Importance of 9th grade for colleges
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Anonymous
PP again. Thank you for all that you have shared, you have been very helpful already, and I understand your reticence to divulge any more. As a first-generation American, I have (perhaps wrongly) emphasized to DC what many immigrants feel are the keys to success in the U.S., very hard work and very good grades. I am glad to hear that the path to the Ivy League universities is rich and varied, and not strictly dependent on perfect grades, as I know the pressure DC has put on her/him(self) to attain those grades. DC has overcome a self-imposed fear or hesitation about math and science to become very strong in those subjects, and I take great comfort from your post that some slight hiccups along the way are no cause for discouragement. I, for one, hope that my less-than-perfect student can also achieve similar success. |
Anonymous
So she started Hope Chinese School at age 7 as a white kid? Because at age 7, she alrady had a passion for the Chinese language? That is remarkable. |
Anonymous
 
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Anonymous
Many children develop interest in exposure to different things. Some may gravitate to basketball, others to math. Why do you find it unusual that young children can be curious and develope interest that carry on into young adulthood? Mozart started composing at the age of five because he was exposed and, apparently, had a knack for it. Why do you see fostering interest in youth unusual? |
Anonymous
sounds like someone fostered the interest in the kid. [not that there's anything wrong with that]. |
Anonymous
Specifically as an albino. |
Anonymous
Ah, the dumbing of America rears ts head. |
Anonymous
Looks like the trolls have hit this thread. But FWIW, my own DC was fluent in two languages by age 7 and would enthusiastically tell you about all the other languages he wanted to study soon, which we didn't provide because they were unusual and we didn't know where to get instruction. Doubt he's headed to Princeton. But an interest in languages can certainly happen on its own. |
Anonymous
which two languages? |
Anonymous
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As a mother who has had, currently has, and will have children going through the college application process, I will offer my limited observations.
First, your 9th grade achievements, grades, and accomplishments do matter. Perhaps not as much as those in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, but they do matter. I do not think that most of us can hope -- as was the case with a previous poster's accomplished niece -- that our daughter or son can get two Cs in their freshman year and still get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford. There are the exceptional students who do of course overcome the less-than-preferred transcript, but most applicants will not. The Latina mother who posted above obviously perceives a close-to-perfect transcript as the path for her child, and that is generally a safe assumption when paired with strong extracurricular achievements as well. However, a student with a less-than-perfect transcript can attain Ivy-league admission if they have other strengths to recommend them, for example, exceptional athletic ability in a sport the school values, or -- as with the previous poster's niece -- exceptional ability and accomplishment in some area they have a true passion for, like music or languages. Finally, there is some gamesmanship where college admissions is concerned. I remember reading once that Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg (Harvard) was not a high school athlete. Instead, she became a certified step-aerobics instructor during high school. That involves savvy, turning a potential negative into a positive. The PP who posted about her niece emphasized that she did not have "melanin", "money", or "legacy" to recommend her. However -- and I am not saying this is the case with her niece -- a student with none of those things may still come from a family that is savvy enough to recognize and pursue college-making opportunities. For example, a parent who works for the government or at the university may have friends who open doors for the right nonprofit internship, or who "guide" you to the important foreign opportunity. This is not a criticism, people should use any and all means at their disposal, but there are certainly many tools available to build up someone's "hook". |
Anonymous
One of the previous posters here. I posted the first question and congratulations above, but I most certainly did not follow up with the last sarcastic comment to the proud aunt. |
Anonymous
| They matter inasmuch as your cumulative GPA and record matters. But a few bad grades freshman year does not preclude acceptance to selective universities given the grades improve. If you are applying to places that have under a 10% acceptance rate, there are more than enough applicants with stellar records--of course, as was mentioned below, sometimes if there is an exceptional talent there are always going to be exceptions. Smaller schools like SLACs tend to have a more holistic approach to applications and look for the right "fit," so if you have a kid who is smart but doesn't quite fit the mold there will certainly be options. You can certainly graduate with a 3.5+ if it's just one C. |
Anonymous
I was thinking about several of my kids friends who got into prestigious universities and most, not all, had stellar grades. By stellar, I mean they did not have 4.0 GPAs and 2400 on the SAT but most were deeply involved in their personal interests. Because there are so many cookie-cutter graduates with exemplary academic stats, colleges do look for something that sets you apart. There are thousands of people who have taken childhood interest, fine tuned them, stuck with it, and made their interest an integral part of their application package. Even adults go into a job interview extolling their talents. It's called a 'hook'. |
Anonymous
This is a good read about being a match for MIT. http://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/match |
Anonymous
| So it sounds like if you have a couple of C's you had better be a superstar in some other area if you plan to get into H/Y/P or a few of the other highly selective unis. |