<p>D is a high school sophmore and recently, when asking for a copy of her transcript before sending out official copies to summer programs she came across a big change from this time last year. Half of her middle school classes that she had taken at the high school in 7th and 8th grade had been added to her high school transcript. Last year the only class that showed up before was the state history class which many of the 7th graders take and they put it on as P (pass) credit so it doesn't affect the cum gpa (they rank by unweighted gpa) and they don't have to take it in high school, but it was marked as grade 9. </p>
<p>The school says now that they have to put all classes taken at the high school on the transcript but they will not add distance classes completed at high school level taken before the end of 8th grade. She has quite a few. She never planned on using the credits and she does not plan on graduating early. She often thought her classes in school were "lame" or "boring" or she just wanted to learn something the curriculum did not cover....like Latin. </p>
<p>They did finally get ALL of the high school classes she took in middle school on her transcript and it was difficult but she got them designated as taken in 7th and 8th grade. At least now it doesn't look like she took three years of math in the 9th grade! The problem is now the principal and counselor are worried about her having so many middle school pass/fail grades on her transcript and they want to meet with us along with the career/college counselor because they think she will have a difficult time if she applies to selective colleges. </p>
<p>This school's good students usually end up at the reputable state U. Very few ever end up out of state or even apply to selective schools. Those that do rarely get in...it doesn't help that the top students are encouraged to take easier classes to pad the gpa for ranking purposes since there is no weighting. D contacted a couple of college reps that she has met and they didn't see a problem. Her uncle interviews for an ivy and he thinks it's crazy. Has anybody else dealt with this and if so, was it a problem in admissions? I know there are many parents here with bright kids that must have taken courses early.</p>
<p>By the way, in all of the academic areas that she took classes in during middle school, she has more advanced work that she took while actually enrolled in high school that does have a letter grade on her transcript. Thanks!</p>
<p>The high school level courses my son took in middle school are all on his high school transcript (with the year the class was taken) - with grades and they figured into his GPA as well. They warn you in middle school that they don't think kids should take these classes if they don't expect to get at least a "B". While I prefer weighted GPAs, I think you'll do all right in the college admissions game as long as the school makes it clear that they don't weight them.</p>
<p>"The problem is now the principal and counselor are worried about her having so many middle school pass/fail grades on her transcript and they want to meet with us along with the career/college counselor because they think she will have a difficult time if she applies to selective colleges. "</p>
<p>Sigh. This is the sort of thing that the GC explains. I think it would be a positive; shows that she has always challenged herself. CG needs to carefully explain the grading policy. If the principal is concerned, he (or she) can add a note about your daughter. </p>
<p>Remember that at the most selective schools, the strength of the transcript (and how you did in them) is very important. Unweighted GPA (such as your hs uses) is not the best meter of this. If you daughter is using her resources to the fullist - she will be in good shape come application time.</p>
<p>Our high school did not put classes taken during middle school on the transcript and grades for college classes all got turned into Pass/Fail. Our school did not weigh either, and I was told it did not because colleges recalculate GPA (for example, not including PE or carpentry).</p>
<p>Agree with Ohiomom that the Pass/Fail grades apply to high school classes taken in middle school, and that they show your student challenged herself. The GC needs to explain that.
