Is a C on a high school transcript the death knell for college admissions at reputable schools?

[Anonymous]

Wait -- you are seriously talking about middle school???? Sister it is going to be a LOOOOOOONG road for you when he gets to high school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait -- you are seriously talking about middle school???? Sister it is going to be a LOOOOOOONG road for you when he gets to high school!

I'm not the OP, but evidently you have never had a middle schooler taking classes which count on their high school transcript. I don't know of any parent in that situation who has not been at least mildly concerned about the grades their child receives. Middle schoolers often don't have the self-motivation or organizational skills that high-schoolers have, so as a parent you have to try to keep them on track without putting too much pressure on them to get good grades in these classes.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid at the same magnet as OP and I'm guessing in the same grade, given that her kid has English showing up on the high school transcript, which means 8th grade.

Yes, things are different in MCPS, and not in a great way.
1. Middle school grades for certain classes (3 classes by 8th grade) do show up on the high school transcript. Unlike some of the other PPs, we have no ability, none, to choose which of these grades will show up on the high school transcript.
2. For each year-long class, the high school transcript will show 2 semester grades. So individual quarters don't show up, although for some bizarre reason the 2nd quarter in each semester is weighted more heavily on the semester grade. But semester rather than annual grades will show up.

OP, maybe you and I should form a group to lobby MCPS to drop this and other (see my point about weighting the 2nd quarter) ridiculous grading practices.

[Anonymous]

OP, you might try posting this in the Colleges forum. There are some people who say they interview for colleges who frequent that forum.

[Anonymous]

If access to say a top 50 school is limited to a c in 8th grade there is something wrong with our college system. When I went to school they said that if you made poor grades it better be in 9th grade because they wanted to see more progressive levels of attainment and recognized that teens might be uneven at the beginning. It also seems to me the fact that they parents freaking out now means parents own the college decision and not kids that can be real long term motivation problem.

[Anonymous]

Read what the admissions person said, I would second that having also worked previously in college admissions. There is absolutely no way that a grade from 7th or 8th grade will make the least bit of difference if in 10th-12th grade the student has a stellar record. Kids grow up at different rates, and particularly boys have trouble with organization at age 12/13. Colleges realize that! They actually struggle to keep their admit classes 50/50 or even close because by high school even many more girls have fabulous grades than boys, girls are a lot better at following instructions, not procrastinating, and being organized enough to complete assignments on time and carefully. So if scores are great, high school grades are great and recommendations, activities etc are great then this will not "come back to haunt him", but as other posters said, it is an opportunity to get him some help or help him yourself with organization. More of a concern is whether he actually has fully participated in and understood the class. If the in class exams have good scores and the teacher says he has fully mastered the material by end end of the year, great, but if not the bigger problem will be going into high school math classes underprepared and for that reason he perhaps should consider repeating the course (or make him take it again in summer school, that might motivate him not to goof off again!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at the same magnet as OP and I'm guessing in the same grade, given that her kid has English showing up on the high school transcript, which means 8th grade.

Yes, things are different in MCPS, and not in a great way.
1. Middle school grades for certain classes (3 classes by 8th grade) do show up on the high school transcript. Unlike some of the other PPs, we have no ability, none, to choose which of these grades will show up on the high school transcript.
2. For each year-long class, the high school transcript will show 2 semester grades. So individual quarters don't show up, although for some bizarre reason the 2nd quarter in each semester is weighted more heavily on the semester grade. But semester rather than annual grades will show up.

OP, maybe you and I should form a group to lobby MCPS to drop this and other (see my point about weighting the 2nd quarter) ridiculous grading practices.

I would completely join that group!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and provide information.

PP, I would join you in lobbying the school system for change to this absurd system, but have very little confidence that we would make any impact at all. Still, we could try.

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and provide information.

PP, I would join you in lobbying the school system for change to this absurd system, but have very little confidence that we would make any impact at all. Still, we could try.

Thanks again.

OP, don't discount the power of concerned/rational/informed parents. Using MoCo as a guide, along with most of the rest of the nation, and real data, a grass roots group of moms got Fairfax County to change its grading scale. Change takes a lot of work, but from what I've read here, parents of elementary and middle school kids should really start getting it together. You could start your movement right here on DCUM to get parents informed so that elementary parents realize what's going on and how a little change/choice could make things a lot better. You can also get info about how other schools handle these issues. Go for it!

[Anonymous]

Why not go talk to somebody at the school about this? A counselor there would probably be more helpful than DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not go talk to somebody at the school about this? A counselor there would probably be more helpful than DCUM.

Actually, I think DCUM brought to light some things that McCo is doing differently from other school districts and those things aren't great if you have a 6th grader with goofs off in his advanced math class. I feel strongly that 6th, 7th, and 8th graders should be permitted to bring the grades with them or start with a clean in high school. No middle school counselor can help much with that.

[Anonymous]

Dear OP,
To get us all back on track...I had luck with my middle schooler now high schooler by contacting each of her teachers, by phone or email, and requesting that she be allowed to make up the assignments which she missed, thereby raising her grade. I don't know if they would let you do this retroactively, but it's worth a try. As to fighting the system, I have learned that if you want the endgame (college) you have to play along, even though it isn't fair. My daughter is a solid B+ student I know would thrive in a reputable liberal arts college or university, but she may not get the chance against all those straight A students. Keep up with the tutoring, keep smiling, and good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear OP,
To get us all back on track...I had luck with my middle schooler now high schooler by contacting each of her teachers, by phone or email, and requesting that she be allowed to make up the assignments which she missed, thereby raising her grade. I don't know if they would let you do this retroactively, but it's worth a try. As to fighting the system, I have learned that if you want the endgame (college) you have to play along, even though it isn't fair. My daughter is a solid B+ student I know would thrive in a reputable liberal arts college or university, but she may not get the chance against all those straight A students. Keep up with the tutoring, keep smiling, and good luck!

The only problem I have with this approach is the fact that YOU are the one doing the calling/emailing of the teachers. Why isn't your child doing it? All your child is learning from this is that she can goof off and Mommy or Daddy will fix it for her.

[Anonymous]

Don't be phased by this. Like all things in life, it isn't what happens to you but what you do about it. Who you are isn't defined by a single incident or small period of time but an overall picture. If a school can't see that, then they aren't a good fit for DC. Bring up the grades back to where they were.