<p>Wow, D had a bad first quarter at school. She is taking 4 AP classes: Euro History, English, Calculus and Physics. She got a C+ in Physics and a D in Calculus. Her GPA has dropped tremendously. She is feeling overwhelmed and has scheduled an appointment to talk to a therapist about it. </p>
<p>She does go for extra help in Physics and Calculus, and she is bringing her grades up (Physics is up from a C- at the midterm, her most recently Calculus test grades are low Bs), but the timing almost couldn't be worse. </p>
<p>The teachers in both those classes did leave comments that commended D for her work ethic and that her grades were improving. But this is almost disastrous from a financial perspective, since we were hoping she would get some merit aid, and now she probably won't. </p>
<p>I'm keeping my feeling about this to myself, since she's feeling pretty fragile right now, and trying to support her as she works to improve, but I feel a little sick inside when I think about it. </p>
<p>I really hope this doesn't kill her chances at some of the schools she's been looking at. Do you think that going for interviews and explaining the situation will help at all? She's a great kid and a great student, I think the stress of college applications and the emotional impact of senior year has just made itself known. It's tough to see a kid work so hard and do so poorly, particularly in subjects that she is interested in and enjoys.</p>
<p>My son didn't send in his grades until after the 2nd quarter. He also did not apply anywhere ED/EA. So maybe she has time to improve them.</p>
<p>I would be more worried about her feeling overwhelmed though. It's great she is seeing a therapist and hopefully they can get a handle on what is causing those feelings. Better this year when she is home and in a stable loving environment than next year away at college with additional stresses of freshman year.</p>
<p>She's not applying ED/EA anywhere, but she's already submitted her applications to the Guidance office. She doesn't want to drop the classes because she likes them, even though she's struggling. I am thinking about calling the guidance counselor to see what she recommends. D sees dropping classes as giving up, and she doesn't like the idea of giving up. And I think she's a little worried about how that will look to a college, although I don't really know if it would be good or bad. </p>
<p>Her top choice overall is National University of Ireland in Galway. Next is Trinity College in Dublin, and then Smith, Sarah Lawrence, WPI, RIT, University of Hawaii (she's intending to major in Botany, and Hawaii and Galway both have Botany programs). </p>
<p>RE: the therapist. My husband has depression, and D is showing some symptoms of depression as well (although the needing lots of sleep symptom was missed by me, since that is such a typical teenage behavior.) I'm really glad that she asked for help, and her primary care physician, who we really trust, highly recommended the therapist D is going to see. I think she'll feel better just having someone (not a parent!) to talk to.</p>
<p>Re: the possible depression. You may want to have her consider a few local colleges in addition to her other choices in case she decides she isn't up to going so far away from home come next May.</p>
<p>sax, I've been gently encouraging her to consider some in-state colleges since last year. I think she will, but she does have a little time before she has to make any final decisions.</p>
<p>Irishmomof2,
you may want to talk to the guidance office.....and ask to see an example
transcript that is sent out.....I know I was pleasantly surprised to realize that only semester grades make a transcript, NOT quarter grades. The good news is that your D has a window of time here to improve her grades. This might help her to realize that the quarter grades are just an early warning signal...and not necessarily anything more than that. I would think immediate conferences with her teachers to identify specific concerns would also be worthwhile. </p>
<p>Certainly the objective here is to learn.....to challenge oneself....but, not to become overwhelmed. One of my favorite bits of advice when faced with infinite "work" is to chew off small bites...ie do 30 min of 1 subject....switch to a new effort for another 30 minutes etc etc. Maybe you can help her with her time management? Just so she knows she is not alone? It can be tough for a teenager to ask for help......especially girls with Calculus and Physics. The guidance office might know of a peer who might offer tutoring? Or an already graduated student who might be able to mentor your D via email and instant messaging? Someone who has done well in the past with the teachers your daughter currently has? There are many kids who would love to remotely tutor for a small stipend.....or some movie tickets over the Christmas holidays. </p>
<p>maineparent - I think I will give the Guidance office a call. She's had a heavy academic load before, but she also has a very part-time job and with the college application process on top of all that, I think she may have taken on too much. </p>
<p>She does get help from her ex-boyfriend, who is a sophomore at MIT, but he has his own studies as well, so I'm not sure he is always able to help her. I found a Physics tutor for her (a friend of mine is a Physics professor at Agnes Scott, she formerly taught at Emory), but those are necessarily online tutoring sessions, and I think she might need something a little more hands on to really grasp everything. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your suggestions. I am feeling a little better just getting it off my chest!</p>
<p>The UK schools have very specific entrance requirements--and usually 3 'A's in three academic subjects is enought o gain entrance into the most rigorous program--but you should get on the net and explore what the requirements are for her concentration.</p>
<p>I've been researching Kings and SOAS fairly heavily and did notice that the chances of getting accepted into Botany are fairly high as not many UK applicants want that concentration. </p>
<p>I assume you have residency and local fee status in Ireland....</p>
<p>A 'D' in Calculus will really hurt her in the US market. She should try to change that to an audited class if possible--my opinion only.</p>
<p>All in all, though, she has learned a valuable lesson. Her eyes are bigger than her stomach. That's an important lesson for a woman who is thinking about balancing career and family. Hopefully, she will learn to make adjustments rather than motoring on through the stress.</p>
<p>Irishmomof2,
I don't want to assume that everyone makes use of another resource...but your local big box book stores or online book stores sell some great HS AP reference books for the courses your daughter is taking. Certainly these books can be of tremendous assistance in helping to actually frame the full syllabus for these kids. It might make it easier for her to review the content she has stumbled on.....my recollection is they run about $20 each.... there are also some laminated quick reference sheets for sale too for each of the different classes...again, a first tier book store will have these usually.....
