<p>My very smart son has managed to get a D for his semester grade in AP US history. He is also ADHD and was completely overwhelmed by the amount of work that his teacher assigned. He received an 89 on the final. He received good grades in his other AP classes. He tried to drop the class at the beginning of the school year but his counselor wouldn't let him. He will probably retake the class or honors US history using Florida Virtual School but I don't know if he will have a chance to make up the grade before it is time to apply for college. He just finished junior year. This dropped his weighted GPA to a 4.05 and his unweighted GP to a 3.6. How bad will this be for college? He is looking into schools such as FSU, UF, and USF (we are in Florida).</p>
<p>A D is never great…but definately not tragic. When you say “89 on the final” do you mean on the AP exam?</p>
<p>The 89 was on his class final exam not on the AP exam. The final exam grade is supposed to be 1/3 of the semester grade. He received a D third quarter and fourth quarter and an 89 (B) on the final exam. Somehow the teacher considered that to average out to a D.</p>
<p>Grades are very low for UF [University</a> of Florida - Common Data Set<a href=“92%%20%3E3.75”>/url</a>
Grades are a little low for USF <a href=“http://usfweb3.usf.edu/infocenter/Surveys/cds/CDS2011_2012_Tampa.pdf[/url]”>http://usfweb3.usf.edu/infocenter/Surveys/cds/CDS2011_2012_Tampa.pdf](<a href=“http://www.ir.ufl.edu/OIRApps/commondataset/c_ftic_admission.aspx]University”>University of Florida - Common Data Set)</a> (55% >3.75)
FSU doesn’t publish its CDS but it looks like your S falls in the high end of the middle 50% for grades from the fact book. <a href=“http://www.ir.fsu.edu/Factbooks/2011-12/Students.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ir.fsu.edu/Factbooks/2011-12/Students.pdf</a></p>
<p>He should apply to all three and make sure he does well his first semester or trimester of senior year. As far as retaking and replacing the class that is, of course, up to you and your son. 3.6 is not horrible and is a solid B+ average. How did he do on ACT or SAT?</p>
<p>That grading doesn’t make sense. If he got a D, a B, and a B on the final, he shouldn’t have an overall D.</p>
<p>He received a 25 on the ACT. He is planning on retaking that and the SAT in the fall. He was also number 6 in his class. I am not sure what affect the D has had on that.</p>
<p>It was 2 Ds and a B.</p>
<p>If he scores a 5 easily on the AP exam, the class may have been too hard for the given AP. </p>
<p>If he scores less than a 4, he didn’t learn enough to perform to proficient standards on the US AP history exam. If it is due to documented learning disabilities, he may want to have the GC mention it in the student report to colleges and write addendums mentioning that on his college apps.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, I misread! I thought it was an 89 for the 4th quarter and final. Sorry about that!</p>
<p>my 3.6 iw kid received a 25 his first take of the ACT which is like 75th% nationally i think or something like that. I can’t remember because it was in 2006… With a practice test or two he should be able to move that up a couple points. His rank will be in context with his school and it will depend on when they calculate the final rank and how they calculate the final rank. I would just make sure he hasn’t over reached senior year with his classes…and hope that he did well on the APUSH ap exam. You can self report that on exams and if he passes that might “help” the D, also. If he “passes” the AP exam with a 3.4. or 5…have his GC add that in his statement.</p>
<p>If he has ADD issues, have him checked for Executive Functioning (the area of the brain that does scheduling). The tests that were helpful for our son were:
Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS)
Auditory Consonant Trigrams (Brown Peterson Task)
Rey Complex Rigure Test</p>
<p>Also look into “More Attention, Less Deficit” – and have son do a post mortem on what went wrong with the term – he may be in angry denial right now but go for a walk in a few days and ask him to describe the stumbling points. </p>
<p>I’d fire off a very angry email to the counselor that “wouldn’t let him drop” – that shouldn’t happen. It is your son’s life. Not the counselors. Son should have decision making powers on which classes to take – as long as he fulfills the HS graduating requirements. </p>
<p>It sounds like Son realized early on that this course was not his cup of tea. Apologize to him for not going to bat for him early on. Tell him that you will absolutely respect his analysis of a course in the future. </p>
<p>One of the techniques for ADD students in college is to sign up for a huge class load and attend the first week of classes – and then to drop one, two or three classes as they figure out the courses. The reason I write this is because there are many things that go into a successful course. My son does well in multiple choice testing and in class discussion (he can talk 'til the cows come home. He’s very verbal). He doesn’t do well with instructors that read off Powerpoint slides or who mumble or who have heavy reading loads.</p>
