I hate the mentality that college admissions is creating

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

A C screws you for T30.

So shoot for T75. So much less stress. And honestly, the education is going to be just as good.

Will T75 take a student with a C?? I don’t think so… top 75 schools are still selective.

My DD is in at several T75’s with a C (APWorld). With excellent merit. So yes, they will.

Thank you. I think there are many people spreading myths, which only fuels the crazy hype.

[Anonymous]

Listen to all the snobs on here dumping on less academically selective schools. There are many to choose from on here and they are all fully of nasty comments about certain schools, tiers of schools. The kids hear these comments and it stresses them out and makes them aim for the brand name schools. The only way to aim for those is to take as many APs as possible and do well in them.

Get B's in them? The "rigor" is then all for naught. This is the position my DC is in (floating between B and A- . . . hard to tell as her teachers seem allergic to grading things in all college classes junior year). Likely will not be aiming for the same schools as was on the radar this time last year. Even though taking the hardest APs our school offers (Chem, Precalc, USH). Doesn't seem to matter.

It's particularly irritating when you see the GPAs of college students posted on the websites, which are at or below what many kids' GPAs are now (in all college classes) but they are required to have all As.

As it is my kid will likely take the above average (but not all A) grades and chase merit at schools that everyone trashes here. Certainly no top 20 schools. No top 50 schools. And will have no debt and lots of money left for grad school due to merit. In the end it will be fine but it is a tough pill to see these kids work so so hard and have a B or 2 or 3 be the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listen to all the snobs on here dumping on less academically selective schools. There are many to choose from on here and they are all fully of nasty comments about certain schools, tiers of schools. The kids hear these comments and it stresses them out and makes them aim for the brand name schools. The only way to aim for those is to take as many APs as possible and do well in them.

Get B's in them? The "rigor" is then all for naught. This is the position my DC is in (floating between B and A- . . . hard to tell as her teachers seem allergic to grading things in all college classes junior year). Likely will not be aiming for the same schools as was on the radar this time last year. Even though taking the hardest APs our school offers (Chem, Precalc, USH). Doesn't seem to matter.

It's particularly irritating when you see the GPAs of college students posted on the websites, which are at or below what many kids' GPAs are now (in all college classes) but they are required to have all As.

As it is my kid will likely take the above average (but not all A) grades and chase merit at schools that everyone trashes here. Certainly no top 20 schools. No top 50 schools. And will have no debt and lots of money left for grad school due to merit. In the end it will be fine but it is a tough pill to see these kids work so so hard and have a B or 2 or 3 be the difference.

Hordes of kids are in the exact same position, mine included.
Those kids who worked their tails off, have a few B’s on their transcript and they will end up at colleges that they didn’t need to work so insanely for. It is what it is. Hopefully their smarts & work ethic takes them far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Listen to all the snobs on here dumping on less academically selective schools. There are many to choose from on here and they are all fully of nasty comments about certain schools, tiers of schools. The kids hear these comments and it stresses them out and makes them aim for the brand name schools. The only way to aim for those is to take as many APs as possible and do well in them.

Get B's in them? The "rigor" is then all for naught. This is the position my DC is in (floating between B and A- . . . hard to tell as her teachers seem allergic to grading things in all college classes junior year). Likely will not be aiming for the same schools as was on the radar this time last year. Even though taking the hardest APs our school offers (Chem, Precalc, USH). Doesn't seem to matter.

It's particularly irritating when you see the GPAs of college students posted on the websites, which are at or below what many kids' GPAs are now (in all college classes) but they are required to have all As.

As it is my kid will likely take the above average (but not all A) grades and chase merit at schools that everyone trashes here. Certainly no top 20 schools. No top 50 schools. And will have no debt and lots of money left for grad school due to merit. In the end it will be fine but it is a tough pill to see these kids work so so hard and have a B or 2 or 3 be the difference.

Hordes of kids are in the exact same position, mine included.
Those kids who worked their tails off, have a few B’s on their transcript and they will end up at colleges that they didn’t need to work so insanely for. It is what it is. Hopefully their smarts & work ethic takes them far.

In hindsight, I prob would have argued more strenuously to my DC to not take so many APs in such hard classes. I did advise as such but ultimately let it be their call. They are also overscheduled (also their call, not mine) and that is a contributing factor. Would have preferred DC scale back on the rigor and the activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of kids don't necessarily want to take all APs, but feel like they have to take them b/c "everyone else is doing it."

Honest conversations. Maybe a college advisor meeting. Many teenagers don’t know a lot about the college landscape; they don’t realize how competitive it is. They feed off each other and get misinformation. They also don’t realize that distinguishing yourself outside of the classroom is a good use of time (and it can be in fairly simple ways).

They might also like hearing that there are so many terrific schools that don’t require all this BS. I tell this to my kid all the time and it’s helped them have a more flexible outlook.

