SLO is D17"s first in state choice. She would not have much of a chance at LA or Berkeley and didn’t like them either. Our school has had kids accepted to Stanford and rejected by UCLA/UCB!
@typiCAmom I never said I would reprimand a child for a B! I agree that there are all kinds of things that can result in a B. But as you do, I do expect my kids to do their best. In the past their best has resulted in A grades. I believe children try to achieve what is expected of them. If a parent believes that a child is never going to be an A student then they probably won’t.
I agree with you that students should take the most rigorous glasses and challenge themselves but these classes are also the ones with the highest weighting. I don’t believe parents or students should discount GPA when selecting classes, should it be the only consideration? - no, but it should be considered. My daughter took four years of orchestra which did lowered her GPA but she that’s what she wanted to do because it was important to her. You should select classes fully understanding how it will affect your GPA. My daughter made an informed choice to follow her passion, DS18 wasn’t fully aware of the GPA system when he selected his freshman classes and opted for an easier unweighted English class. Now that he fully understands his school’s GPA system he regrets that decision.
Regarding CA universities, I think it’s too bad that we don’t have a state flagship that has easier admission standards…the kind of flagship that has “rah rah” energy (think big time football, tailgating, huge school spirit, etc). I think we lose a lot of good students who are looking for that kind of college experience to schools like University of Oregon, Arizona State and University of Colorado (among others).
I think SDSU has that feel for kids looking for it.
With regards to pressure, etc. Yes I expect my kids to do their best. However if it is midnight and they’ve been up since 6 am, I send them to bed.
My kids have classmates who don’t get dinner if they get a B.
I don’t think As are unrealistic, depending on the child. Honestly, my colleg graduates or current college student (have) maintained high GPAs. Our chemE graduated cum laude and our current math and physics major has a 4.0.
I do, however, think that restricting course selection options in high school due to lower GPAs could very well not allow kids to explore subjects that they might love and would be good career matches. Strictly focusing on pre-APs/APs is a narrow spectrum of fields of study.
Every single one of my kids has found their passion during high school. I am glad they have had the opportunity to explore deep and wide and found themselves under their own direction/steam and not been restricted by a school-created construct.
@VickiSoCal perhaps it’s because I’m in Northern CA, but I don’t get the impression of SDSU being a big draw for kids looking for that (maybe just around here?). The Cal States don’t even have a Pac 12 team, which is too bad. I think that Fresno State could even be the type of school that could morph into that “big time football” kind of school, though. But I know that won’t happen, especially when our CA public universities are so strapped for money.
@3scoutsmom, I too think many kids strive to achieve their parents’ expectations, and it should be parents’ job to st the right expectations. IMHO - and again, just my opinion, the best the parents can do is to set expectations on effort rather than grades - that is, something that kids can actually control. Of course, kids need to be aware that grades influence their college admission chances, but what I’d like my daughter to focus on is the benefit of taking a more intensive class rather than the benefit of a higher GPA. For example, does your son regret more the missed opportunity to get a higher GPA or a missed opportunity to better his English skills in a more challenging class? Or did he choose an easier English class because he was concerned he won’t get an A in it? Please understand, I am not judging you or your son in any way - I don’t know your circumstances, overall course-load, general interests, etc. - for example, for an intended engineering major taking chemistry, physics, and AP CS freshman year it makes total sense to take an easier English class. I am just saying that a kid who is focused solely on making a grade, it is alluring to take less risk with an easier class if s/he is concerned s/he won’t make an A in a tougher class and thus not live up to parents’ expectations.
VickiSoCal, my D20 is currently sure she wants to go to UCLA because of its excellent Econ department. While not exactly conservative, she hates drugs and drug users, and in her limited experience visiting UCB, she found it to be too weed-infested for her taste. While that may be a wrong opinion of UCB, I think it’s too early for her to be zeroing in on college search. My only “contribution” was to set the right expectations of Stanford as a lottery school so that she doesn’t set all her hopes and dreams on it only to be crushed if rejected. She knows that she needs to give it her best to “buy the lottery ticket” and if she works hard, I am sure she’ll succeed in whichever place she ends up in.
My D20 doesn’t even think about colleges. She is sick of listening to D17’s college search/applications.
@VickiSoCal that is so sad about the kids not getting dinner if they get a B:(
Kids who come out of our IB program report back that it is easier to get a 4.0 in college than in high school. Of course, they are usually only taking 4 classes and not doing as many EC’s in college.
At this point I view Berkely and UCLA as as much a lottery as Stanford.
@VickiSoCal I agree about UCLA/UCB
@VickiSoCal and @khmama, thanks for your input on UCB/UCLA, I wasn’t aware of that. I don’t want to turn this into a “chance me” thread, but was wondering if you think UCLA/UCB are taking a more hollistic approach to admissions these days, just like the “elites”. Frankly, it has me a bit worried. I’m pretty confident that my daughter will be fine academically, but she is not an athlete and won’t be doing any school sports. She’s not a musical prodigy and probably won’t take her guitar and piano playing to a level beyond personal enjoyment. She’s very artistic, but again, probably not exceptional, just a good well-rounded kid. I hope she discovers a real passion in the next four years, but nobody has a crystal ball, right? I wonder if I should re-orientt her to a better “match” school even now (so she won’t be crushed if rejected), or is it too early?