sorry if this is a very obvious suggestion.....but, don't want to overlook something that might be a great reference tool.</p>
<p>Cheers, got to respectfully disagree. This sounds like a very heavy course load with potential depression on top, and I don't know that there are life's lessons to learn from it.... she just needs to figure out some coping strategies now.</p>
<p>Irishmom, my kids HS would not allow 4 AP's senior year without approval of the guidance department. Kids who typically take the AP Physics/BC Calc route do EITHER English or Euro, not both. They are notoriously heavy workload, even for kids who are great at multi-tasking and who are strong writers as mine were. I don't know about the rigor of your daughter's school.... most of the kids at our school get 5's (the slackers get 4's) but they work their tails off right until May, even the early admits.</p>
<p>I think your daughter needs to figure out if she wants to go the tutoring/extra help route,or decide to drop down one of the AP's. Merit aid, admissions, all of this is secondary if her health is in jeapordy. I think kids are quick to internalize a parent's anxiety so if you've been worried about how you're going to pay for everything, she is too.... and so add that to her plate.</p>
<p>It's early enough in the year so she can salvage this, especially if there's an uptick lately..... but I think figuring out which course to unload is going to help restore some balance to her life, especially if her job is important. By January she may be writing essays for scholarship applications, just when you think her apps are completed... so one more thing to manage. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>You say your daughter enjoys math and physics, works hard at them, yet struggles. You don't mention whether she's successful in humanities courses. With a career interest in botany, her quantitative studies are going to be critical. Is it possible that your daughter's aptitude is elsewhere?</p>
<p>Assuming she's up against a time limit, how about dropping the part time job? Gaining even 8 or 16 additional hours a week may make a huge difference and right now the focus should be on school.</p>
<p>A lot of colleges make their admissions decisions based on the the grades in 10/11 rather than 12. The grades in 12 still count and usually must be kept at a particular level for admission to not be rescinded. At the UCs, this means not getting lower than a C at the semester grades. It looks like your D should be able to manage nothing lower than a C in her senior year although she'll have to work at it. </p>
<p>Maybe the forecast isn't so bad after all and a little tweaking with spending more study time (dropping the job perhaps), getting tutor help (possibly at the HS from other students or at a local college), and getting other reference material (AP books at the local bookstore) might be all she needs.</p>
<p>On the subject of depression, it may be hard to determine if her studies are suffering due to depression or if she's suffering depression due to her studies. If it's the latter, re-focusing and improving the grades and getting past the college apps and this stressful time may just end up solving the depression.
If she's suffering from depression,</p>
<p>blossom, if she gets a diagnosis of depression, then perhaps.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a woman with a tendancy toward depression must learn to balance work and family. Mental illness does not eliminate the need to learn lessons about your capacity--in fact, it increases that need. My observation only...</p>
<p>Irishmomof2, I have an idea of how your daughter feels. I got the first C of my life in AP BC Calculus for the 1st quarter. It is killing my GPA. However, like your daughter, I got a positive comment from my teacher. He even wrote a letter of recommendation for me. You shouldn't realy worry about the D. As long as your daughter has good stats, especialy a good Math SAT (like 600+), she'll be fine. I don't think colleges are going to deny her admittance for one bad quarter, especially since she is taking 4 APs.</p>
<p>All is well and good about the life lessons, and enjoying the course, but unfortunately, yes, bad grades, even mediocre grades can kill merit award prospects. Many of the merit awards have a minimum gpå, but in reality the kids who get the money tend to be waaaay up there, unless they have some hook that a school really wants.</p>
<p>I am astonished that your daughter is attempting those classes while working part time. She must be exhausted. S1 took a very heavy load senior year, but we never let the kids work in HS. I think that even if she drops a class, she should stop working, and focus on doing well in her classes and applications. It may be a financial problem, I know, but if she can use her time better maybe there will be some merit money down the road. Good luck!</p>
<p>Before dropping, check into your school's policy. At our HS, a dropped class after 1st qtr ends results in a 50 being calculated into the GPA. My DD had mono fall of senior yr and she got around that by switching down a level (to honors) which is looked at differently than actually dropping a class for a study hall or something. In that case, her actual numeric grade was used to calculate her GPA for 1st qtr. Unfortunately she didn't receive the extra points normally given to AP level but it was better than getting a 50. The rest of the yr she had a lighter workload in that class so it definitely helped. Maybe your DD can go down a level also. My DD's GC mentioned the illness in her rec.</p>
<p>My DS, who is now a senior, has 6 APs and it's been tough. He has medical issues and missed 8 classes (A/B day block scheduling) this qtr alone in some of his subjects like Calc BC and Physics C. He barely got by with an 80 in AP Lit (which is his toughest class but he insisted on taking it even knowing he could get an A in the honors level - his school strongly encouraged him to do the AP level against our advice). With college apps piling up, the stress level is definitely climbing...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>DDs health and well being.</p></li>
<li><p>DDs health and well being.</p></li>
<li><p>Everything else.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What the cc forums provide is an outside look. We have very limited information about your DD but are objective.</p>
<p>You get an A for the therapist. Depression can
be serious and should be the first priority. She is still a child; reduce her
anxiety and consult with the therapist. Your concern about depression is real,
take care of her.</p>
<p>The worst outcome is a depressed daughter at a great college thousands of miles away. I know this is difficult, but try to take a step back and set the stage for her perception of your pride and approval regardless of where she attends college.</p>