Your son has too many courses Sr year… A recipe for more Bs and Cs, and will not improve his app. What is the purpose of environmental science Sr year? He will be spending a TON of time writing college apps and his schedule is even busier/harder than junior year. Cut back, trust me. Having a bad first term and getting a lot of Bs will be much worse than a C he had 1 semester in AP Bio.
Also, I don’t understand Calculus 2. Is that the next level after AP Calc? If he is taking that just so he can retake the AP exam, he’s wasting his time.
Please tell us if you live in California or not…we can help figure out the effect of the grades on UC apps once we know.
I’m still not sure I understand your problem. Is it those colleges or BUST?
Your kiddo is doing fine. He will get accepted to college, and he can major in economics. As an FYI…back in the Stone Age, when my friends couldn’t figure out a major, they chose economics.
Could you love the kid on your couch? He is fine…for him!
He is doing just fine. Lots of good colleges and unis will be in the sweet spot. Most importantly will be compiling a good list of colleges for application which will be made easier if cost is not a top factor and a strong econ program is. I can think of two already. Ruined…ummm, No.
My son got what he considered an unfair grade in APUSH. Long story, but he was recovering from a hockey-caused concussion and had a teacher who didn’t quite understand that concussions have effects long after your eyeballs aren’t rolling in crazy circles and gave him a test, contrary to doctor’s orders.
DS would not have taken the SAT II in the subject (he was a STEM kid), but he wanted to reassure any AOs that wondered about his grade when reviewing his application. So, he got a 5 on the AP test and a 780 on the SAT 2. He was accepted to his first choice college.
It would be good for your son to study for the SAT 2 Bio test and crush it. Beyond that, I don’t think his future is ruined, even if he doesn’t get into the elite schools you mentioned. It would be a good lesson for him to learn from adversity and unfairness; unfortunately it exists in life.
@IxnayBob makes a good point. But your son will need to take those tests his before he applies to those colleges or they might not see them in time for applications. For example, the AP tests are given in May. So if your son takes them his senior year, adcoms will not see those scores…because they won’t be released until well after admission decisions are made.
@YoungPik at the risk of sounding unsympathetic, which I guess I am, your son has no problem. You have no problem either, and you should step away from this so that you don’t freak out if your son gets another C. He might (especially with the overloaded senior year), and if he does, you still havent got a problem. To think that any child’s future is ruined because of a couple of average grades in high school is over the top. There are millions and millions of people in the world who got average grades and went on to have successful lives.
Yes, his chances for all those schools are low, as they are for everyone. And even if the teacher isn’t great, your son earned that grade. I doubt it is the teacher’s fault.
Also, as the first to go to college, has it occurred to you that you and the family are perhaps putting a TON of pressure on this boy to get into a top college that is very difficult for everyone to get into? If you really want him to succeed, back off. As another person said, love the kid on the couch.
You may not be familiar with American high schools, but the kind of event you described with the AP Bio teacher is not a completely rare occurrence…teacher becomes an activist of sorts about who should take his course and why, teacher devises alternate grading methods (everybody must work in groups! no one can work in groups! paint a picture to go with each of your English essays! participation means everything! participation in class means nothing!). When teachers go off the typical script and the class’ grades go down it is pretty obvious, I think, what is happening. The 4 on the AP exam takes away any worries your son might have i think. There are too many kids in our country getting B and A in AP Bio class and then getting a 3 or lower on the AP exam…that would be the worst scenario.
I agree with others that say the senior schedule is too AP heavy. If GPA is an issue, then I wouldn’t do something to jeopardize it unnecessarily. And I think taking that many APs senior year counts as unncessary.
Good luck to you…I remember the frustration well the year that one of my teachers “went crazy” and gave everybody a C or lower, to “teach us a lesson”…at the time it stung.
Something that’s been said already is worth restating in another way. It is something we say in prep school admissions all the time:
The student makes the college, not the other way around. Don’t focus on the school name as that which confers greatness. Bricks and mortar can’t do that.
Your son’s life is what he makes of it, regardless of where he attends college. Any college would be lucky to have his talents.
