<p>Question: I am in eighth grade and I am an A/Bstudent. I was wondering if colleges look at the final, semester, or quarter grade.Colleges will not look at any of your middle school grades, unless you are currently taking classes for high school credit. (Typically, these include only algebra and foreign language.) However, admission officials [...]</p>
<p>Sally said, “In addition, the vast majority of high schools do not include these grades when they calculate your GPA or class rank, even if you do get high school credit for the classes.”</p>
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<p>That’s interesting, Sally, and it forced me to pull out some old paperwork that I received from the school district when my youngest daughter (7th grader) was one of a few in her class to take high school Honors Algebra. And next year as an 8th grader, she will be taking high school Honors Geometry. </p>
<p>Thanks for making me look because her paperwork says that these grades will impact her GPA and class rank. I automatically assumed they would but your comment forced me to look and I thank you for that. I would recommend all parents find out because it could be enlightening information. </p>
<p>Thanks, Sally!! :)</p>
<p>There was a “discussion” about this issue on the NACAC listserve a year (or two?) ago, and most of the high school folks who weighed in said that the middle school marks in credit subjects (like math and foreign language) appear on their transcripts but DON’T affect rank and GPA since they aren’t included in the high school average. Some schools, however, reported that they DO include those grades in the GPA and rank. And some schools reported that they “count” the 8th grade credit courses but not those from 7th. (Credit courses in grade 7, such as your daughter had, are far rarer than in grade 8.) Many colleges, too, said that they ignore 7th grade classes–and sometimes 8th grade classes-- entirely, except to acknowledge that the student did indeed cover the subject. In other words, they won’t expect a kid to take algebra in high school if he or she already took it in middle school, but they won’t pay attention to the middle school grade, unless, of course, it’s factored into the rank and GPA, in which case it’s unavoidable.</p>
<p>My own son is 8th grade right now and taking high school honors algebra. I mentioned in passing at the start of the semester that he needs to be aware that his grade will appear on his high school transcript, though --in all honesty–I never actually checked with the high school to know for sure. Our high school doesn’t rank, so it won’t be a factor there. </p>
<p>I must say that I have a hard time connecting the dots between 8th grade endeavors and college admissions, even though I fully realize that the link is there … at least to some small extent. And my “Ask the Dean” inbox is full of queries from middle schoolers asking about Ivy admissions or various other college-related questions. I can’t in a million years imagine my own son, who just turned 14, thinking about that stuff right now. Granted, it’s in the ether around here since I work at home. But, even if it weren’t, I just can’t imagine him looking that far down the road, and–for the moment–I’m glad about it (even though I’m also glad that he’s acing that math class at the moment ;))</p>
<p>Thanks Sally!</p>