<p>Our district didn’t give rankings for D1s class until junior year; apparently they’ve revised that policy and are not telling subsequent classes until Senior year. We’ve got a new software for grading & record keeping that is apparently giving the administration fits. However, someone somewhere has to be keeping track as they have a Top 100 luncheon every Spring with the Top 25 from each grade. </p>
<p>There is a detailed grid for grade points for gpa purposes with three columns: regular, honors & AP. .5 point extra is added for honors & 1 pt extra is added for AP and/or IB classes. Plus 3 points are added onto averages for honors classes and 5 pts are added onto averages for AP/IB. So for example: if you get a 93 in a regular class the gpa points are 3.5. If you get a 93 in an honors class, the gpa would be a 4.0 BUT 3 points are added making it a 96 and the gpa points are 4.2. If you get a 93 in an AP/IB class the gpa would be a 4.5 BUT 5 points are added making it a 98 and the gpa points are 5.0. So earning a 93 in a class is always an A but the GPA can fluctuate between a 3.5 and a 5. yeah, crazy.</p>
<p>college classes are the same as regular classes in our district too and no extra points for plus or minus only +1 if AP or IB. It does make it hard for distinguishing between students but that’s where course selection comes in. My older D, graduatiing this year, is one of about 25 "1"s (anyone over a 4.0 is one) but I know what set her apart to colleges was her class selections and the rigor of them. I also knew the colleges she was applying to knew our school well but the variations between districts is really crazy. I wasn’t sure how it would play out when she applied to Berkeley but she did end up getting in so nothing was lost in transalation!</p>
<p>I agree that if you did the work you should make sure you are being credited for it and I don’t think that is grade grubbing, neither do I feel it is if you are on the cusp and you are taking an active approach to seeing if there is something you may be able to do to push it over the edge. However my older D also encountered many of her AP Physics classmates trying to manipulate the teacher into giving them higher grades so we’ve seen both sides. All things I learned with her I can now put in place with D’13! Although count her on the checked out for the schoolyear side - and we still have a month left!</p>
<p>As long as you didn’t see me in person and make that assumption Kelowna, I’m cool ;)</p>
<p>There are no “ties” that I know of in class rank at our school. There are three tiers of A’s which I guess tracks to an A-, A and A+. Add in the honors & AP stuff & there’s enough wiggle room for there to be a few tenths or hundredths of a point come end of senior year.</p>
<p>One thing I have to say as D1s HS journey comes to an end is that I’m seeing that these types of things we discuss on CC really don’t matter as much as we think they do if the end point of the journey is “where they go to college.” Our Val is going to a big state school; our Sal is going to a religiously oriented school. They would have gone to those types of schools anyway (probably even the SAME ones) even if they weren’t 1 and 2. I’m really encouraging my '13-er to follow her bliss during the next 3 years. Stretch herself, try new things, drop things if she stops having fun. I’m not saying not to be responsible, a good citizen, and the good student that she knows she is. I’m just saying that I’ve seen a lot of kids work super hard & miss a lot of the “fun” high school stuff & they’re realizing that they could have had “a life” and ended up where they’re going anyway. </p>
<p>My two cents & musings three days before D1’s graduation :)</p>
<p>I completely agree, even though I do not have your wisdom since I have not traveled that road before, as you did.
I know deep down, that my kid is going to be admitted to some top schools and he will most likely not be able to go there due to the finances (damn middle class income!). When you ask him now where he wants to go to school, he will name the top privates. He knows that prestige is there. He has not seen any of the schools, so he has no idea what they are really like. He knows the names and they sound good. Stupid as it is, this is probably how one learns. I know that he will change tremendously over the next three years. His interests are all over the spectrum, literally. I have called him many times a renaissance man.
