In our district, taking an accelerated or honors level course in high school is a choice and you know it will show on the transcript. But first year of foreign language is required and you have no choice.
Our districtâs high school planning guide states the following:
My D19 took Algebra 2 in 8th grade at a local charter school and got Bâs both semesters. Iâm sure it will count in her case because we had to send the 8th grade transcript in to the HS to have it counted and put on her transcript. I wanted her to re-take it in HS as Algebra 2 Honors but she dug in her heels on that. Also I know our public universities calculate the admissions GPA by looking at their required âcore competenciesâ which includes 4 years of math. She took Calc AB this year and wants to stop at that. So her 8th grade Bâs get added in to the other (many) Bâs she has gotten. (More on the way this semester.)
I just noticed that replies #38 and 39 in the âNACAC list of colleges still taking applications?â thread list schools still open for enrollment with greater than 50% graduation rates. I know that some of you do not consider this a major requirement, but those of you who are interested in graduation rates might find it interesting.
@mamalion graduation rates can be influenced by many things including number of credits to graduate and major. Many health related majors have internships which affect grad rate , as do engineering majors that may require co ops.
HI, all, I live in MD, too. Middle school grades in math and foreign language (non Honors) count on the HS transcript also even though my son is in AP Calc AB and will take AP Stats next year and is currently in AP Spanish. Seems ridiculous as it âlowersâ his weighted gpa, but I think colleges look at rigor of curriculum and some recalculate only HS grades.
I am a professor at a research university. One of my areas of expertise is freshmen retention. I know a lot about graduation rates and retention rates. I also know many people on this list wish to ignore them. Fine, but 6 year graduation rates are important to many university faculty and administrators.
Iâm so amazed that so many of you are familiar with middle school kids taking high school classes. I had never even heard of this before I came to this site. It just isnât done in our school system. Why is there such a rush to advance kids? I understand if you have a Sheldon Cooper type kid and he is bored to tears with the regular class, but it seems so many school districts seem to automatically advance kids that are just normal smart. And now many of you are discovering that it will gave a negative affect on the high school GPA. I just donât get it. Canât they just provide extra material to the kids that are able to do more, without actually advancing them?
@me29034 I couldnât agree with you more. Our district advances ALL the kids into first year of a language. Some, like my daughter, had a hard time with languages even later on in high school. It was unfair. I have no idea why there is so much pressure to rush through.
My daughterâs magnet program took algebra as 8th graders. Spanish too. We moved to a different state, and from public to private school, when she started high school. She decided she wanted to take algebra again as a 9th grader (best decision EVER) because she didnât think the 8th grade teacher was that good. I donât remember if she did Spanish again too, but I think so. No one asked if she wanted those 8th grade classes on her high school transcript.
She then changed high school twice more and neither of those schools asked either.
Not offering the opportunity at all would be a punishment to the kids who are ready. I would be upset with that (and have been, they cut back on advanced math in our district and I spoke against it).
Parents and students get upset if kids are placed in a track early and then canât jump the track easily later.
Parents get upset when everyone is encouraged to try an advanced level.
There is no winning. They definitely should be transparent about what will be shown on high school report cards, but that still wonât completely solve it because so many parents donât read the information that is available online or sent home in paper copies.
@me29034 At our schools, students arenât placed in tracks, they are given the opportunity as eighth graders to take Algebra 1, English 1 Honors or Spanish or French. They have to be recommended. DS19 was recommended for English 1 H and we decided as a family that he was not ready. He waited until HS to take it. He was recommended for AP Human Geo in 9th grade, we decided together that he wasnât ready from a writing standpoint . I believe that options are important,but making an informed choice is key.
@mamalion Just because I pointed out that many things go into retention rates does not mean that I wish to ignore them. While you may be an expert , many people on this forum are not . The purpose of my post was to identify that itâs important to consider factors that may affect graduation rates such as internships, co ops, study abroad, etc. All of these things may affect graduation rates , but are not negative by any means.
Graduation rates are recorded at 4 and 6 years standardly. After 6 years, studentsâ chances of finishing drop significantly. A semester abroad or more commonly stopping out to earn tuition makes 4 year rates less revealing, but even rigorous MIT manages a 92 % 6 year graduation rate.
Less selective schools vary tremendously. I think it is helpful to have some idea of possible schools and the odds of completion. Obviously different kids bring different strengths to the table.
I guess all of the parents on this thread with children who have test scores and GPAs that take them out of the running for selective schools or just choose not be apply to selective schools should be concerned .
