It may be that he doesn’t need a full ride, but I know many families who are financially well off who choose it if available. A lot of folks don’t want to incur college expenses if there are other options.
That ship has sailed. Unless he is an athletic prodigy, Duke (and others in that competitive tier) is out. That goal is unrealistic and its better to help him (and you) adjust to it now.
Med school can be obtained from many colleges, so that is still an option.
But more importantly, he seems to have rebounded. Good for him.
Why do you say that so absolutely @bluebayou? This was freshman year, mostly first semester. He could certainly still do great things and Duke could be in reach. If these were junior year grades, then absolutely correct. But bad grades first semester freshman year explained by a major life event does not close the door and he will have a slim chance, like the vast majority of applicants.
^^Sure, everyone has a slim chance, but time for a reality check for this family, IMO.
If you were an AdCom for Duke, you’d have to think really long and hard as to why you would admit someone ranked much lower than others in his/her class; heck, with those bad grades, the kid may not even make top decile. Admissions would have to be a compelling reason and IMO, relocation ain’t one of them.
btw: even those top privates that claim to ignore Frosh grades are really talking out of both sides of their mouths, since they typically include class rank as a consideration…
“his passion is to get into competitive college”
Danger, Will Robinson. He’s too young to run his life based on colleges which reject 90+ % of applicants, even perfect ones. You have a lot of learning to do about what matters to those colleges. Or you may seriously lead him astray. Look at Brown or Stanford, to see admissions stats, how many vals, 4.0, or perfect scorers are rejected.
Only a few top colleges and the UCs ignore freshman year. It is what it is. If he brings everything up, has the right ECs-- and can present well in the app and supps-- he improves his shot. BUT, you have to grasp, right now, what it is those colleges look for. Or you’re shooting in the dark. And these top colleges tend to value a high level of thinking- more than dreams or some false notion of “passion” or freaking our over an adjustment to a move. This is the long run, not some sprint.
As for BSMD, yes, even more competitive. They want kids whose records show they’re already deeply and appropriately involved with health delivery and/or advocacy. It’s more than a “dream.” It’s the substance. It’s more than hours, founding some sit-around club, raising money, winning some award/any award. Etc.
“We were baffled and have no idea how to explain it to any family members.” Not their business. Certainly not for a kid this young.
“Getting a full ride to decent college is not out of reach for him” You don’t know this. Too soon. What comes across is you are driving him to do better, thinking that repeating or some magical counselor will put him where he belongs. Give him time.
Duke TIP is no tip into a tippy top college. (See how you are so focused on who’s top dawg? Learn what holistic college reviewing means.)
There is nothing wrong with homeschooling. Nothing that makes it harder for adcoms to slog through. The info is presented, defended, and reviewed. The problem is more that, if the kid or family misunderstands the opportunities h/s brings, they can just blow the academic and personal growth experience, end up with a lot of nothing.
Nonetheless, I don’t recommend it or repeating-- because this OP doesn;t know what DOES matter. Not yet.
Do not tell anyone, kid or family, that freshman year ruins things. You don’t know.
If you were an AdCom for Duke, you’d have to think really long and hard as to why you would admit someone ranked much lower than others in his/her class; heck, with those bad grades, the kid may not even make top decile. Admissions would have to be a compelling reason and IMO, relocation ain’t one of them.
Not how they do it. They aren’t admitting based on GPA, not by a long stretch. They will look at the transcript, see the incremental positives. If they see the rebound, that’s 2.5 years of solid hs record. Far more important than a first sem 9th flub after a tough move/adjustment.
Now, I don’t usually say that. But my concern is usually kids who get further in hs, then their grades in courses related to their major crash. Or sink when the AP rigor is introduced. That’s entirely different, those are a problem.
I say, let’s not confuse OP. He/she has some work to do, to understand what gives her kid a shot at a TT. It is NOT moving to a less competitive hs, not repeating classes or loading on summer school.
It’s in the savvy.
I still want to know what is going to be ON this kid’s transcript. Where I live…and where I worked in schools…ONLY THE FINAL END OF COURSE GRADES (and yes, I’m yelling) appeared on the kid’s actual transcript for freshman year. Mid term January grades did NOT appear on the transcript at all. The only exception was courses that were only one semester in length… but most freshman high school courses are full year courses, not one semester ones.
So @dert29 what is ON your kid’s transcript? This could be much ado about nothing if the only grades that appear are the decent enough end of year grades your kid anticipates getting for his freshman year end of year grades.
I’ve seen plenty of transcripts with first and second semester (or all quarters,) sometimes with a final grade, sometimes not.
@lookingforward I don’t doubt that some schools report all grades…but many don’t.
