scared to have her younger twin siblings take AP LANG. The teacher is a grade crusher. She would not give my older daughter an A+ no matter how hard she worked and she ended up not wanting to take the AP test, but when she did she got a 5!! I seriously don’t think my current junior should take the test. Just be wary of the points system at your school.
Taking honors core classes freshman year is a far cry from overloading on APs though.
At our high school if 8th grade marks are Bs they would encourage honors classes - it is easier to drop down to cp then it is to move up levels.
All of my kids took all honors starting freshman year. The teaching is usually better, and the classes move faster. In the handful of non AP/honors classes my kids have taken, they are so dumbed down. My senior is taking her first this year, just because of scheduling (her other classes are AP). She went in excited because she was interested in the content (The Holocaust). On the first day, a student asked what genocide was. It’s easier to drop down than move up.
Talk to your son’s guidance counselor. The best fit is what he needs.
We do not know how things are done in your school district. We do not know the differences in honors and regular for any subjects- material covered, expectations and a host of other factors. For example- he needs to learn critical reading/thinking and writing skills. Would the Honors version presume he has better skills or move too fast for him to acquire these? Likewise math and others. Depending on your school there could be major or minor differences.
Being in honors could improve his grades as perhaps he would not be as bored and more motivated. Or it could be too much work to keep up. You do need to discuss with your son.
Another thought is that the honors kids will be more academically oriented so I would try to get my kid in those classes.
Also find out as much as you can about the teachers. By junior and senior year my son was choosing his schedule based on who was teaching the class. It served him well.
Perhaps he could take a mix of honors and non-honors classes. He might want to take honors classes in his stronger subjects and non-honors classes in his weaker subjects.
Looked at your thread title- perhaps he will do just as well in the honors classes- he could get more A’s than you think he will if boredom has been a reason he currently doesn’t do as well as he could. It matters if his current classes have prepared him for your school’s honor’s versions. It matters if he wants to take them.