<p>For what it’s worth, I had a real bad freshman year (Ds, Cs, one solitary B+ IIRC), tried harder from sophomore year, got >2300 on the SAT, and am going to a decent school with a 12k a year scholarship. Just don’t screw up from next year on.</p>
<p>Watch out for chemistry. It’s an area where attention to detail re calculations can trip kids up.</p>
<p>Yes. Chemistry is an interesting subject for creative kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia, who get tripped up in detail, calculation work. But, for older D (student-type), it was this breakthrough course. She was soooo interested in the subject and the outcomes that she would slow way down to make the proper calculations because she wanted the answer, herself. It was really important to her, for whatever reason, unrelated to tests or teachers or hw, and she really just wanted to KNOW. As soon as she saw that slowing down and paying meticulous attentin helped in Chem, she was able to apply this across the board in all math classes. This happened for her in 8th grade and was a real turning point for her. It was a very advanced (for her age) class and she never would have been in it if she hadn’t had her accomodations and testing in order, which is why it is so important on so many levels for bright LD kids to get into the right classes with the right teachers.</p>
<p>Chemistry just about killed my S2 freshman year, he swore his teacher hated the 9th graders in the class, and perhaps that was part of the problem, but it also really played to his weaknesses. Interestingly, he did much better in physics, which I thought would be no better.</p>
<p>Failed finals? It’s hard to imagine this is a big surprise.* By watching progress reports closely, you may be able to figure out if its chronically, low test scores, perhaps associated with missing homework assignments, or problems with classwork. If lee gets low test scores but credit for casework 2nd homework, it would mean something different from the reverse scenario. Not sure I “believe” in “test anxiety”, though.</p>
<p>My kids story</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/716335-32-14-fs-equals-c-geometry.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/716335-32-14-fs-equals-c-geometry.html</a></p>
<p>BTW; his only REAL A is in biology which he seems to love. Physics and Algebra 2 next year. Right now, all other core classes are barely B’s and I’m hoping be can hang on to them. I still don’t call it “horrible”. I know he’s working… at school AND soccer.</p>
<p>*Oops! Just read your last post…YMMV…</p>
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<p>Yes, it is called “Physics First”. Leon Lederman is the best-known advocate of this approach.</p>
<p>Our kids had intro to physics in 6th grade. The material was very similar to what I was doing in high school many years ago. Our D1 had a hard time with it initially. I had get back into it to help her, but she quickly caught on. D2 didn’t need any help from me at all and she is not as much of math/science person as D1.</p>
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<p>OK…so he got a B in English, an A in History, a C+ in Physics. What WERE his final course grades in math and latin? Did he fail the courses? Did he get a D? Did he get a B, C…? What? Some kids DO fail the final but still get decent (enough) final course grades. </p>
<p>I understand your concern about the failed finals, what were the final grades in those two course?</p>
<p>Also, IMHO an C+ in physics for a high school freshman is a respectable enough grade. It’s a TOUGH course.</p>
<p>Crazy question - if you attend a four year high school that is held in high regard, are you saying Admissions will still toss 9th grade end of year grades?</p>
<p>I find this to be interesting. Will the GPA be recalculated at each school?</p>
<p>Cherryhill…many colleges will make their OWN computation of GPA. The reason is that high schools use a wide variety of methods to compute GPA. The college will use ONE method for each applicant. Some schools do not use the freshman grades to compute anyone’s GPA for admission purposes. Some schools use only core courses (no music, art, or other electives). The “weighing” of honors and AP scores is also chosen by the college IF they recompute GPA. </p>
<p>I think it’s a good way to do things. That way they are comparing apples to apples at least in terms of the GPA. I understand your “concern” that a “top school” might not be considered in the weighing, but the colleges also KNOW these top schools.</p>
<p>It isn’t the end of the world. I also had a S who had a bad year (in his case, it was sophomore year). He decided in his little peanut brain that making the varsity team in his sport as a 10th grader was more important that grades, and put all of his energy into his sport. He surrounded himself with friends who were not academically oriented. Every semester I would hear that things were going fine and I’d be given selective quizes and tests, and then the final grades would be disappointing. </p>
<p>(While some parents would disagree with this decision, I did not take his sport away from him. Frankly, if his grades were going to be poor, I thought that having a varsity sport in which he excelled would help him get into colleges. S was ultimately recruited for his sport, but decided that traveling and practice time in his sport would be precluded by his intended major.) Finally I gave him a college book, and told him to start looking at the schools where he would be accepted with his low GPA. I also told him to start doing calculations to figure out the GPA he would need to bring his low GPA up before graduation. I told him the breakpoint GPAs for bottom half of his class, top third of his class, etc. The same competitiveness that he brought to his sport, he turned to his grades.</p>
<p>His grades showed a huge upward trend in Junior and Senior year. To bring up his GPA, he didn’t slack off as a Senior like many others in his class. Ultimately he graduated in the top 20% of his class. He worked hard on his SAT and ACT preparation, to ensure that it would help to offset his GPA (which rose every semester). Yes, he did have to write an addendum to his college applications explaining why his grades were so poor as a sophomore.</p>
<p>He’s now going to be a Jr. in college. He was accepted to an Honors Program, received scholarships and has an excellant GPA. He will be a pharmacy student next year.</p>
<p>Another S was just an average student in high school, with average SATs. That kid just graduated with honrs and will now be going to law school.</p>
<p>A bumpy road doesn’t mean that they can’t be successful. It just means that parenting is tougher, and our kids aren’t making it easy on themselves.</p>