D19 brought home the school newspaper which listed nearly every student graduating this year and the school they will be attending. She attends a top public school in MD with nearly 500 in the graduating class. Top 5 selections:
UMD - 65
Montgomery College - 20 (community college with guaranteed transfer to UMD)
Gap Year - 13
Michigan - 12
Penn State - 11
Next tier
Georgia 8
Indiana 7
Tulane 7
VT 7
Wisconsin 7
Colorado 6
Undecided 6
Georgetown 5
Salisbury 5
South Carolina 5
USC 5
Vermont 5
Elon 4
Miami 4
Miami Ohio 4
NYU 4
Pitt 4
Rochester 4
St. Maryâs of MD 4
Syracuse 4
Tufts 4
UVA 4
Yale 4
Interesting list.
Regarding graduation rates.
I canât say I find a 8 year graduation rate that is greater or equal to 50% a compelling statistic.
I personally think that regardless of your studentsâ statistics and interests some general rules can hold true for both grad rates and retention.
LACâs. In general, regardless of how an LAC is ranked, I expect retention and grad rates to be on the high(er) side, 70% + and I do expect a higher 4 year rate I expect this because that is the experience you are paying for. If the numbers are lower, I donât take it as a less selective indicator, I take it more as a freshman satisfaction indicator or a financial stability indicator. I focus on 5 and 6-year rates more than 4 year overall, and also factor in reasons why a school might take longer. It wouldnât necessarily take a school out of the running, but Iâd look harder at other factors.
Public Universities. In general, I expect grad rates to be lower, especially at the 4 year park and at less selective universities. Rates in the 60âs will not give me pause. Transfer rates are higher, % of commuters etc. I admit, I donât like seeing rates in the low 50âs at the 6 year mark but again, it wouldnât necessarily take a school out of the running, Iâd look at all factors.
Private Universities. These seem, at least for me, to be a bit of a cross between the 2 above in terms of what I look at.
Our list has 4 year rates from 24-84%, 6 year from 53-88% and freshman retention from 76-96%. Where the numbers look low, I know to an extent âwhyâ and have calculated our risk.
Regarding Retention.
I do want to see a large % of freshman returning. Weâve looked at a lot of schools over the years and there are plenty that are less selective with decent retention numbers.
At the end of the day, as my current freshman said last year when I fretted about a few of the schools on his list, they are just numbers. They arenât YOUR kid. And whether your kid returns, is happy and graduates on time, is something only they can determine. The numbers just provide a data point, one of many. Itâs great if a top school is at 90+% but a solid less selective school that has numbers significantly lower can still be a school that YOUR kid graduates on time from, however you define on time.
Regarding advanced classes in MS.
There are SO many variables here, not the least of which is the school district and of course, the individual student. I do not agree with forcing advanced classed on kids who are not ready. I do agree with making them available for those who want, or even âneedâ them. I do not agree with some of the crazy approval processes some schools enforce to restrict students abilities to take advanced classes but on the flip side, self-selection can lead a student to overestimate their ability. At the end of the day it is our job as parents to help our kids make the right class choice, regardless of what is offered on paper, what âotherâ kids are doing, or our student thinks they should or have to do, to be competitive.
My 2 (or 20) cents 
@DCNatFan looks like they capped it at 4 to protect privacy which is good.
4 to Yale? Holy Cow.
@eandesmom No they didnât cap. They actually list each person by name and their selection. They do have the option to opt out if they want, which a few kids did.
@DCNatFan gotcha. I think there are good and bad things to that kind of system. D14âs school did that in the graduation program and while, as a parent I loved seeing where the kids were going, I can also see where other parents and kids would not have felt the same if they werenât happy with their choice etc.
Our school only shows the top 20 kids I think and even then itâs hard on some as they may not be able to afford a 4 year option to start.
Amazed there is only one CC on that list. Would be interesting to tally and see how many opted out.
I decided to do a sample set of my own based on our 3 kids so far.
School A. Least Selective - acceptance rate 83%
Freshmen Retention 79%
4 year grad rate 55.8%
5 year grad rate 65.6%
6 year grad rate 71%
School B. Medium Selectivity - acceptance rate 67%
Freshmen Retention 86.2%
4 year grad rate 64.4%
5 year grad rate 72.6 %
6 year grad rate 73.7%
School C. Most Selective - acceptance rate 29.5%
Freshmen Retention 94.9%
4 year grad rate 50.4%
5 year grad rate 76.5%
6 year grad rate 82.1%
Our outcomes: All kids returned to their school after freshman year.
School A: Graduated in 4 years
School B: On track to graduate in 4 years
School C: Will graduate in 5 years.
In practical terms, for us, it means that School CâŠas all schools (with inflation) cost relatively equal amounts, will cost the most.
In other terms? I really have no idea what it means other than numbers, to a degree, are just that.