<p>Wow, this is a whole site of parents into the college process. This is an obsession at our high school and I'm trying to figure out how to deal. My oldest goes to a competitive school in California. I'm just starting to understand just how competitive. Only a few will go to top colleges other than UCs. My daughter tells me there are girls in her class taking the same classes they already took and did well in at a private middle school. Algebra as though they never took it! Spanish I when they had 3 years of Spanish! Is this fair or allowed? What sick parents to put the kids through this!</p>
<p>Unfortunately there is a lot of this "game playing" that goes on. It is disheartening at times. Try to focus on helping your D find a good school where she will be happy. The game playing bites a lot of those kids in the butt in the long run.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel any better, if your high school really is "competitive", then more than the top few will get into highly selective colleges outside the UC system. My D went to a middling CA public high school and the top 1-2 could usually get into highly selective schools. So if your's is competitive, then surely more will be able to get in. </p>
<p>Strong performance in GPA is only one part in crafting a college application. I've found that a lot of the kids at my D's high school (and their parents) think that the GPA is the only important thing when it comes to applying to colleges. They are often clueless as to the importance of things like having a strong program of classes, showing passion and depth in one or two extra-curricular activities, preparing for standardized testing and putting it all together in a good application to the right colleges (essays. etc.). </p>
<p>Focusing on GPA (by taking easier classes, for example) could make you run afoul of showing selective colleges that you are taking a rigorous program. For example, taking algebra 1 as a freshman puts you a year behind in math and could preclude you from taking calculus as a senior. </p>
<p>So don't play the GPA game. Be sure to also play the EC game, the standardized testing game, and the essay game. (Just kidding about the last sentence!!)</p>
<p>[As for evaluating language classes at the middle school level, I would guess that the quality isn't particularly high--how much grammar, etc. do they cover? I could see starting over at the high school level at Spanish I (or perhaps testing into Spanish 2), even with 3 years of middle school Spanish. And even high school programs are pretty lame compared with college language programs--my daughter is taking a language at college. After only 6 weeks, her friend (who had taken 3 years of the same language at her high school) was of no help on homework! ]</p>
<p>Kirmum, I don't think you can conclude that kids take a lower-ranking class just to play the GPA game. Not everyone comes to high school fully prepared for all honors level classes. If a kid is stretched in one area, it is wise for them to scale back a level in other areas in order to cover all the material and be fully prepared for upper level courses. Freshman year is the time to do this. </p>
<p>As far as language learning is concerned, this is an area that has a wide range of learning abilities. All "Spanish 1" classes are not the same - in our district, honors covers a lot (eliminating middle-school gaps) but at a quick pace; it is really Spanish one-and-a-half. Native speakers go into an intensive writing class, also designated "level one," since their verbal skills are good but their Spanish writing is often weak. What seems ridiculous on the surface can have solid reasoning behind it.</p>
<p>My daughter took Algebra I in middle school but didn't get a high enough score on the placement exam at her high school to place out of it so she had to repeat it. And She received an A in her Algebra class in middle school! Many kids in her high school also did not place into higher levels of language courses even after having taken the language in middle school. I know many kids in both public and private schools in Calif. who have had the same thing happen to them. Just because someone has "taken" a class in middle school does not mean they passed it or achieved a level of competency in it. </p>
<p>I have learned not to worry about what other people's children are doing --- only about how my children are doing. Otherwise, you can drive yourself crazy with worry and anguish if you think your children are not "keeping up." Unfortunately, there is often lots more to the story than what either children or parents say about their or their kids' grades and achievements. So, just worry about how your own daughter is doing and help her to reach HER full potential.</p>
<p>In our district, students begin to study Spanish in 7th grades (some begin in 6th grade). But many do not take foreign languages seriously in middle school, so they get placed into Spanish 1 in 9th grade. Others place into Spanish 2 and a very few into Spanish 3. And still others opt to study another language entirely.
Every student is required to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade, but again, some are placed into Algebra 1 in 9th grade.<br>
I agree with Carolyn. There's no point being concerned with what other kids are doing or not doing.</p>
<p>I think I did over react when my daughter told me about this yesterday. The thing is that these kids went to the same excellent private middle school as my daughter and got good grades. It's a school for gifted students. Much more competitive then their present public high school. All were in honors algebra in middle school. My daughter aced the placement exam and was put in honors geometry. After 3 years of Spanish in class with these kids, my daughter was put in third year Spanish. The parents involved are playing a game, I know them! Anyway, It really isn't my affair as I think about it. I feel sorry for the kids.</p>