Selective colleges do scrutinize transcripts more carefully than large public unis, so their adcoms will take note of your D's challenging curriculum and consider her grades accordingly.</p>
<p>The policy of putting pass-fail grades on the transcript for high-school-level courses taken in middle school is probably there to protect the kids. It keeps them from harming their high school records while they are still in middle school. Would you really want it any other way?</p>
<p>Our school system puts letter grades on high-school-level courses taken in middle school, the grades appear on the high school transcript, and they count toward the high school GPA. This puts kids under a lot of pressure to do well at an age when such pressure may not be appropriate. We have kids here who take high school level courses, usually in math or foreign language, as early as 6th grade. This means that a child can get a C or D that counts on his high school transcript at the age of 11, which is absurd.</p>
<p>I think your school's way is better.</p>
<p>It might be a good idea, though, for your daughter to request a transcript and the explanatory paperwork that goes with it. This way, she (and you) can see what the colleges see. As long as the courses are clearly indicated as being from middle school, and the policy about pass/fail grades being recorded for such courses is clearly explained, I don't think there is a problem.</p>
<p>Since my older son did very well (A+s) in his high school classes taken in middle school, I certainly did want them on his high school transcript. I don't think my younger son who got B's or B+'s in the same courses is likely to get hurt - his high school grades have been similar. I do think a child who gets a C or D should have the option of having the grade erased by taking the class again.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! She had good grades in her classes that she took in middle school, but now that they are on her high school transcript they are all designated as passing grades for credit only. We don't have a problem with it, but the high school seems to think it could be a problem. She also started HS math back in grade school but here it is rare for a student to go up to the high school for even one class in the 8th grade...hence the big deal, I suppose. We didn't think it should be an issue but thanks for suggesting to remind the counselor to mention it at application time. D has already made sure the right grade level is on each class in question. She thinks she might get a hold of a couple of the ad reps she is in conatct with and see what they think too. It was interesting to see how differently each school handles this stuff. I sure wouldn't want to be in admissions, trying to make sense of it all!</p>
<p>At competitive schools, adcoms are used to seeing kids who've taken h.s. level classes before they reach high school. If the pressure had been on for D that her grades on those math classes would have shown on her high school transcript, I think it would have been way too much pressure to put on a middle-schooler. Besides, I think ad-coms are going to be more interested in the grades she gets in Calculus, etc. than they are with her Algebra and Geometry (and whatever) grades in middle school. In D's case, being able to get an A (and a 5) in AP Calc AB/BC sophomore year was much more important than the B she got in Geometry in 7th grade.</p>
<p>You may want to discuss the implications of the GPA for scholarships. Adcoms are used to recalibrating GPAs, but scholarship committees are more likely to use the GPA that has been sent to them.</p>
<p>Yup, DS1 has grades on his transcript from when he was 10 yo (6th grade). It's factored into the GPA. Has not affected his college admissions -- as Astrophysicsmom said, it's the 5 on BC Calc soph year that will get selective colleges' attention! </p>
<p>Ask the GC (in writing) to specifically deal with the pass/fail middle school grades, specifically in the context of your D challenging herself from the get-go. No need for your D to spend precious essay space talking about things that are out of her hands.</p>
<p>The 'in writing' part is important - you want to make sure that the overworked counselor has all the details easily accessable. </p>
<p>It sounds to me like the principal and guidance departments really want your D to do well ... but they are worried because they have seen rejections in the past. My guess is that they also have also been beaten up a little in the past over real or imagined errors. </p>
<p>I think that it might be helpful for you to meet with guidence and the principal, stress that you respect their professionaliam, share your information, and move forward as a team. Make sure that they understand that you know that competitive admissions are hard to predict - I think some parents get quite nasty when their kids are rejected.</p>
<p>Anyway, we did a sort of team approach in my son's semi-rural hs. When his acceptance came in from his first choice school (that no one at his hs had EVER applied to), I sent his GC a floral arrangement ... she later told me she was happy as it let the other GC's know she had bragging rights for the year.</p>
<p>Interesting discussion.
How about HS level courses that are offered at middle school?
My child will have Pre-Calc. under his belt by the time he graduates from 8th grade, but all the courses he took were offered at his middle school and taught by his middle school teacher. How are they going to deal with that?
Thank you Critter for bringing this subject up!</p>
<p>My school system counts high school credit courses in the GPA, whether they were taken in high school or middle school. Funny thing -- Jay Mathews didn't seem to understand this, and when I wrote a note to him, he insisted that colleges refigure the GPA to include only those taken in high school. Perhaps some colleges do this (do they?), but I doubt it is the norm. </p>
<p>As an alternative to the Pass/Fail policy noted above (which I like!), my school system allows parents to expunge the high school credit course grades taken in middle school. BUT it must be done within a few weeks of receiving that grade in June. So it's a now-or-never sort of thing. Some parents expunge anything less than a C, and some anything less than an A.</p>
<p>"My child will have Pre-Calc. under his belt by the time he graduates from 8th grade, but all the courses he took were offered at his middle school and taught by his middle school teacher. How are they going to deal with that?"</p>
<p>Lord knows - you will have to ask at the hs! My son's hs level courses taken at middle school appeared on his hs transcript, and were included in GPA and class rank (no expunging allowed). Mileage will undoubtedly vary with the school district!</p>