What do I do??

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>Not sure if this is the right section but... I have a problem. It's very long but please read.
Okay, so I'm a sophomore, and I just called for my first two, and only to date, AP scores. I got a 5 in World History and a 5 in Psychology. Seems like I have nothing at all to worry about, right? Wrong!</p>

<p>There are two classes of AP world history at my school, both taught by different teachers.</p>

<p>One teacher:
Curves all tests
Gives truly massive amounts of extra credit (enough to raise grades 10 percent or more)
Grading scale:
89.449+% : A+
79.449-89.448% : A
74.449-79.448% : A-
69.449-74.448% : B+
64.449-69.448% : B
59.449-64.448% : B-
Has never given below a B minus
Gives 5% credit for homework based on completion - late hw is accepted
Will "bump" a borderline grade up if asked
Grades very easily
If a 5 is received on AP test, will also bump your grade up if you email him</p>

<p>Other teacher:
Curves no tests
No extra credit
Grading scale:
A+ not given
A: 98.5% - 100%
A-: 95% - 98.5%
B+: 90-95%
B: 86-90%
B-: 82-86%
C+: 78-82%
C: 75-78%
C-: 71-75%
D+: 68-71%
D: 65-68%
D-: 60-65%
F+: 58-60%
F: 50-60%
F-: 0-50%
No bumping grades (even if you get a 94.99999999%, you still get a B+)
No credit for homework, but if it is missed 10% deducted from next test grade (and she counts it as missed if it is not good enough or late)
AP score doesn't matter
Grades harshly (Students in my class wrote a sample essay, which we asked each teacher to grade individually. The first teacher gave it 96%, the second gave it 64%.)
Even if you find an error in your grade, usually won't correct it unless it's gigantic
Gives the same multiple choice final as the other teacher, but doesn't curve it unlike him and does not give time extensions unlike him (he gives half an hour beyond the hour we get)</p>

<p>As you might guess, I have the second teacher. This all sounds grossly exaggerated, right? Well, I assure you, it's 100% true.
Obviously, I've talked to the principal about this. However, since average grades in my class are B and average grades in the other one is A, he refuses to look into it because it's not a "big enough difference." He says as long as the AVERAGE difference isn't humongous, the teachers are entitled to their own grading policies. The reason my class's average is B and not lower is because the people in advanced math are in my class since their math class is at the same time as the other AP world class. Now, math obviously has nothing to do with history but these kids are all very smart (they had to score 220 or higher on the PSAT freshman year to get into advanced math (pre calculus honors)). I am not in advanced math but unluckily got into this class. I'm also a good student - mostly A/A-, one A+ one B and one A... except for this history class. My grades in history were:
D- first semester and F+ second semester.</p>

<p>These grades are so bad, it's unbelievable. My teacher says she grades harshly to motivate her students to work harder, but I don't buy it. I mean, look at this! I got a 5 on the AP test and a F in the stupid class! Only a few kids got an A- in her class (nobody got A) several have B+, some have B's, three have C's, two D's and two F's first semester. Second semester was pretty much the same. The worst part is, colleges won't ever know we have different teachers and even though I got a 5 on the AP, they won't assume grade inflation since many of the kids had A's in the OTHER class and got 4's and 5's on the AP test, so they'll probably just think I slacked off. What should I do... I can't get into a good college with an F+ can I?
(And yes, our school does have F+)</p>

2

<p>Panicccccc</p>

3

<p>I feel bad for you. I also had this problem (interestingly, in the same class as well). One teacher had grade deflation (although not as major as yours had) and one teacher had grade inflation. My friend, a very smart, hardworking student, got both B+ in one class and 5 on the AP, while another friend, decently smart but not all that diligent, got both A+ in the other class but only 3 on the AP test.</p>

4

<p>ouch thats a toughie. i don’t know if i should read it or not.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Sorry I meant to say A/A-, one A+ one B and one B+. Both B’s were freshman year.
Bump but please give all your advice in this thread. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/954785-i-got-f.html#post1065174527[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/954785-i-got-f.html#post1065174527&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Talk to your councilor to see if they can remove that grade from your transcript or if he/she can bump it up because you got a 5 on the AP test. Otherwise, have a comprehensive letter written by your councilor to submit explaining the situation to colleges</p>

7

<p>@Rohitht, thanks for trying, but read here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/954785-i-got-f.html#post1065174527[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/954785-i-got-f.html#post1065174527&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>My counselor won’t do <em>anything</em> because of the reasons stated. Am I screwed?</p>

8

<p>Well, what got you down? Did you not do a project? Did you get a 30% on a test? Are tests worth 75% of your grade?</p>

<p>However, I don’t see how what would be a D is a B in the other class… don’t all teachers have to turn in percentage grades at the end of terms and not letter grades?</p>

9

<p>^^Does your school have that grade forgiveness policy, where you can retake a class and have that grade replace the bad one? If so, I would look for an online AP World History class immediately. Otherwise, try getting your parents involved; that seems to be your best option at this point. </p>

<p>By the time senior year rolls around, apply to a lot of places and try to explain the grades on your transcript (perhaps your guidance counselor could do this?). </p>

<p>Worst case scenario: Your best option is community college/state school. You go somewhere locally for a year, do amazingly well in all of your classes and extracurriculars and then transfer. Or take a gap year, build up your resume, and reapply.</p>

<p>Try not to freak out. It won’t do you any good at this point.</p>

10

<p>

Nope, they turn in letter grades. Pretty much everything got me down…
I wasn’t aiming that high for college, but seems like I’ll have to aim lower…</p>

11

<p>Well, your teacher can’t just decide to give you an F. You had to of done something wrong to get the mark down. Just not making up a missed test would drag it down a lot.</p>

