Calm my nerves -- Jr. with a 3.75, and mostly B's this quarter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A parent just told me last week that my 9th grader will not get into UVA if they ever have a single B on their transcript.

Question: Do most top colleges see the final grade for a class, or the grade for each quarter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A parent just told me last week that my 9th grader will not get into UVA if they ever have a single B on their transcript.

Question: Do most top colleges see the final grade for a class, or the grade for each quarter?

APS only sends final grades, and only uses final grades for the GPA. Other systems likely differ.

[Anonymous]

I’m one of the PPs and this thread has a lot of examples of the crazy. People are telling OP whose kids has an UW 3.75 to look at High Point? Her kid can do better than that - there is an undercurrent of a lot of these posts of get a B or two and you are looking at community college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m one of the PPs and this thread has a lot of examples of the crazy. People are telling OP whose kids has an UW 3.75 to look at High Point? Her kid can do better than that - there is an undercurrent of a lot of these posts of get a B or two and you are looking at community college.

In VA, particularly coming from NoVa. The rest of the country isn’t like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS parent here. I’m tryIng to translate a 3.75 APS into An FCPS WGPA. My guess is UVA or VT Engineering is probably not happening. VT Arts and Sciences may be possible though.

My kid is at WM, so two things to know:

One. They put a ton of weight on ED and demonstrated interest. My kid has a GPA at WMs 25% and was unhooked. Now, she had some extenuating circumstances: low grades clustered in spring 2020 (COVID) and some interesting, advanced course choices. She got in ED with a 34 ACT and strong demonstrated interests. Kids with much higher GPAs at their school we’re not taken in RD. Also, schedule an interview this summer. The “optional essay” is not optional. Try to do a fall focus day.

Two. If you waitlist at WM, you automatically get the option of a semester overseas through a private company or at a community college and a spring start with a 3.0. So, that could be an option.

And have her fight for every .1. Test corrections, extra credit, tutoring. If she can move some grades up even one step (B+ to A-) that helps. Don’t leave points on the table.

I read this, and I understand why so many kids are miserable anxious messes. Do not do this to your child. No college reputation is worth this horror show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid went to Harvard for grad school. You know where he went for undergrad? No, you don't because it's barely on the rankings, a little known, local SLAC. My kid is shy and introverted, so the SLAC was the best possible school for him. He got all As, graduated summa cum laude and got into Harvard.

Please, OP, do not worry about where your kid will go to college. It will be FINE. Your DD will do fine at Mary Washington if she doesn't get into W&M, or at some other college if she doesn't get into UVA, or out of state. There are so many great schools where kids will excel and be happy.

Let it go. Do NOT show your anxieties to your DD. Congratulate her on her grades if she's pleased, and console her if she's displeased, but reassure her that you love her and you know she is doing her best and will be successful wherever she goes.

Oh, and BTW, my kid was very happy at his unknown SLAC. He graduated at the top of his class. His teachers liked him. He made a lot of friends. It didn't matter that he wasn't at a highly ranked undergrad college. Harvard liked him, and he got accepted there over many, many applicants from much more selective colleges.

Love this. My DD had a very rocky, all over the place junior year and ended up with a 3.7 UW GPA. One thing that helped calm the nerves throughout the year was that when we talked about colleges the focus was on finding "very likely" colleges (aka safeties) that had great programs for her interest and would still be very likely with a less-than-great end of junior year GPA. For her, these are mostly LACs that others haven't heard of. When DS was a junior it was some of the less popular midwest state flagships. Knowing there's a school you can love that will love you with a 3.5 GPA really lowers the tension.

Parent of shy introvert here as well - would you be willing to suggest the school where your DS went?

I’m not that PP but I would look to the northwest SLACs (Reed, Willamette, Lewis & Clark, Whitman, UPS, etc) or the midwestern SLACs (Wooster, St John’s, Grinnell, St Olaf, etc.).

I would avoid the northeast and SoCal schools.

Grinnell only accepted 10% of its applicants last year. It is very hard to get into. Try again.

The question was where a shy introvert would fit in, not a question about GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A parent just told me last week that my 9th grader will not get into UVA if they ever have a single B on their transcript. I actually thought they were exaggerating, but maybe this is the kind of stuff OP has been hearing for years and it ratchets up the anxiety and stress. OP, just don’t get hung up on your kid going to UVA or VT or whatever. There are so many great schools!!

OP -- this is the issue. My kid also happens to have fallen in love with UVA, so there's that. And no, to the negative posters upthread, I have not shared these concerns with DC -- I often tell DC that I'm proud of them for doing x or y, how they handled a situation, in addition to grades, because I know that they are working hard. I needed a gut check, which some posters helped with, and others did not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W-L creates a report of the GPA/test scores/admittance by colleges. It can give you an idea of a range of schools that are welcoming to kids who are not straight-A students. This is the class of 2022: https://wl.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2022/08/Score-Profiles-Class-of-22.pdf

This info. is very perplexing to me as FCPS parent. The data are SO different from what Naviance shows from our FCPS school (the GPAs are lower but SATs higher for many of the mid-tier schools). Any other FCPS parents see a huge difference between the W-L chart and their Naviance data? I am trying to figure out what to make of it. And the grading scales are not really that different once you account for the fact that FCPS weighs honors even though APS allows 3.5 for B+.

