It was during the year, approved by the GC and scheduled by the school. I could care less about ranking but to drop class weighting is too much. Rules are rules and you cant just change em to suit your needs. With one GC she controls it all, and therefore is the sole person in charge of scheduling.
Please tell which is the case…your most recent post says these DE courses were taken during the school year… but in your OP you wrote…
So it sounds like at least some of these were in the summer.
No sir all approved by school, scheduled by school, and the one in question was during school year. That said would it even matter if the counselor said take this next? Yes she takes classes during the summer, as approved and scheduled by the school. You tell me how a kid not taking DE classes can be ahead of a kid going to that distance?
I can’t tell you how one kid would be ahead of another. It would all depend on which courses were used to compute the GPA by the school.
In addition, if the DE kiddo got lower grades, it’s very possible that a kid not dual enrolled could have a higher GPA.
I think you need to get your information together, in writing. Start by making an in person appointment with that GC. If that gets you no where…you go to the principal. If that doesn’t help then the board of education.
You need to be patient and make your requests diplomatically. Remember, the school can NOT tell you specifics about any other student as that would violate privacy laws.
What you want is an explanation of how they are computing your kid’s GPA and class rank. That really is all you can ask.
If something seems “off” ask for an explanation.
You tell me how a kid not taking DE classes can be ahead of a kid going to that distance?<<<<<<<
Totally, depending on the high school, rank protection by limiting GPA exposure risk is a thing when only UW GPAs are considered. You say you don’t care about rank, so UT Austin is not on your radar? What are her test scores? PSAT? Do you know her correct UW GPA? I thought that the whole issue you were looking at IS rank?
If this is part of a public school system then the district rules will apply. If it is private, there should be a parent handbook which discusses the issue of GPA, or it may be on the school profile
We are in a rural area, just over 60 people in my son’s senior class(some grades have less than that), and I can tell you that they do not weight dual enrollment classes. Technically our school offers some AP classes, but they are online access classes and no one takes them(we just found out about them). Some students do take dual enrollment classes but they have to pay for them(reduced tuition I think). The following classes are considered advanced and receive a weighting of 1.10 : Spanish II, Algebra II, Anatomy, Chemistry, Physics, & Pre-Calculus. No weighting for AP or DE classes, the weighted average is not placed on the transcript and is only used for senior ranking. I’m not sure how that a weighted GPA could be lower than an unweighted though, that makes no sense.
@HSPOPS I’m so glad you are on this now. I will say that I was in your DD’s position as a senior in HS. Of course back in my day parents were very uninvolved and trusted that GC was doing everything right. Turns out GC deliberately miscalculated my GPA. He was angry that I had moved in as a senior from a larger HS from a different state with additional weighted classes and was going to outrank his students. (This was a family move for a job - not a deliberate attempt to circumvent their system) So he weighted my classes wrong putting me 3rd instead of 2nd in my class of 35. Why would that make a difference? Well, I found out in April that the top 2 students in every class across the state were granted a bright flight scholarship that paid full tuition at 3 state colleges. He told me at the end of April I was actually 2nd in the class and that I could accept the scholarship - the problem I had not even applied to those schools. I had not even visited them because I was not even aware of the scholarship. So I 100% believe your GC is intentionally doing this to your DD. I know small HS GC’s play favorites and do underhanded things to students who they feel don’t deserve something. Keep escalating and get a lawyer if necessary, especially being in Texas rank matters.
Principal called today…All i asked for was a conference. Never a reply in writing. He decided he was gonna do some checking after I contradicted him and pointed him to the written policy in the student handbook. So now I wait.
To elaborate for above questions: If I seem a bit “all over” its because the rules and issues keep changing. When I asked about her GPA I found 2 semesters of grades missing. When I pointed it out, I was told it wouldn’t change her rank. This was a red flag for me since It wasn’t time for rank, so I inquired further. Thats when I noticed the crazy inconsistencies in GPA calculations and weighting. Imagine if you asked for a meeting with the Guidance Counselor twice and the Principal calls and you get no written reply. Then imagine your discussing this over the phone and he begins explaining the weighting and you have to correct the principal and give him the handbook page number to prove it. Then he needs to call you back…She is looking at Baylor, A&M, UT, Texas Tech and possibly Rice. No SAT or ACT yet as they wanted her to wait until next year until I objected.
OP - Do you have your daughter’s report cards? I ask because my daughter’s report card always had her GPA and cumulative GPA at the bottom. It would be pretty easy for me to piece together the proof of her GPA using the school’s grading handbook. Our school also continually ranked from the first semester for freshman year so the top kids, for better or for worse, always knew where they stood. The school was very transparent because honor roll was posted in rank order.
Definitely have your DD take her standardized tests junior year. Earlier the better so she had ample time to retest if she needs it.
I hope you can get this resolved. As someone looking in from OOS, the TX system has some flaws when it comes to auto admit by rank.
Report cards don’t show GPA or even list DC college grades. They are so flustered at this point that latest transcript has a blacked out GPA and ranking.
Wow! Even DC courses registered through the HS??? And blacked out GPA/Rankings? That’s nuts!
All DC courses are through school.
How can the school have any say in this? You just sign up online and choose your testing site. The school does not even have to know.
Brantly, we are having to seek information and find out all of it for ourselves. I recently learned that information. I have spent countless hours educating myself on this, as I never got a degree so its all alien to me. I truly appreciate all the input as well as this site which has provided invaluable information.
OP - Guidance services and skill set vary widely. Do not rely on them for information. Your child absolutely need to do their own research on what tests are required, when to take them, application deadlines, etc…
@HSPOPS - I know it has to be difficult to manage this process without ever have been through it yourself. Even with my DH & I having college degrees, we have found the process has changed a lot since we went through it. I looked at the Texas Education Agency’s website to see if they have a complaint process, but they really try to direct you to the local district. You might try contacting them to see if there is anything they can do to help you. I think a last resort may be to tell the district you will be contacting the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights there are a couple of laws your daughter is probably protected under including Title IX and ESSA. It rises to that level because rank is a huge factor in admittance to State universities in TX so miscalculation of her rank is a serious issue that can affect her access to education. This of course is a last resort and I would try working through the local district first. Does your district have more than one high school?
sahmkc, School is so small Elem and High is on same campus. The teachers have each kid for up to 4 years. I’m trying to avoid the nuclear options and not rock the boat but last resort is the Superintendent which I don’t think will go anywhere. For now we are just laser focused on her goals and how to achieve them. Last night, I reaffirmed with daughter her school list and goals to make absolutely sure they were her wishes and not ours. Now we have a game plan for test prep and so forth. There’s only so much I can do, so I will just stay the course. Rank is a very serious issue but I know with hard work even that can be overcome. Since her #1 is private we are setting goal reach there and her other choices should be attainable. Im going to look at the options but the real pitfall is their own lack of adherence to policy and the fact that a parent cant really challenge rank without access to other kids files. School is so small everyone knows who is doing what and taking what but its what gets on paper that really matters.
Yeah, rock the boat, AFTER your kid gets into college, or better yet, after the graduate from high school.