@typiCAmom our school doesn’t weight any freshman classes, either. At back to school night, D’s Honors Alg II teacher explained to us that the UCs decide which courses they will and will not weight (which in this case was Hon Alg II), so our school follows suit. Maybe it’s this way for most CA public schools?
@khmama, I am not exactly sure. We don’t have Honors Alg 2, all freshmen that took Geometry in MS take Alg 2/Trig, and then next year there is a regular Pre-Calculus and Honors Pre-Calculus, but I don’t think Honors Pre-Calculus is weighted, either, at least not by UCLA. I found a site somewhere that lets you search by school which classes are weighted and which are not. At this point I chalk it up to things I cannot control (I mean the somewhat limited choice of offerings at out HS) and don’t worry about it.
Each California public school can submit a certain number of classes as weighted UC classes. They have to meet certain criteria. Some CA schools will internally weight other classes, but I think many just go with UC to keep it simple.
It is so interesting to read about how different each state is in terms of how high schools are set up, the norms of grading and GPA calculation, and how a state university system can have a large impact on how students prepare for college.
We are not in a state with a super strong university system. We have a good state flagship, but it is not a bargain price wise and doesn’t really have what oldest is looking for in a school. So some of the issues of trying to get into a state system aren’t on our radar at all and we have nothing analogous to either California’s or Texas’ university system.
Thanks for everyone who so generously shares their own experience on this board, it gives so much information to others.
LOL
We are doing APHG without the actual course. My son is learning geography by creating a visual alternate universe. (We work with an independent study charter, so we do turn in work to show that we are actually doing something. We do it for the special education services.) Somehow, he managed to turn an AP class into PBL and now I have to bring a giant alternate universe to our next meeting. I am very grateful that he has the ability to learn in the way that actually works for him. I don’t think that he could learn this way in a typical classroom. Now to start thinking about colleges with PBL.
My S16 non homeschooled kid was one of those with an unweighted 4.0 and a weighted 4.5 who got into both UCB and UCLA, and then promptly tossed them both for Reed, where he is very very happy. It is a big weed school. He is not a partier and believes in live and let live. So no weed for him, but apparently enough partying Reedies to make it entertaining.
@typiCAmom Drugs and drinking are rampant everywhere so it doesn’t really matter where you go.Your daughter will have to deal with the fact that those around her party and drink and many spoke pot. This is a part of college. There is no way to find a college where it can be avoided, she will end up finding people like her and avoiding what she does not like.
@typiCAmom if lack of partying is a big ‘must have’ Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois might be a college to check out. Great school and one of the most clean living I think I have ever encountered.
@LKnomad and @beebee3, I can’t say my daughter is party-averse, but my husband may have done a too-good a job of averting her off drugs and hard alcohol. It didn’t help when our good acquaintance gave birth to a mentally disabled girl and my husband suggested that mother’s “toying” with weed could have something to do with it.
I know there was weed on campus even at my “elite” alma mater, but of course visitors don’t see it first-hand like they do at Berkeley.
What I admire about my daughter is that she knows what she wants and is not embarrassed to admit it to others - and to herself. She wants to go to a prestigious university because she believes it will help jump-start a good career; she is open in her desire to make a lot more money than her parents and lead a lot less frugal lifestyle. And as long as she is willing to work hard for it, I respect her goals, telling myself she is her own person and doesn’t have to share my philosophy on what’s important in life.
I must admit, she is a lot more level-headed than I am - she’d rather go to UC than private LAC to save money for grad school, so it would be very interesting to see the improbable scenario of her getting into Stanford - she’d be evaluating the extra $120K not as “her parents’ money” but rather “money that might be eventually hers” and thus truly think twice about spending them. With this in mind, I don’t rule out a possibility of her changing her mind and choosing UCB anyway because of the diploma value, but at the moment it’s off her radar. She is also sure at the moment that she wants to stay in CA - too used to good weather, not to mention bang for the buck at UC. Of course, in three years it will be a lot easier to assess her achievements and inclinations, so I may be worrying for nothing.