The college advisor is pushing for the APs, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

Even with an AP/IB course, you simply shouldn't be taking it if you cannot get a B/B+ in the course. These are college courses and your kid is still in HS...they are a Kid. AP/IB should be taken because it's the "next appropriate level or course" for your kid. Not because "everyone takes 5+ AP courses each year if you want a top college.
Just like back in ES, if you pushed (or didn't and kid tested there) to get your kid in a 1-2 grade level advanced math, if they are struggling, you are doing them a huge disservice by not pulling them back to the appropriate level. Life is not a race. Math is such an important skill to Learn and actually LIKE. It can mean the difference between a kid wanting a STEM major and them hating anything STEM related because of ES/MS being too advanced. Fact is a lot of Social sciences and Humanities majors need Math as well--STats and data analysis. So math is a part of life and so you should want your kid to succeed and get As even if it means being "on grade level"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

A C screws you for T30.

So shoot for T75. So much less stress. And honestly, the education is going to be just as good.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

A C screws you for T30.

So shoot for T75. So much less stress. And honestly, the education is going to be just as good.

Will T75 take a student with a C?? I don’t think so… top 75 schools are still selective.

My 1200/3.5UW/no honors courses/Tried 1 AP senior year and had a D first semester and B for 2nd semester kid got into all schools they applied to. 6 of them were in the 60-85 range, 3 were in the 85-120. At two at~80, my kid got 35% of tuition each year. One school sent a warning to bring the grade up, but even then most likely would not have rescinded the acceptance---they gave them 16K merit (35% of tuition) per year. None of the other schools cared and majority were not EA so they saw the D on the transcript.
I'm fairly certain my kid could have had a couple Cs and still gotten admitted at all of their schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

A C screws you for T30.

So shoot for T75. So much less stress. And honestly, the education is going to be just as good.

Will T75 take a student with a C?? I don’t think so… top 75 schools are still selective.

My DD is in at several T75’s with a C (APWorld). With excellent merit. So yes, they will.

Actually 2 C’s. She struggled with precalc that semester too.

+1

Might be harder at a 25-40 ranked school, but I know kids who have still gotten into those with Cs. 50-75+ it is quite easy to get in with a few Cs.

My own 1500/3.95UW/9 AP kid got into 2 ranked 30-45 and 3 more ranked 50-65 and they had a B- (which was really a C+ but the teacher knew my kid and rounded from 79.4999 to give them the B-). Got good merit at 3 of those schools as well (and the other 2 don't typically give much merit and we didn't file FAFSA)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

A C screws you for T30.

So shoot for T75. So much less stress. And honestly, the education is going to be just as good.

Will T75 take a student with a C?? I don’t think so… top 75 schools are still selective.

My DD is in at several T75’s with a C (APWorld). With excellent merit. So yes, they will.

Actually 2 C’s. She struggled with precalc that semester too.

+1

Might be harder at a 25-40 ranked school, but I know kids who have still gotten into those with Cs. 50-75+ it is quite easy to get in with a few Cs.

My own 1500/3.95UW/9 AP kid got into 2 ranked 30-45 and 3 more ranked 50-65 and they had a B- (which was really a C+ but the teacher knew my kid and rounded from 79.4999 to give them the B-). Got good merit at 3 of those schools as well (and the other 2 don't typically give much merit and we didn't file FAFSA)

I am loving these stories. They give me honest hope. So thank you. Can you share names of colleges?

[Anonymous]

I think you need to keep in mind what high school your kid goes before assuming that someone else's story will be yours. How is your kid doing relative to others at the school? And look at the scattergrams.

[Anonymous]

The system favors superspecialized kids who have excelled in some area... to hopefully bring fame to the university some day. May be good for society to have people superspecialized and taking themselves to the breaking point to excel in an area...but certainly not healthy for the individual (usually). A more balanced individual is a healthier one.

[Anonymous]

college is not a destination, it's just a subway train to get you to one stop in life, you will have board other vehicles that will take you to other stops.

I worry about people who think college is the finish line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a messed up game they have to play, or they pay the price for it. My kids have switched if the teacher is not good, or a hard grader, even if they'd prefer the class theoretically. Having a C on transcript would have too much of an impact and create huge amounts of stress.

A C screws you for T30.

So shoot for T75. So much less stress. And honestly, the education is going to be just as good.

Will T75 take a student with a C?? I don’t think so… top 75 schools are still selective.

My DD is in at several T75’s with a C (APWorld). With excellent merit. So yes, they will.

Actually 2 C’s. She struggled with precalc that semester too.

+1

Might be harder at a 25-40 ranked school, but I know kids who have still gotten into those with Cs. 50-75+ it is quite easy to get in with a few Cs.

My own 1500/3.95UW/9 AP kid got into 2 ranked 30-45 and 3 more ranked 50-65 and they had a B- (which was really a C+ but the teacher knew my kid and rounded from 79.4999 to give them the B-). Got good merit at 3 of those schools as well (and the other 2 don't typically give much merit and we didn't file FAFSA)

I am loving these stories. They give me honest hope. So thank you. Can you share names of colleges?

I am the PP with the daughter with 2 C’s one semester. In at Michigan State (15m/yr merit), Penn State (6K/yr) U of Iowa (9k/yr), U of Delaware (still waiting to hear about possible merit). Also still waiting to hear from 2 RD schools.

This is completely doable. Don’t let the crazy DCUM tiger parents scare you!

[Anonymous]

My ‘23 DC had 3 Cs on their transcript and many Bs. Accepted last year to SMU, Syracuse, Penn State, Ole Miss, Tennessee & Indiana.