Also, wouldn’t it be a good thing if Semester grades ARE shown, that this student really worked to pull up her grades?
This poster needs to know what HER school does. And it’s easy enough to check…just call them and ask.
I’d also encourage the OP to not watch their son closely for the rest of high school.
Your son will have to go to college without you. It’s best that he learns certain organizational skills on his own. Let him track his grades and whether he turned in homework. He knows what happens when he doesn’t.
When he goes off to college, you can’t keep track of his deadlines for classes material and tests. That’s up to him. Help him learn that skill by stepping back now.
Also when the time comes if the kid has great grades apart from first term freshman year there’s nothing stopping a guidance counselor from writing Kid X would have ranked __ in the class if we could have dropped the first semester grades where he had trouble transitioning to a new school, but since then has flourished.
I know I talked to the guidance counselor if she might put some language in my younger’s son’s letter about the fact that he’d dropped his 504 plan which could explain his lower grades in Latin. I don’t know if she did, but I do know he did much better than he or I expected in the acceptance department. He never got better than a B in Latin. And there were at least some quarters where he had B-'s. I think our transcript has semester grades.
I think it’s far too early to know whether this kid is on track for the most selective universities. I also agree that a kid who only gets good grades because their parents is doing the organizational work is likely to fail in college. It happened to my older son’s best friend. He went to Princeton - should have graduated years ago.
Sure could, but then any AdCom with critical thinking skills would immediately recognize that 10+% of all high schoolers transfer at least once. Thus, adjusting the class rank for Johnny, but not Soozie who also moved, is statistical bias.
It’s one thing to get a serious, life-threatening illness in HS, it’s another to relocate (which is not uncommon).
Also, the OP said the student was not turning in homework…which has little to nothing to do with moving to a new school.
Actually if the kid was upset by the move it probably has everything to do with the move. Relocating is not uncommon - I did it multiple times! Moving to an international school where everyone is used to moving is one thing. Moving to a private school that starts in 9th grade is one thing. But moving to a big public junior high school - even though it was a mix of kids from different elementary schools was miserable. Everyone already had friends and it was really difficult to break in. In any event, at every college night I ever attended at least one ad com said that they tended to excuse freshman year grades if there was a continuous improvement after that.
Did you follow-up with the query: ‘how do you reconcile that with the fact that Class Rank is considered Very Important according to your common data set’? (Hint: ALL adcoms spin – that is their job.)
BB, less than half thr hs are reporting rank to the top colleges. So, how do you think rank can always trump? with the trends as they are, his hs may not report it in 2.5 years.
And the CDS is NOT cast in concrete (nor does their use of terms like “important” and “very important” necessarily match yours. It all matters, regardless of whether one category is VI or I.)
Are you seriously declaring a kid is doomed based on freshman year? Maybe at some highly competitive rack and stack, but it’s not an absolute at a TT holistic.
Reality is, of course grades matter. But this kid is presumably on a turnaround.
And we generally advise not to feed college insanity in a kid who only just finished 9th. Miles to go.
At schools like Duke and their ilk (and BS/MD programs), no question in my mind, yes (without a hook).
I don’t know why you’re making this so hierarchical and fixed. It’s a fact that subpar grades, overall, can disqualify. Or problem grades in courses most related to the major. Or poor AP scores, and on and on. It’s the nature of holistic that any stumble can be a serious issue.
But I think you’re missing the sort of research I advocate. I say, go to the source (not your high school, some blog or the endless variations of opinion and anecdote.) I saved this post years ago, because it so closely reflects the philosophy of the top college where I know the admissions process very well:
Duke, as one example, is using a broad look, as well as in depth.
Dismiss what they say, at your own risk.
adcoms do spin I agree, but on freshman grades, they’re telling the truth. No college ignores freshman grades, they’re looked at to see the courses taken and any grades that could be a red flag. Even the UCs that only use 10th and 11th for their GPA will still see the 9th year grades to make sure you took the required classes (what they call the a-g ).
You can’t have it both ways. Either they are lying about caring about ranking or they are lying about not caring about freshman grades. It depends on the high school of course, but in our high school you could have less than stellar freshman grades and still end up in the top 10%. Here’s what the Yale rep said according to my notes, “We read transcripts not GPAs.”
I’m looking at my son’s transcript now: B+ in bio taken in 8th grade but on the transcript. 9th grade B- in Chemistry, B- in Latin, B in math, B+ in English, A in History, A+ in orchestra. His grades did go up, but they were never perfect. He had 5’s on 3 APs going into senior year and took four AP courses as a senior. He did interesting things, wrote engaging essays and I believe his teachers loved him. He got into Tufts, Vassar and U of Chicago. It’s just one anecdote, but there you go…