<p>I'm a very nervous mother and have two questions. I'm sorry if this is long. My S goes to a school that only allows a weighting factor for 3 honors courses. He has been taking 4 or 5 honors every semester and therefore only gets credit for 3. He is currently ranked 61 out of 680 but many kids who only take three or less honors and don't get as good grades can still be ranked higher. Do colleges have any idea about this based on their knowledge of the high schools. Second question is that certain honors courses at his high school have a different grading range, i.e. 93 or higher for an A or 83 or higher for a B. He, very unfortunately, only received an 82 in Honors Physics. It shows up as a C on his transcript - not a percentage. Is this something he should explain on his applications? (he's looking at schools like BC or ND - current uw gpa of 3.73 and w gpa of 4.32).</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Explaining in this case is whining. He didn't make the cut for the grade line - nothing else to say. He just needs to get good grades, have extra curriculars and make an impression on his teachers.</p>
<p>4.32W? Congratulate your son. BC and ND will be impressed as long as he gets good SAT scores.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your replies. I agree with "whining" and is what I was concerned about. I just didn't know how much the colleges understand each school's set up.</p>
<p>Along these lines, if either of you (or anyone else) replies, is a "C" (or even two as we're not finished with this semester of Physics yet!) a huge problem if the overall gpa remains high? Basically he has received an "A" in all classes but science since Freshman year.</p>
<p>usually when the transcript is sent to the colleges it has the grading system attached so they'll see that an 82 is a C</p>
<p>As long as he isn't a physics major i doubt it'll be a huge deal</p>
<p>^^
Well they won't be able to say that he got definitely an 82. For all they know he may have gotten the lower end of a C grade. But as long as he's not a physics major, he's in good shape. Again, if he gets a good SAT score that correlates with his GPA (2000+) I think he'll have a good shot at BC (safety) and ND (match). Oh yeah, don't explain it on the transcripts. It makes him look at the best grade obsessed and at the worst incompetent.</p>
<p>Unfortunately he doesn't take standardized tests very well. He scored a 1900 - CR690, M610, W690. He just took the ACTs and we'll see how those go. I think his ECs are decent.</p>
<p>Thanks, again, for your responses. I was getting very nervous over the "C's" and although he in no way intends on majoring in any science related field, with the competition at schools as it seems to be I didn't know how this would factor in. You have helped put it more into perspective. Thank you.</p>