A bit off topic - wanted to share my joy that I just realized it’s almost been a month since school started and I realized I am enjoying being her mom so much, almost as much as three years ago. I still get some teenage “snarkiness” (is there such a word?), but no lashes out for no apparent reason. I think the new HS is treating her well and she is a lot happier and at peace 
@typiCAmom - that all sounds wonderful and makes complete sense. I’ve always lived places that half the year are cold and dark, so I can understand why someone who has grown up with great weather would know the power of staying where you can find it.
And yes, your daughter really would have a hard time beating the cost of UC schools instate, as well as how many amazing choices there are within the system. As I said before, we have a very good flagship, but nowhere near the depth of excellence, nor the attractive price of the UC system as a whole.
It sounds like your daughter has a great head on her shoulders and two pretty awesome parents as well. I, too, keep reminding myself that choices and options will be a lot clearer 2 1/2 years from now, though I am a big research nerd and take comfort from trying to understand all the ins and outs of any topic that becomes near and dear to me as a way to release nervous energy. I am hoping all this upfront thought will lead to a very zen senior year for oldest and our family. lol.
@typiCAmom my S16 insisted that he be within a 1.5 hours drive from home. We live in So Cal. He ended up in Oregon where he is very happy at his $65,000 school, which thanks to not having much money, is costing us about the same as UCB/UCLA (with UC financial aid).
S20 is not even thinking about college much, but did ask me if he had to decide what to study before he went to college. Since I am guiding him toward SLACs I let him know that in almost all situations you don’t have to even choose until the end of your 2nd year of college. In otherwords don’t even worry about it.
My mantra has and will always be, do the best your can, because the better you do, the more choices you will have later.
@LKnomad, thanks for sharing. Sorry for a silly question, what is SLAC? I know LAC is a liberal arts college, but not sure what the S stands for
I can tell you that they are, for sure. I am doing some colleg counceling for my local homeschooling community and so I have attended quite a few conference, including the local WACAC - Western Association for College Admission Counseling - in June. There I attended a session on progressive schools, but one if the presenters was the Admissions diector from UCB and I spoke with her personally after the session. I also followed up with her by email. Since holistic admissions are important for homeschoolers, UCB’s info was important.
This last cycle was the first with their more holistic application process. The first goal is to make sure that students will be successful so grades and test scores do matter, but personal characteristics also matter, a lot. Being a piano prodigy (as someone mentioned above) could show significant dedication, but so can personal projects. The example she gave several times was of a student who created their own cupcake business. A student who is interested in chemistry, and then takes it to the next level by experimenting with and creating cupcakes with that knowledge has something as valuable as getting top SATs. It shows intellectual vitality.
UCB lists 6 aspects of the holistic review on their website. Take a look at the admission page. I believe that my S16 was accepted based on his letter of recommendation, which they asked for. The teacher had many positive things to say about what he was doing with and for other students. He also had summer enrichment activities - not extra classes but things like learning game theory for fun, not credit, at a camp on a college campus.
This year is the first time they are using personal insight questions, instead of essays, this was pushed through by a few people including the UCB director. They really want to know about you, who you are, what you do, and what you can bring to UCB.
You can’t fake these things. You can raise perfect kids who make 4.0s, but personal qualities such as dedication, kindness, a true interest in learning are either there are they are not. That is what holistic admissions is about. Oh and UCB will overlook lack of A-G for an exceptional student (for any homeschoolers out there). I asked, twice.
@LKnomad, thanks for the UCB info!
Just venting to any other parents of scatter brained children. Big fat zero on a big assignment in Japanese. She thinks maybe she didn’t put her name on it.
Tomorrow is first big HUG test. D17 reminded her that HUG teacher has a numbering system (so he doesn’t know who you are when he grades) and that if you do not put your number on every page you get no credit. D20 said she didn’t know what D17 was talking about. Well D17 happens to have her senior social studies class with that teacher immediately following D20 HUG and told her there’s a huge note on the board explaining it.
This exchange caused some sibling tension as D20 doesn’t appreciated being mothered by D17, but I’m glad she pointed it out as I was unaware of this system and I’m quite sure D20 would have boffed it.