What I want? I want him to be happy, healthy and not broke by the time he is done with college ;)</p>
<p>RobD - congrats on your daughter graduation. It is a milestone!</p>
<p>I agree with RobD - my oldest that is graduatiing next month is one that was and always will be a hard worker, she knew what she wanted and went after it and I encouraged her to stick with what she loves and be content that at the end if she were to find out she didn’t get into a college because she didn’t do enough ECs or take enough of a certain type of classes, that she would be just fine with it and that’s what I am going to do with my D13 too. My D13 is not the hard worker that her sister is but she also doesn’t aspire to top tier schools (not that D10 did either) so I know she is better off having her resume for college show what she is passionate about and that the right fit is out there for her and hopefully in the next 3 years we can find it :)</p>
<p>Just thoughy I’d share that ds applied for a special program in D.C. this summer and didn’t get it. He said, “Mom, this is my first rejection.” Poor guy.</p>
<p>Bummer! Maybe next summer he’ll have better luck :)</p>
<p>I wish LuckyGirl could attend a summer program. She has multiple food allergies that make eating anywhere a LOT of work, more than it is worth for a few weeks’ program.</p>
<p>S is into the second week of his summer break and has 4 “jobs” lined up. Over the past few years he has designed several websites for school clubs or his personal use. A friend saw one and wanted one for her business and now it has snowballed. He is charging a small flat rate plus an hourly rate. I think his rates end up about a quarter or less of the professional rates. At any rate he is thrilled to be paid for doing something he would have done for free.</p>
<p>Between vacation, volunteering and the websites, I think S will be busy enough for the summer.</p>
<p>I have to say, I really appreciate reading about your take on child 3, after seeing your first two prepare for college and go.</p>
<p>Even though I have been gathering info (this will be my first child to go to college), my knee jerk reaction has been to be completely overwhelmed by the competitiveness and seriousness of these boards. </p>
<p>Obviously there is a lot of know and a lot of preparation that needs to take place. However, by reading all this, I would be losing my mind every time my child didn’t take every AP/IB class offered, making straight A’s in all of them, holding down a job, volunteering on the weekends, having an internship and going to college summer programs. </p>
<p>I enjoy reading everyone’s posts and I definitely want what is best for my daughter. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t make sure that she didn’t get to enjoy high school too-- to enjoy still being a kid, even if she’s a teen kid!-- and to try to keep the stress level on as even keel as I possibly can. I will hold her to the standards that I always have (to do her best and challenge herself) and let her focus on enjoying high school for a while.</p>
<p>vandy, it’s easy to get swept up by cc, but, if you haven’t already, you should check out the 2010 parent thread. It’s impossibly long now so would be near impossible to read the whole thing, but if you could you’d see the ebbs and flows of the college process. Early on, the talk is all about APs and ECs and SATs with some anxiety. As senior year starts, it’s about prodding them to do those applications and essays. And by this time, the work has been done, decisions made and we’re all scurrying to get things ready for the graduation parties – and trying not to be too sad in the process. And the whole way – and I mean the WHOLE way – that group has been nothing but supportive.</p>
<p>You have the right perspective. You’ll go nuts if you try to worry about every little turn of the GPA. It’s why I haven’t posted much on this thread; for me, it’s too soon to worry about it all for ds2. </p>
<p>Also, know that many of us come to cc and wring our hands and ask compulsive-sounding questions because we DON’T want to burden our kids/families with out worries. So, if people sound nuts, they’re usually only nuts on here. ;)</p>
<p>I am so glad to find this thread!! I know I am not alone. BB is a hs freshman this year and so far so good…i just hope I don’t have heart failure before she graduates…she wants Ivy and she is my oldest…I need all the help I can get!</p>
<p>I’m new to this thread - my S is a freshman and my D is a junior. Two VERY different students. D is (or has been until now) an A student with strong test scores and strong work ethic. S (class of 2015) is barely making C’s - and, as his teachers continue to point out, it’s not because he’s not capable of doing much better work. I’ve read enough posts discussing underachieving students to know I’m not alone, but having just registered my S for both sessions of summer school (to make up the D he got in honors English first semester, and the D (best case) or F (probable case) he’s going to get in Algebra second semester I am at my wits end. He’s a superstar in his EC’s (speech, drama) but he may not be able to continue those if his grades don’t improve. Very sad.</p>
