<p>My B+ student has been working very, very hard and may even end up being an A- student for the year. I kind of miss my happy-go-lucky kid though.</p>
<p>My D is also working very hard this year and has brought her average up last semester and (hopefully) this semester. She hasn’t quite got an A- unweighted, but she is over a 4.0 weighted.</p>
<p>However, her SAT scores make her quite firmly B+.</p>
<p>
I think this is in reference to my post. I’m not sure I can remember them all, but the reaches were UChicago & Reed College (accepted at both), matches were Pitzer (rejected), Lewis & Clark College (WL), Whitman College (rejected), and and Colorado College (WL); safeties were Evergreen State College and the Uniiv. of WA (accepted at both). I think there was another WL college as well. His class rank was 185/405. He had no Cs on his transcript, but there was a D, but that was a misunderstanding about a due date for a final paper that was mitigated by a high AP test score. He is now at UChicago and loves it.</p>
<p>My B student D is working harder than she ever has. Unfortunately it’s looking like standardized tests aren’t her thing. I’m not a believer in the SAT’s anyway, but she likes big schools, and I know that due to pure volume the bigger schools have to use numbers to weed their applications down. Waiting on pins and needles for the ACT scores from earlier this month. She didn’t finish the math or science sections, but I hear a lot of kids didn’t finish them. A 26 would get her in the range for most of the schools she wants - I have my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Ironically, her older brother aced his SAT’s with no prep, and half of the schools he applied to went SAT-optional before his application process was complete!</p>
<p>Assorted thoughts:</p>
<p>My B+er works late into the night every night. Takes good, solid courses, and probably ranks right at the middle of her (awesome) HS class. </p>
<p>A math tutor brought her ACT up from 19 soph year to 24 this spring (he’s a local kid and we pay him $15/session once a week), even though she’s barely getting a C in the class.</p>
<p>Grade trend is slightly down. ACT was solid/good (27).</p>
<p>So, while she might not get into every school, I’m becoming very confident in her ability to get great grades in college due to her study habits and the fast pace of her school.</p>
<p>I’m starting to think that we’ll be picking colleges more on location/feel than on other factors, which is fine by me. Looking at Boston U, UMass, and UConn, perhaps Hampshire, Simmons, and still have to visit some others (Gettysburg, Allegheny, etc)</p>
<p>I’m getting encouraged at some of the relatively random acceptances I’ve heard here, which might change that.</p>
<p>My solid B student is now an A student at college. Yes, they can change.</p>
<p>My solid B+ high schooler is a solid B+ college student happy and thriving…he’s just a B+ kinda kid who does not have a competitive bone in his body. THat said, my current B+ high schooler is rising rapidly and settling down with a nice list for applications in the fall with his entirely different and less laid back personality. My third has always wanted to simply outperform the other two in everything and will be a joy to find colleges with…so life gets easier and easier for us parents!</p>
<p>I actually think that DD doesn’t need to change, but that the rigor of her HS is conditioning her very well to do better in college, especially once she gets to pick courses that interest her.
But, yeah, I agree with your point as well.</p>
<p>I thought I would bump this thread up. It really is very good.</p>
<p>S2 did a very average job in high school - barely a B average. It took him five years to graduate from a very average college. </p>
<p>Flash forward to today, and somehow he has now been admitted to two top ten schools for graduate study. Unbelievable. </p>
<p>Some kids just take a while longer for things to kick in. In the meantime, hang in there, parents!</p>
<p>Isn’t that the truth, the late kick in, particularly for the boys.</p>
<p>Boys are so far behind girls in high school that it is not even funny.</p>
<p>Boys are so far behind girls in high school that it is not even funny.</p>
<p>westerndad: I have a girl who is very far behind, so it’s not just boys…</p>
<p>For my S, its actually the opposite. He’s finally working hard this term and bringing up the GPA. But I’m trying not to be pushy - talking/nagging about the SAT and APs that he’s going to be taking soon. I might jinx him! :)</p>
<p>The absolute MADNESS of the 09 college application season has made me take a much saner approach to my DS, class of 2011. </p>
<p>DS is a drummer…2nd chair (as a sophomore) in the top band in a school known for its band programs. He’s good. DrummerKid is also quite gifted intellectually but is anything but a grade grubber. Consequently, he hovers at a B/B+/A- in his classes…higher in classes he loves like History and Biology. He is taking a hard curriculum, but it is because he loves the classes. He just doesn’t feel driven to get straight As like my DD, FluteGirl (who will attend a state U this fall because all her merit aid at all the LACs wasn’t enough). </p>
<p>DrummerKid will probably attend a good state U. We are fortunate to live in a state where we have many good state Us. He’s talking about pre-med, but I can’t see him thriving in the uber-competitive atmosphere of med school. He would hate it. I can see him studying jazz drumming and becoming a music teacher. And, that’s cool. I’m OK with that. </p>
<p>Straight As are NOT the ticket to the good life. You’ve got to follow your passions, do well enough, learn a good work ethic, not lose your curiousity, and, in the end…choose an affordable college…whatever that may mean for you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Care to elaborate?</p>
<p>Any way I fathom this comment, it just seems wrong.</p>
<p>Really? Look at a group of freshman girls and freshman boys. 2/3 of the girls could pass for teachers. 2/3 of the boys could pass for 7th graders. Physical development, social skills, organizational skills…</p>
<p>One of my favorite things about having a boy first and then a girl 2 years later is that they have (pretty much) martured simultaneously. I don’t know if Son is a late bloomer or Daugther is an early bloomer. Maybe it’s a little of both. In any case, I have to agree that boys’ intellectual and emotional milestones come later than girls. So in a way, I agree, they’re “behind” them.</p>
<p>My 18 year old son is definitely developmentally slow and his 16 year old sister is definitely ahead of the curve, so she’s way ahead of him on just about every skill (he learned to actually pedal a tricycle after she did.) What is normal?</p>