Ugh, you have my total sympathy on both the school and sibling fronts.
School work is picking up a bit for S20. He now spends about an hour on average daily for homework and such. He is also planning to sign up for a couple of clubs. Tennis drill at his club started already, but school team won’t start till Spring (he wants to tryout for the HS team). Jazz band will start rehearsal next month… Shaping up to be a very busy year!
My DD’20 is serious basketball player, while her skills might not be the greatest, but she worked really hard for last two years from a total beginner to now a varsity player and a club player. Her accomplishments and passion surprised us and opened our eyes. She was never a serious student, not in GATE, not recognized by any elementary school teachers, not too sociable but very sweet and kind. She has been compared by others with her sister (DD18) and her best friends (GATEs, 4.0 straight As typical best students) her entire childhood. Then she did well on the entrance test and made to a very top academic 7-12 high school. In her MS year, she was again not serious, doesn’t put out her best effort. We were planning to transfer her out to another HS that’s closer to home, but she wants to stay for basketball. So starting 9th grade, she’s like a complete different person. She started studying because she said she needs strong academic to help her getting D1 scholarship to play basketball in college. Her drive is to be paid to play basketball at the best university (cause we won’t play for OOS unless with merit). She listed UCB, HYPS, and Rice U (because she likes eating rice) as her top school choices. My DH and myself thought it’s so funny, that we don’t even need to talk about studying now (we have been on her case since pre-K to 8th grade), she does extremely well time management, practice until 4pm and finishes everything by 6pm so she has the entire evening play basketball or training daily. She will also be taking 4 years athletes PE classes unweighted. Her passion is so strong, despite her poor study habits, she is doing everything she can to maintain all As in this academic rigor environment, well so far. I just hope she doesn’t lose her passion and drive for the next 4 years. Another parent told me it’s middle child syndrome to prove to everyone that she is better than the older sibling. Not sure if that’s the case as they are so different, I never compared them. (DD’18 is artist, slow thinker, sit and walk, plays Golf, quiet and conservative, hardworking but very poor time management; DD’20 can’t draw, fast quick talker, plays basketball, lazy to walk but ok to run for basketball, study smart not hard…). DD’18 is aiming UCs and DD’20 doesn’t really care as long as she can get scholarships to play college basketball. I also have a DS’22 that is super layback but great personality, and told me not to worry about him at all, cause he will become an engineer like me no matter what. Oh, I forgot to share that I use their horoscopes or Chinese Zodiac signs to justify their behaviors. I would say to myself, it’s ok that my DD’18 wants to just stay at home or not making decisions because she is a Cancer; or DD’20 talks and responds so fast because she’s a Gemini, or DD’20 so focused on her basketball dream because she was a horse, etc. Just for some fun!
I have d20, gate, slacker, athlete, and d17, super organized, responsible, hard working but not GATE and not natural athlete.
In one kid they’d be too good to be true. In 2 kids they clash.
@VickiSoCal , my DD’18 is like your D’17, same academic performance as well. Studied hard and take rigorous AP Classes. A & B student with the toughest classes. Most likely going to UCs with 3.67 UW and 3.89W GPA now, hopefully after this year (4 AP, all weighted), she will be able to pull her GPA up to 3.93 UW an d 4.2 W. Remember UC only look at 10 & 11 grades A-G courses GPA. My D’20 is also a slacker and an athlete, but now with her athlete passion, she was somehow motivated to do well academically.
anyone here thinking of having their 2020 kid taking the ACT or SAT at the end of the year? We are very curious how our kid will do, and those results might guide us in choosing between DE/AP down the road. AND they will start guiding us on college ideas.
AND - has anyone had another kid take ACT/SAT as a frosh and gained any insight from that? or is it too early?
also: I cant figure out if practice ACT test are enough like the real thing. Thoughts?
D’17 took SAT in 8th grade for attending a summer program and S’20 took it in 7th grade as part of a school talent program. I think they got a good feel of the test by going through these exercise (they were old SAT though).