@fleishmo6 AP Physics “C” is the course, not his predicted grade. OP said that her son thinks he can get all As.
I might the only contrarian here, but my DS took all APs senior year because he wanted to, got all As and still had fun. It is possible, depends on the student and motivations for taking the AP classes.
“RUINED???” No.
First of all many, if not most students run across one of those less than fair teachers and that is part of life.
Second, it is unreasonable to consider a life “ruined” simply by not getting into a college with 10% or so acceptance rate.
YoungPik, you obviously got the perception that his life would be “ruined” from somewhere - you didn’t just make it up out of nowhere.
What was the source?
Why did you believe it was a credible source?
Now that you know better, will you go back to the source and tell them that they are wrong - that success in the US is NOT determined by attending a small handful of colleges? And urge them to tell the rest of your social circles?
My son (with a 4.5 GPA) actually did get into Berkeley and UCLA and choose a school with a much higher acceptance rate. It also happens to have a much higher BA to PhD completion rate then all the Ivies and UCs in many if not most subjects, better student to faculty ratio, and better mentoring. So take a look around and see what is out there before you think big names or bust. Not getting into the most recognizable named schools will still allow him to have a fantastic education, possibly even better.
Others have covered well that his chances aren’t ruined, though generally all the schools you list are reach schools and thus both your son and you should brace yourselves for him not getting in. That said, I do think getting a 4 on the AP Bio exam might make an admissions person eyebrow raise–a C in class but a 4 on the exam? They’ll see he clearly learned enough in the class to do well, and may infer a teacher issue on their own. You may also find that the counselor mentions it in their letter–a C junior year for an otherwise solid student is odd; I wouldn’t demand they say something, but it might be worth asking if they plan to.
Generally: start to support your son by expanding his horizons, re: schools beyond the super elites, and be as positive and supportive as you can in how you frame things. “It’ll be amazing if you get into one of your dream schools, but if you don’t, that’s fine. There are so many fantastic schools where you can study economics; let’s visit some of them.” (if you can’t visit, that’s fine) Still a reach, but comes to mind: if you’re in CA, visit Pomona. Their econ department is great; I’m friends with several very happy Pomona alum who work in econ related fields. Someone else already recommended the additional UCs to check out if you’re in-state–I would visit them.
Direct him towards the mid-tier sweet spot, where he’ll find match schools. There are a lot of GREAT options given his overall GPA and test scores–make sure he has a few matches and safeties where he could really see himself attending (UCs are perfect for this if you’re in state). Then approach admissions with the attitude of hope for the best, but NOT pinning all hopes and dreams on specific schools. That’s a one way ticket to disappointment.
Beyond that, my other advice is to have your son focus on his essays. He’s got some interesting stuff going on (being actively engaged in the Vietnamese community, etc.), and a way to stand apart could be in his writing. Don’t hyper focus on the grades, especially those you can’t change (and as others suggested–I would lighten that senior course load b/c it is insane!).
Why is he taking AP Environmental Science? I’d suggest that he drop that, give himself a little breathing room. He would be better off getting all As first semester and having a life–and doing his ECs-- than filling his schedule with somewhat meaningless AP classes.
My kid took AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Calc BC, AP Spanish, AP French Lit, and the school’s equivalent of AP English senior year, plus some other required electives I don’t recall. He had no study halls, and seemed not to have a problem with the workload. But he wasn’t taking anything just for the sake of filling up his schedule with APs. That’s what your S’s schedule looks like. Why is he taking yet more courses this summer?
Your S has a great record. Don’t be worried, and resist the temptation to pack in more and more.
Also make sure that he applies to a range of schools, with at least one good safety and some matches.
Well like my son say, i’m just gonna keep it real with you. Your son could have A’s in every class and still get denied because we are talking about creme of the crop schools. Every student who applies to these schools are outstanding and the determination of who gets in and who does not can be razor thin. Your son has impressive stats and he will have a long list of great universities he can attend. Frankly those schools you listed are all crap shoots because they are super competitive and know one on this forum can give a 100% answer at what it takes to gain admittance. He has the stats to get into the game but know one can tell you who will be the winners and losers.