Is My Son's Future Ruined?

Parent Cafe
1

My son has always had his sights set on schools like UPenn, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA and such, but this junior year has been really rough on him. He would be the first one in my family to go to college, and we are Vietnamese.

His AP Biology teacher has not been treating her students fairly; she attacks any student who is in her class and not a Science major. She continually claims “Why are you in AP Bio if you don’t like AP Bio?”

He was fortunate enough to secure a B first semester, but then his teacher chose to stop offering any more tests in the last 2 months of school and gave my son and his group a D and a C on projects that pulled his grade to a 79 without any explanation, even when they asked, her response was “I’m just being real.” She has also refused to respond to any e-mails. When I talked to the school counselor, she told me the AP Biology grades this year have been lower than years before too.

My son managed to get a 4 on the AP Bio exam, while many students in his year received 3s and under, so I’m trying to request a grade change, but I’m really worried that any request to change his grade will be refused. I feel like that C will ruin his chances at any of the big Ivy schools.

My son plans to be an Economics Major.

He is first chair bassoon, clarinet section leader in marching band, president of 2 clubs, one that has been raising funds for a temple in Laos, and one that he founded. He is also in National Honor Society, and serves as a Director that deals with marketing and finances alongside several college students and adults during a Culture festival. He’s also served on PR team with another. He’s worked so hard, and I don’t want his AP Biology teacher ruining his future.

Here is his report card for the past 3 years.

Rank: 4 out of 900
GPA (w) [9-11]: 4.55
GPA (uw) [9-11]: 3.83

Grades: (1st Semester/2nd Semester)

Freshman Year:
English Honors 1: A/A
Algebra 2/Trig: A/A
Biology: A/A
Spanish 2: A/A
Band Honors: A/A

Sophomore Year:
English Honors 2: A/A
Precalculus Honors: A/A
Chemistry: A/A
Spanish 3: A/A
AP World History: A/A
Band Honors: A/A

Junior Year:
AP English Language: A/A
AP Calculus BC: B/B
AP Biology: B/C
AP Spanish Culture: B/A
AP US History: A/A
Band Honors: A/A

Summer 2016 at a Community College:
Microeconomics: A
Intro to Gender Studies: A

Senior Year, and these are all classes he feels very confident in that he could get all As, unlike Junior Year
AP English Literature
AP Statistics
AP Physics C
AP Computer Science
AP Macroeconomics (1st Semester)/AP Government (2nd Semester)
AP Environmental Science
Band Honors
Calculus 2 (2nd Semester, Dual Enrollment, he only got a 3 on the AP Calc BC exam)

ACT: 34
SAT II Math 2: 800
SAT II US History: 780
SAT II Biology E: 780

How worried should I be? - A worried Vietnamese mom

2

Why are you worried?

3

Even without the lower biology grades, the above listed schools are still difficult to get into.

If you live in California, UCSC, UCI, and UCSD have good economics. Note that strong math and statistics is needed for economics, so he may want to put more effort into calculus.

4

We all have had bad teachers. One bad grade doesn’t make or break a student or a college app. Hit it outta the ball park on all other things, then it’s obvious that it was the teacher who had the problem

5

Objectively speaking, your son is doing great. Just remember that some schools are reaches for everyone regardless of your stats, and if your son doesn’t get into the schools he wants to it’s not his fault at ALL. Just make sure he has match/safety schools to apply to.

6

Do you honestly believe people who fail to attend UPenn, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA and such are “ruined” You’re over-reacting.

7

That is one heck of a first post!

8

His chances of getting into some of those schools are very low, even if he got an A in AP Bio. Do you know that?

9

-One C won’t necessarily ruin his chances of going to a top school.

-Not going to one of a handful of elite colleges will not ruin his future. The vast majority of successful, thriving college-educated people did not go to an elite college.

-I do have to agree with the AP Biology teacher on one thing - why take AP Bio if you are not interested in AP Bio? I don’t think you should necessarily be planning to be a science major (things change, kids change majors all the time) but you should at least have some interest in the topic if it’s an optional course.

10

Why? @suzyQ7 The stars look pretty good to me. No garantee of course but OP is not asking for garantee…

11

Neither of my kids planned to do anything related to biology in college - that doesn’t mean they didn’t want to know the material in AP Biology. There are enormous things happening in biology these days and the more we have an educated citizenship the better off we will be.

As for the OP, I think the kid will have good choices.

12

Because everyone’s chances are low for getting into those schools @panpacific

13

Did you complain to the he school about the calculus teacher also?

14

As a parent, @YoungPik, are you concerned about how you will pay your child’s cost to attend these expensive universities? Will his future be ruined if you can’t pay for his choice schools?

I agree with the other posters that one class isn’t going to make or break your son.

15

I can’t speak to the UC expectations, but biology isn’t related to econ, not one of the classes that make or break. On the other hand, for econ at Penn and Columbia, the calculus…

He can do his best in the senior year math and get more involved now/asap than “marketing and finances…during a Culture festival.” And know what those Ivies will want to see in him, besides grades and titles. One is resilience, so don’t knock into him that he’s RUINED, your caps.

16

99% of the people in America didn’t go to UPenn, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA and they actually have a life.

17

@“aunt bea” Finances are not a problem.

@lookingforward Is there anything left that he could do with the Calculus grade? His involvement in the festivals have a huge focus on those marketing aspects, he might have a opportunity to be on a Viet talk show soon, and he has a strong base in social media and making connections within our community. I’m not sure what else he can do. He’s working on a grant writing team as part of an internship right now.

18

I don’t know about all of the colleges, but I think your son’s GPA is still in range for UCLA, especially considering he has taken a rigorous course load and has great test scores. I’m sorry your son had the bad fortune to be in the Biology teacher’s class the year she started acting strange. I hope you are able to get someone, perhaps an assistant principal, to look into why the teacher wouldn’t explain to the kids what was wrong and show them how to redo their projects (in other words, teach.)

A good teacher would not take the attitude that someone who is not planning a career in science shouldn’t be in her class. A good teacher would know how to nurture excitement about Biology in students who don’t even realize yet what their potential is and in which direction their interests may grow. Somewhere on CC I remember someone telling about a college professor who did exactly that with a student who thought he had no interest in science. After being challenged and encouraged by the professor, he ended up making his career in science.

19

No, it’s not. Calm down.

Heck, I got a D in high school (GASP) and now I’m in a top-ranked PhD program.

Those schools are not the be-all, end-all and your child will likely do well wherever based on what you’ve shared here.

20

Your child will be fine. He may get into those schools. He may not get into those schools. Either way he will be fine.

For the record, my oldest son got a B- in AP Calculus his senior year of high school. He also got a 5 on the AP Exam. He graduated from college as a double major in math/economics. He did not attend a top 20 school although Case Western is well regarded. He is 22 years old and has a good job, his own apartment and is doing well.

Don’t stress over those particular schools. He will get into college, get a good education and do fine in his life.