Middle school classes HS classes taken in middle school count toward GPA. The only weighted classes are AP classes - honors classes and dual enrollment classes taken at CC are not weighted at all.
Board games I got S15 Superfight card game a couple years ago. It’s been a fun game for parties. It has expansions that you can get - got a few & will probably add a couple more to his stash.
2017 is looking to be a great year -
D17 applied to a couple of summer trips through Girl Scouts & got accepted to both. Of course, now she has to decide between India and Switzerland because she can’t afford to do both.
She has her Gold Award interview on Monday - so hopefully that will be finalized (been a long process once the project actually got finished)
Plus, she is super excited about the robotics (FRC) game this year. She has been talking non stop since she got home. Went to kickoff this morning, but then had to be at school all day for an NHS event.
Let’s hope the scholarship competitions coming up have great results, too!
@stencils Yes, I don’t think the conversion from 100 to 4.0 makes much sense. Someone getting all A’s in a non-honors/AP classes would only have a 4.0. A+'s in our school don’t give you above a 4.0…so essentiall A = A+. No conversion will work. Then add in H and AP/IB vs. a flat 100 scale and it’s impossible to compare. That’s why most colleges look at rigor and un-weighted GPA…at least it’s a LITTLE closer to telling the store. Add to that the fact that many colleges may have historical information for your HS, and they know what a 97 means for your school, and how well those kids have done in the past at their college.
TL;DR You can’t convert from 100 to 4.0 
I have a question for the brain-trust here. How generous is Georgia Tech with merit aid? My S18 is interested in a CS degree and has it on his list. Is it considered a BigMAC school?
It’s my understanding that for OOS students, the only big MAC at Georgia Tech is very, very competitive. D2 had it on her list for a long time, and that’s why it fell off.
Thanks to everyone who answered my question about middle school courses. It looks like there are 3 main approaches: not included at all, included but not counted in GPA, and included and counted in GPA. Just another example of the variance in what colleges receive.
@jpc763 when my ds applied a few yrs ago, GT offered 2 categories of big MAC: 50 presidential and 40 provost. No additional application was necessary. But statistically, the odds are 90 out of close to 15,000. (So they offer big scholarships, but the odds are just very, very low due to the competitive nature of the avg applicant. Better odds of being accepted to a top 10 school.)
Not positive, but I think GT requires you to apply for FA to be considered for scholarships even if they are not need-based.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek yes the HS credits they earned in 9th grade are on their transcript, but no grades associated with it, just credits.
@snoozn awesome summary of a lot of good games. In the “I’m not smart enough to play this game” category I’d put Mistfall, a new boardgame that just came out on Kickstarter. H backed it and his box arrived last week. We watched a 36 minute play through on youtube, and the guy didn’t finish one turn, it was so complex. In 36 minutes. One turn. What! He had his wife’s pieces set up as if she was planning on playing with him, but since he never got to her, she never appeared, lol. I turned to H and said “I’m going to cry if you make me play this game-look, his wife has run away and he’s having to pretend he has one!” H laughed and admitted it might be overly laborious and complicated.
@picklesarenice I need to go get Citadels and 7 Wonders now. Games, old electronics, fabric and books may be the only things we have a tendency to hoard :-?
Senioritis-D17 made the decision to drop off the officer team for the student technology association. There was a new teacher assigned to it this year and he demoted her after she was elected to her position by the previous teacher. She went from being the media specialist to the “secretary” (grrr) and he wouldn’t let her use google docs to organize all the info, then went back and gave her back that responsibility and told her to use google docs months later after it was a huge dumpster fire of lost sign up sheets and permission forms that the adviser couldn’t figure out. She had had enough of being treated poorly by this guy and resigned on the last day before winter break. I’ve met him; he sucks, and we are friends with the guy who used to run it and we give him friendly grief all the time for leaving to pursue his phd.
@jpc763 you wouldn’t trust me with your brain, but we are in-state for GT. I think all the merit aid stuff was for the kids who applied early back in October. D just applied last minute RD, and she’ll qualify for the Zell Miller, which is full tuition if she gets in, but that’s only for in-state kids. IIRC you need to do the Fafsa form.
In addition to FAFSA, GT also requires CSS Profile and their own FA form (3 in total) for scholarship consideration. Deadline is Jan. 31.
Georgia Tech: To be considered for the Provost (OOS tuition waiver) or Presidential/Stamps, you had to apply EA. Semifinalist will be notified in Mid January, interviewed on 2/11/2017 and then the finalist weekend is on 3/10 to 3/11.
They may offer some grants, etc., but it’s not much. They met about 60% of need, on average.
Just checked GATech form we filled out - no CSS or FAFSA required for non-need based Institutional scholarships – it was item 7 on their form. No idea if they actually give any of these awards out though.
Anyone know about the Dean’s 1/4 scholarship at USC - criteria or past awards stats?
@CA1543 I think for the HOPE and the Zell for instaters you have to do either a georgia specific form or the Fafsa. We didn’t see anything regarding the css either (although we’ve filled it out for other schools).
Jumping in late to the middle school transcript. Here they do not count and D was questioned during a read through of her transcript about Algebra 1 and Geometry – she took both as honors courses in middle school but they do not appear anywhere on her transcript. They are also not counted in her gpa. We explained and also had the GC send a follow up that D did indeed have those courses.
@CA1543 check out the USC Class of 2021 Discussion/Results Thread posts #300 & 301. @CADreamin is super helpful on all things USC. PM me if you want details on our experience - D15 is a sophomore/Presidential.
As I look over the middle school answers, I keep thinking that middle school and high school means different things around the country. Here, middle school is 6 - 8 grades and high school is 9 - 12. Kids can take a couple of HS classes in 8th grade & they count as high school grades (included on transcript and in GPA). Where I grew up, we had junior high, which was 7 - 9 grades & high school was 10 - 12 grades. However, 9th grade was still considered HS for classes & GPA. It was a matter of space availability - the HS could only hold that many students.
I was wondering why anyone would say 9th grade wouldn’t count - is it because your HS is 10 - 12?
@CA1543 & @MotherOfDragons – I know I have asked the question before about GT needing FA forms for non-need-based awards, but I have decided to just give up and see if son is even admitted before thinking about it more. Having said that, I don’t recall my son filling out a GT form, so he may be SOL anyway!
Also curious about USC and just going to wait to see how that unfolds. Good to have company for the wait…
@CT1417 yes but some have deadlines for those forms if you want to be considered for merit aid.
@Fishnlines29 – so perhaps I should stop ignoring all those emails from GT about applying for FA. Son seems to think that I can worry about it after next weekend’s admission decision. Perhaps I should look now…
Does anyone have any idea if OOS tuition tends to rise at a higher % per year than IS, or is it generally the same? I am updating my 4yr COA spreadsheet, and realized I am not properly handling the schools where we’ve received the IS tuition waivers.
Thanks to so many of you for all the board game suggestions – LOVE them (and never expected to get such a response)! With the very long list I now have, seeing a new excuse for gatherings with friends once the nest empties this fall.
@ilikesporks I don’t think there will be consistency across schools. Take UMN, for example that is planning a significant increase to OOS tuition. It can be unpredictable.