<p>Your children seem very much like me and my sister when we were growing up. My sister was an over achiever and I barely made c. I always felt like everyone was speaking another language. Now that I am a successful business woman making over 6fig a year, I can look back and analyze myself. I never liked school and I hated that everyone was trying to make me do things their way…that did not work for me. It took me until I made it to graduate school to figure out who I was and what I was good at and also enjoyed. As parents, we need to have EXTREME patience and understanding when it comes to our children. It is just as important to figure out what a child is not good at to figure at what they are good at. Sit back and observe your child. There is no right way to live your life. Our goal as parents are to make sure our children are happy, well adjusted and able to financially support themselves as adults. I feel very fortunate to have had the parents I had. I just needed to find my niche in life.</p>
<p>VandyGrad: I’ve only got 2 kids! One that is on the launching pad to college and the other who is a rising sophomore (and my reason for starting this thread.) Unless you count my DH…or my mom, either of whom can be more work on a given day than my children ;)</p>
<p>And I’ll agree with YDS about the 2010 thread. They are the most supportive group of virtual people; so glad I stumbled upon them 2 years ago. I’ve been able to ask, comment & kvetch on CC in a way that I wouldn’t do in front of my kids and helped to keep the “zen” at home.</p>
<p>RobD- are you SURE you only have two kids? <eg> No idea how I stuck a third in there.</eg></p>
<p>You don’t say- I will have to check out the 2010 thread at some point and read it in bits and pieces. </p>
<p>All I know is, I starting reading this thread, freaked out, then freaked my kid out. Ha! It was not pretty. I had to step back and away a bit and try to get some perspective. She seems to appreciate that I have done that as well. I advise her gently if she seeks it (ie- she was talking about taking a study hall Jr year and I suggested that some colleges might see that as a pretty lame option. A better choice might be taking a fun elective that she would really enjoy) and am trying to educate myself in the meantime.</p>
<p>And btw, I’m sorry if I came off snippy in that last post. I didn’t intend to. I just see so much competition among parents in this area and I hate it. I don’t want to get caught up in it online. And that will be my job to guard against- not yours! :-)</p>
<p>VG: I didn’t hear any snip in your tone, so no worries from this camp </p>
<p>FWIW: My D1 took a study hall every year in high school; her senior year she used that study hall period to act as a student aide for her APEnglish/G&T consultant. The only kids who don’t consistently take a study hall here are the band & JROTC kids. D2 is only taking a one semester study hall next year to fit in a 1/2 year course she wants to take. I would say see what the norm is in your school.</p>
<p>I think the important thing to take from this thread is that all kids are different. I have two. One that is a college sophomore/junior not sure where his hours line up since he had to take a medical leave last semester but will go back in the fall. The other just finished his freshman year of HS. Older son has one interest and did only ECs that lined up with that interest and one sport. He knew where he wanted to attend school so we never faced all of the things we will face with S2. </p>
<p>S2 loves life, learning, and being involved in many things. He has real passions and then just other things that are fun. He is in a very competitive environment at school and is somehow able to step back and realize that it makes no difference to him if he has the highest grade, etc as long as he does his best. Not all of the kids or parents have made it to this point.</p>
<p>His goal is to go to a great school. In his mind a great school is defined as better than our state schools. He said just last night that he is not working this hard in IB not to be able to go to a school he chooses. He plans to apply to a couple of Ivys but his real goal is to go to Duke, Notre Dame, or UNC. Of course it is early but in his school this is a normal discussion for IB kids.</p>
<p>My goal here is to support and encourage him. The same way I did when he was younger and wanted a snake, hamster, turtle and eventually two dogs. Years past he has attended summer camps like Duke Tip. This year he has chosen to stay home and do several different things. He hasn’t chosen them because he feels the need to create a resume but because they are things he truly enjoys.</p>
<p>I’m afraid what some people see as competition or resume building could just be a child that truly wants to have fun and learn. I have friends who would never allow their children to be an IB student because of the time commitment and work involved. That’s what works for their family. My S truly enjoys the projects, papers, and presentations.</p>
<p>So I say all of this to say kids are different. Some can dance 12 hours a day, some watch TV 12 hours a day, some volunteer 12 hours a day, some sleep 12 hours a day and others who do a mixture.</p>
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