12

<p>Yeah, I’m not sure how you got a F and a 5. That’s crazy, even taking into account a super hard grading policy. I would argue, argue, argue. This is assuming you didn’t miss a huge project or test or something.</p>

13

<p>What you SHOULDN’T do is just wait it out (it’s July already; school’s out). What you SHOULD do is panic like crazy until you have a massive heart attack and end in the hospital, hanging onto your life with one inch of thread. Then, let everybody in your city know that you almost died because of your bad mark. Then, the teacher will feel sorry for you and bump up your grade. Remember that drastic measures are needed sometimes! But in all seriousness, you should have appealed the grade earlier when school was going on. Now, your options are either to erase it from your transcript or retake it. However, retaking it will look bad as most colleges ask if you have retaken a course.</p>

14

<p>@previous people: I didn’t forget to make up any assignments. The only thing I didn’t turn in on time all year was a homework assignment second semester, which lowered my next test grade ten percent. That was because a lot of things were going on that day, not going to go into all that or make excuses. That’s probably why I couldn’t maintain my D minus second semester.</p>

<p>

I appealed it many times to no avail. I don’t think I can retake it and how is it possible to erase it from my transcript? This I would like to know. Better to not get 10th grade history credit than to show all the colleges you failed it. I did appeal having to take the summer course since I got a 5, and successfully won that appeal (how did I forget to mention this?) to get my credit for it, but my grade will stay the same and will not be changed. You can’t graduate with an F unless you retake the course in the summer, but even if you do retake it and earn the credit for it, your grade stays the same. In my case, I don’t have to retake it in the summer since I passed the AP test, but for all purposes it’s the same circumstances as if I did retake it in the summer; my grade won’t change from an F+, though I received credit and I can graduate.</p>

15

<p>I just realized, another typo
F is meant to be 50-58 not 50-60
sorry for the bump</p>

16

<p>I HATE HATE to recommend this but if your counselor refuses to help (which is the best option), you have two other options, the latter being rather extreme but almost certain to work if conditions apply. </p>

<ol>
<li>Get your parents involved like crazy. Parents still have lots of power in HS and having them cause a scene/talk to the teacher and counselor may do something.</li>
</ol>

<p>If that doesn’t work, you may be able to apply “the nuclear option” </p>

<p>Basically, if your a TOP student and I mean TOP/have something serious to loose like a scholarship you could make a fuss to the local newspaper. If you live in a small town, and can prove that this teacher has something against her students/makes atrocious grading decisions, the paper may pick it up. If this happens, the school won’t want to get bad press cause these stories spread quickly and most likely something will happen. However, be warned…if you do this, nearly all other teachers will probably hate you…Be prepared to transfer if possible. However, an F could nearly ruin almost all top college chances unless you have a hook unfortunately. </p>

<p>Good luck!! Teachers have WAY too much power and this is a perfect example.</p>

17

<p>I’m not a top student, just a decent one. My GPA this year was 4.0 UW [besides this] and including this was 3.625 first semester, 3.5 second semester, and last year was 3.875 UW both semesters. I am a JV basketball player (tipped to make varsity next year)… though I doubt I’ll get anything like scholarship unless I improve meteorically. However, what with what people have told me in the other thread I don’t think anything that drastic will need to take place.</p>

<p>I’ll keep my [nuclear] options open, though!</p>

18

<p>There’s a spot on the common app for grade explanations, and you can ask your counselor to mention this in your recommendation. Not that you shouldn’t try for a grade change, but you can make it known that you got screwed. </p>

<p>Although I will say, it is not uncommon to have two F’s in a class at my school. So maybe the other students just did better than you? I’m glad that you got a 5, but someone has to be at the bottom. And I’m not saying this was the case, but just a thought.</p>

19

<p>I guess you didn’t see this (I don’t blame you, the threads have five pages between them), but my counselor isn’t going to do any such thing, I’ve already talked to him. And yes, the other kids did better than me, but they were the “smart group” because of a scheduling conflict their math class has with the other AP WH class… the other kids not in advanced math, but in my AP WH class, got a B+/B+ (he’s really good at history though, and plans on majoring in that field) C-/C-, D-/D+, F/C+, and F-/F (this is the only kid who got a 4 on the AP test in our whole class, most years all the students in this teacher’s class get 5’s.) . The kids in advanced math (required to score a 225+ on the PSAT freshman year in order to get into advanced math, and have a 4.0 GPA coming into HS) are all really smart and hardworking and they skew our class averages higher. It’s the reason my class is so competitive. Added to this, only 1/4 or 1/5 of the applicants for APWH from my school actually got into one of the two classes (selection was based on prior grades). And I got put into the class with all the smart kids, by random chance. I think most schools just let you take the class even if you’re a ‘C’ student. So yes, I did poorly compared to nearly everyone in my class, but keep in mind that we’re all pretty bright kids. The vast majority of people taking APWH at other schools, I feel, would not pass her class either (get D’s or F’s), even though the majority of people who took APWH in actuality probably got B’s on average. If it was the other teacher, we’d all get A’s and only a few B’s. It’s just the concentration of the brightest kids in my school all being in my class that screwed me over.</p>

<p>Anyway, this is all moot for the moment as I’m working towards a solution. I don’t agree with a “forced curve” grading policy and neither does my school in principle, but my teacher’s grade scheme is essentially that.</p>

20

<p>Unfortunately, the extra info section on the common app. is almost useless without supporting evidence because you could write basically anything. If you do decide to use that route, I would try to at least get some supporting evidence like a counselor letter or maybe even have a teacher mention the harsh grading in his/her letter of rec if they feel comfortable doing that?</p>