<p>The D is not a killer. It is an early warning signal that this smart kid has some styles of classes that don’t mesh well with him. Onward! He should be proud of the 3.6 and move forward briskly. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, I’m bothered by the moniker “futuredocmom” – it is a . . . demanding sort of title. It may convey to Son that he does not have any options other than to be a doctor. He might make a terrific engineer or computer programmer or movie star. He may have talents in art, athletics or reading palms. I tell you this knowing it is likely to provoke an outraged response – but please grab your kid and watch the fabulous “Dead Poet’s Society” DVD so the two of you are on the same page about what is really important in his future. Maybe we can talk you into being “ProudMom” or “AlwaysMom” instead of “futuredocmom” : )</p>
<p>Give the kiddo a hug. He’s stumbled – all this becomes is a chance to show resilience.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Or Mom may be pursuing a doctoral degree on her own account. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>APUSH is notorious for including a lot of busy work, and an ADHD kid might not respond well to such an environment. I agree with the notion of listening to him in the future…the GC probably urged him to take the “most rigorous courseload possible” (and of course, if he didn’t switch classes, it’s less work for the GC).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When my (very ADD) son switched from a private LAC to a local community college, I was shocked to learn that in our state, at state institutions, a student can drop 6 classes in his entire college career. Period. It is supposed to insure that they graduate in four years. We were using a technique similar to what you described (the “give it a try” method) and got up to 4 dropped classes before I even learned of the rule. There was one on-line class for which he never even got a password…never logged on at all, never used one second of a teacher’s time or one bit of the school’s resources and that counted. I don’t care if they refund the tuition …just let my kid drop a class once he knows it’s not going to work for him!</p>
<p>“I’d fire off a very angry email to the counselor that “wouldn’t let him drop” – that shouldn’t happen. It is your son’s life. Not the counselors.”</p>
<p>I don’t agree with this advice. Based on what the OP said, she can’t really be sure what the counselor said or when. It’s possible that the S had some selective hearing or selective memory of what happened. It’s even possible (OP can correct if this is wrong) that this is a postmortem blame game on the child’s part. If so, he wouldn’t be the first 16-year-old to come up with a cover story. If the counselor was at fault, there’s a polite way to investigate that possibility without “firing off a very angry email.”</p>
<p>Oh, and OP, our district did away with Ds in about 1996. 70 is a C; anything below is an F. Seems sort of wrong to me, that getting it right 69% of the time is the same as doing absolutely nothing in the course (esp in a class like APUSH, where it can take a lot of memorization to even get to 69% of the material!)</p>
<p>You need to try to find an explanation that doesn’t inadvertently describe a liability the colleges may see as risky. The GC may be willing to emphasize his gpa without that class, may be able to explain why he or she pushed son to keep the class- or some change in the curriculum that many kids struggled with. It will be better if he is not a history or humanities major.</p>
<p>You don’t want to tell the colleges he can’t handle a heavy workload. so, put on your thinking cap and negotiating skills. You also want to see how he perfroms on the actual AP test. One of my kids had a horrendous grade and got this sort of positive support from the GC. I’m convinced it made a difference.</p>
<p>Another option could be for your son to take the SAT Subject Test in US History. That’s only multiple choice questions. If the massive writing part of the AP exam wasn’t his strong suit then he’s liable to do a lot better on the SAT. It’s also a lot shorter (60 mins instead of 3 hours), so it might be easier to focus on. A high score could offset that AP result.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, that is almost identical to my undergrad LAC’s grading policies when I attended. Anything below a 70 or a C- was considered a failing grade. </p>
<p>The policy isn’t about saying a given student with a 69% is the equivalent of a student who did nothing. </p>
<p>Rather, it’s more about the fact that neither student met the extreme minimal standard for proficiency. The thought behind this is that even the proficiency needed to get a C- or C would be considered mediocre by most evaluators…whether Professors or IME and those of most older classmates/relatives I’ve known…employers looking to hire college grads for entry-level positions requiring a BA/BS.</p>
<p>Incidentally, at some corporations I worked for, anything less than a 75-80% in quarterly employee evaluations means the employee concerned will be placed on notice that they must improve their performance or risk being demoted/fired. </p>
<p>I’ve seen several colleagues who didn’t get that there’s a higher minimum standard at the firm and ended up being demoted and/or terminated.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hey, at least he’s blaming the GC. Whenever my kids take a class that doesn’t go well, it’s somehow my fault!</p>