@Mom2aphysicsgeek yes, yes, yes! It is nice to hear from someone else whose child loves language, as we have been struggling with the school to figure out how to add a second foreign language to oldest’s schedule in addition to the one oldest is already fluent in. Oldest is not being allowed to test out of the French language sequence, so is in a class at least 2 years behind where oldest is academically. We keep up with the French at home, but oldest wants to start German and we are trying to figure out how to add that to the schedule.
So, we continue to figure out how to maximize our weekends and summers to help oldest continue studying the subjects most loved. Which necessitates letting go of the GPA monster that would have 6 weeks of the summer consumed by obligatory school course work that makes even less sense than the regular schedule.
Compounding all this, for us, is that oldest is trying to figure out whether or not Conservatory is the path or whether a College/University is the path. Adding in the colleges with a conservatory just gives us more questions. GPA comes into the question only as a reminder that certain choices (not weighted v. unweighted but more effort v. less effort) will reduce the number of options available at a later date. GPA not really an issue if conservatory is the choice (a whole new can of worms opens with that choice), but I don’t want oldest to close doors due to GPA. And yes, "A"s are the expectation. Will you always achieve to expectation, perhaps not. But there is no excuse (imo) in not setting the highest standard.
I guess my issue with GPA as calculated (at our school) is that it seems to create the moral hazard of taking the ‘hardest’ courses and then doing what it takes to get a 90. Because it is punitive to the person getting an 89, or a 79. Especially if you aren’t taking the weighted classes available.
Edited to Add: We are a full-pay family in every school’s eye, so chasing merit aid will be very important in giving oldest the most choice in finding a school. GPA is often a gatekeeper to merit aid at colleges. Therefor, while we try to keep GPA in proper perspective - it does have a real impact on future choices and options.
@typiCAmom In DS18’s freshman year he took:
ALG 2 PREAP,
ART 1: CERAMICS,
BIO 1 PREAP,
CHINESE I,
COMPSC1 AP ,
COMSCI PRINCIPLES (this was before it was officially an AP class but was give DE credit from UT Austin)
Regular ENG 1.
Since he was coming from homeschooling and had never attended a traditional school he really didn’t know what the differences between PREAP and regular English was, he didn’t understand the GPA system and he was counseled by his sister to take regular English for his first year in school. Had he understood the GPA system he would have taken the more challenging PREAP English class. Now that he understands the GPA system and that grades ‘are a thing’ his GPA is something that is important to him.
His sister told him to take regular English because that’s what she was told to take because the GC told her that PREAP English was “too hard” for someone transitioning from homeschool. I offer my opinions but I don’t pick my kid’s classes and he opted to listen to his sister and regrets it, he would have been better off in a more challenging PREAP English class with a weighted GPA.
DS18 has made sure DS20 understands the GPA system so DS20 is taking:
ALGEBRA 2 PREAP
AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
ART AND MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS 1
CHEMISTRY 1 PREAP
CHINESE 1
ENGLISH 1 PREAP
Our school requires kids to take at least 4 unweighted classes, 3 before senior year. DS20 plans to take Chinese 1 and 2 and Art and Media and then something fun senior year, the new History of Rock and Roll class maybe?
@typiCAmom I’m not very versed in acceptance data yet, but I have several friends whose kids applied for admission to the UCs last year. Kids that I thought would be shoo-ins didn’t get into UCLA or UCB, and a some of those students didn’t even get into SLO. I think that choice of major has something to do with chances of acceptance. Most of the kids who were rejected despite their outstanding grades were trying for computer science and engineering majors. I have heard from some people that UCB is starting be more holistic with its admissions, but I really don’t know for sure.
@typiCAmom last I saw UCLA was around a 5 percent admit rates. To me that’s not a slam dunk for anyone.
@3scoutsmom at our school only 2 of those classes would be weighted
AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
We don’t have pre-AP classes. Just honors, ib and ap.
What is pre-ap?
@beebee3 we are full pay and will be chasing merit as well. DD16 is at OU on National Merit scholarship. DS18 is looking at UT-D or UT Austin since UT Austin doesn’t give merit aid he would need to live at home. DD20 hasn’t expressed an interest in any college yet but I kind of hope he’ll end up the same school as his brother just to make my life easier;-)
I’m so glad we don’t have the added complication of conservatory vs university to add to the mix! I wish you luck on that one.
@khmama, yes, I too believe it’s tougher to get into engineering majors and especially CS these days, especially at UCB. @VickiSoCal, I agree, it’s not a slam dunk anymore. I guess I was just under an impression that a lot more kids with average grades and scores apply to UC than to HYPS and therefore it’s easier for a kids with strong academics and average EC’s to get in vs. HYPS. Btw, our school doesn’t allow freshmen to take any weighted classes at all. Not sure if it’s a good thing or not 