DS is in a precarious position with CALC BC for his last semester. He had an unexcused absence and the teacher gave him a 0 of first big test. He’s had an otherwise rough start in the class. He’s now looking at the very real possibility of getting a D or F for the semester. He got a B first semester and has 5 other APs this semester with all As. He’s been accepted to several top schools including two very top ones. His top choice is known for being pretty liberal once students are accepted but I feel like he would be better off just dropping the class at this point rather than risking a failing grade. He would still take the AP test and I’m sure he’ll get at least a 4 on it. Any thoughts on this? Better to drop the class and let the schools know or gut it out and hope for a passing grade?
he needs to gut it out. Seriously.
A C wont get his acceptance rescinded, as colleges do understand that Senioritis can set in, but dropping the class might.
He may want to go talk to his HS counselor to get his/ her opinion.
Agreeing that he has to stick with it. There’s a real possibility - even a likelihood - that if you asked the schools he’s been accepted to if he could drop the course, they would say no.
If he’s tracking towards a D what makes you think he’s getting “at least” a 4 on the AP exam?
agree that his GC is the first conversation. Then some introspection is in order as to how hard he wants to work to pull a C+ in Calc for the year- which I think is what it’s going to take to keep his admissions in place.
If he’s tracking towards a D what makes you think he’s getting “at least” a 4 on the AP exam?
He’s in a super competitive school. It’s ORM dominated and the teacher is ORM. DS is the only caucasion in the room. He’s a great test taker and has gotten all 5s on his APs so far. And teacher is one of those guys who grades brutally but changes based on AP scores. Over the last couple years, 80+% of his students have gotten 5s.
Honestly I think he’ll get a 5 on the test but I didn’t want to write that because it looks pretty stupid when I am talking about him getting a D or F in the class.
Why did he miss a test day?
I say drop it after consulting the counselor. And study for the AP test. Has he been accepted to a particular major based on taking Calc BC? Many high schools don’t even offer it. If he does well on the AP test, it would prove he knows the material. Wouldn’t a bad class grade/lower GPA/rank look worse than dropping the class? Why did he have an unexcused absence/0 on test?
You do realize that by the time the AP scores come back your child will have graduated and the final transcript will have already been sent to the college.
I agree with others that he needs to stick it out and do his best work. He was accepted based on taking the most rigorous course the school offers including Calc BC. As long as he gets at least a C he will be fine
He got an unexcused absence for a doctors appt. We forgot to let teacher know ahead of time. Our fault, but he’s a stickler for details and we knew that.
I think we’re going to be proactive and email admissions and ask about dropping the class. It’s going to be a long 3 months otherwise. And at this point, if he winds up with a D or F, his only option is going to be CC. And that would be sad for a kid with a 4.6 and a 35 ACT.
Hardly seems fair that a doctor’s appointment was unexcused. Can you ask the teacher to reconsider and let kid make up the test? (Doesn’t sound like the type who would reconsider. . .) Or explain the situation to a counselor/administrator and see if, in light of the college issue, they can make an exception? I have a feeling that the college won’t care about his dropping this class, considering the rest of his course load.
I’m sure he has other options besides CC!
As a parent, I would get involved, talk to the teacher, the principal etc. If he was at a doctor that is an excused absence (and you should get a letter from the doctor) it should be able to be changed even if he apparently was not signed out of school properly. Calculus is important for college and dropping out isn’t a great option at this late point In addition, every college he applied to/was accepted at would have to be notified and would have the right to review his acceptance. Yes, the teacher should have been notified in advance. But stickler or not, this is a situation that reasonable people should be able to come to a reasonable resolution about. Does anyone at the school really want to jeopardize the college acceptances of a good kid for this?
As a precaution it would be worth your S contacting his top choice school and asking if it would be a problem if he were to drop AP Calculus. If they say it is fine, I’d ask to get it in writing.
Given that college is on the line, I think I’d be talking to the powers that be. This has nothing to do with being the only white kid in the class or the teacher being an ORM and everything to do with a teacher being an unnecessary jerk.
The teacher is a well known hard ass and takes great pride in being inflexible. Plus we knew the rule and DS should have told him about the appointment. It’s his screw up and he has to live with it. The administrators have a steady stream of tiger parents in the office complaining and grade grubbing already. They deal with it by telling everyone no. It’s a lost cause or I would go in and raise hell.
As far as his options, at this point he might really get stuck at CC. He didn’t apply very broadly because he got accepted EA at two very good schools plus got some honors acceptances at some in state schools. Everywhere he got accepted, they have pretty high standards. And application season is pretty much over so there aren’t many options. I’m hoping the schools won’t mind dropping the class. He can probably learn as much on his own or maybe with some private tutoring as he would in the class. The teacher is ESL so the actual added value to going to class is somewhat limited.
Why can’t he get a C? Seems to me there is MUCH less explaining to do with a C than with a “I dropped the class”.
Forget CC. Just do his best in the class, squeak out the best grade he can, and move on. I think you are opening the door to a much more complicated discussion with a hole in his schedule than with one bad grade over a four year period. Plus the college isn’t going to care about his second semester grade per se- they’ll just eyeball the final transcript and see the final grade.
I think schools mind dropping the class MUCH more than a bad grade. Dropping means no math for senior year… what will he do with that time- study hall???
My D has had a couple of friends who asked the admissions office of where they were accepted if they could drop a class. Each admissions office said yes. I suggest you simply ask them for permission. It’s likely they will say yes and your problem will be solved.
Disaster averted. Schools 1&2 both responded and said dropping the class was fine. In all honesty, DS has a bad case of senioritis and still has 6 AP classes and a varsity sport and work to deal with this semester.
I’m not sure getting a C would have been a sure thing.
Pretty amazing considering his track record but this is a unique situation. The vast majority of the Calc BC students are juniors. The teacher is well known for passing out horrible grades but he changes the grades based on AP score (5-A 4-B 3-C) so none of the kids really care about their grades. The senior kids are screwed though. By the time the grades get changed, the final transcripts have already been sent off to the colleges.
Glad it worked out for your S but boy that sound like a terrible system that the teacher has in place.
@happy1 It’s an ORM world at our local HS. This guy, a UCB grad btw, prides himself on treating the class like a pre-med weed out class. And he does get results. It has probably been 5 years since anyone survived his class and didn’t get at least a 4 on the AP test. The class is absolutely as rigorous as the Engineering/Pre-med Calc I took at Michigan.
I’m glad it worked out. And I don’t think the teacher should be allowed to have such a system. That’s awful! My D has taken a couple of AP classes and chosen not to take the exam because she is using the class to have a solid foundation when she gets to college where she will take the class again.