The reason I ask is because many schools that seem well within range for a 3.8 Weighted/1300 SAT student at our FCPS high school are not getting in from APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A parent just told me last week that my 9th grader will not get into UVA if they ever have a single B on their transcript. I actually thought they were exaggerating, but maybe this is the kind of stuff OP has been hearing for years and it ratchets up the anxiety and stress. OP, just don’t get hung up on your kid going to UVA or VT or whatever. There are so many great schools!!

OP -- this is the issue. My kid also happens to have fallen in love with UVA, so there's that. And no, to the negative posters upthread, I have not shared these concerns with DC -- I often tell DC that I'm proud of them for doing x or y, how they handled a situation, in addition to grades, because I know that they are working hard. I needed a gut check, which some posters helped with, and others did not.

I think for any kid, “falling in love” with a university is not something that should be encouraged. It blinds them to admissions realities and honestly it’s an unrequited love even if the kid gets in. You may or may not be right about her admissions chances for UVA, but regardless of that, I think you need to make your DC think more coldly about her options.

I talk a lot to my kids about the business of education and the science of marketing. I think it’s important to always remember just what a huge industry higher education is. Your child is a student, yes, but in the reality of today’s educational market, DC is also a commodity to these schools. DC needs to start to view them the same way they view DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m one of the PPs and this thread has a lot of examples of the crazy. People are telling OP whose kids has an UW 3.75 to look at High Point? Her kid can do better than that - there is an undercurrent of a lot of these posts of get a B or two and you are looking at community college.

OP didn’t say UW 3.75. She explained some classes are weighted. But even UW yes, a 3.75 is A-. Assuming As in things like PE, that means some Bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A parent just told me last week that my 9th grader will not get into UVA if they ever have a single B on their transcript. I actually thought they were exaggerating, but maybe this is the kind of stuff OP has been hearing for years and it ratchets up the anxiety and stress. OP, just don’t get hung up on your kid going to UVA or VT or whatever. There are so many great schools!!

OP -- this is the issue. My kid also happens to have fallen in love with UVA, so there's that. And no, to the negative posters upthread, I have not shared these concerns with DC -- I often tell DC that I'm proud of them for doing x or y, how they handled a situation, in addition to grades, because I know that they are working hard. I needed a gut check, which some posters helped with, and others did not.

Well, op, you better tell your kid to fall out of love with UVA because they are not getting in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to feed the crazy but I also will say that I wish I realized how much those stupid Bs can hurt. The whole admissions process is nuts, and unfortunately the stats can make or break a kid's chances.

OTOH I have a kid who is a freshman at a great but not tippy-top school. But he is doing really well academically and socially and coming into his own as a young adult. I don't think that would be the case if he had somehow found a way into one of the crazy competitive schools. As a parent it is amazing to realize your kid is on track to be a successful adult - really so much better than any sticker on the back of the car...

Lol ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS parent here. I’m tryIng to translate a 3.75 APS into An FCPS WGPA. My guess is UVA or VT Engineering is probably not happening. VT Arts and Sciences may be possible though.

My kid is at WM, so two things to know:

One. They put a ton of weight on ED and demonstrated interest. My kid has a GPA at WMs 25% and was unhooked. Now, she had some extenuating circumstances: low grades clustered in spring 2020 (COVID) and some interesting, advanced course choices. She got in ED with a 34 ACT and strong demonstrated interests. Kids with much higher GPAs at their school we’re not taken in RD. Also, schedule an interview this summer. The “optional essay” is not optional. Try to do a fall focus day.

Two. If you waitlist at WM, you automatically get the option of a semester overseas through a private company or at a community college and a spring start with a 3.0. So, that could be an option.

And have her fight for every .1. Test corrections, extra credit, tutoring. If she can move some grades up even one step (B+ to A-) that helps. Don’t leave points on the table.

I read this, and I understand why so many kids are miserable anxious messes. Do not do this to your child. No college reputation is worth this horror show.

You’re so right and I feel awful in many respects because I’ve pushed some of this with my own kid. I will say that he ended up with an A- instead of an A in algebra 2 because of some test corrections he didn’t do early in the year. He also ended up missing an A in chemistry by .1 after having an A all year because he didn’t do great on the final. So yeah, I did give him the talk about fighting for every .1 and essentially playing smart. It’s hard to know whether these are good lessons or bad ones to me teaching our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I've totally lost my grip on reality.

My junior is at one of the 3 APS high schools. 4 AP classes and Intensified Science. She was pulling A's in many until the last few days, and now has dropped to all Bs and B+s in those core courses. JR also did a varsity sport this fall plus major involvment with another extra curricular, and different club sport for weekend tournaments.

Reality check: They will be fine, right? I think I've gotten so freaked out lately by UVA, William and Mary, Tech admissions horror stories that I'm internally freaking out. I know that they are particularly upset about the drop in Calc AB.

Please help me come to my senses before i get home from work.

OP, it will be totally fine. As Judge Smails said, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think I've totally lost my grip on reality.

My junior is at one of the 3 APS high schools. 4 AP classes and Intensified Science. She was pulling A's in many until the last few days, and now has dropped to all Bs and B+s in those core courses. JR also did a varsity sport this fall plus major involvment with another extra curricular, and different club sport for weekend tournaments.

Reality check: They will be fine, right? I think I've gotten so freaked out lately by UVA, William and Mary, Tech admissions horror stories that I'm internally freaking out. I know that they are particularly upset about the drop in Calc AB.

Please help me come to my senses before i get home from work.

OP, it will be totally fine. As Judge Smails said, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

LOL, savage, love it. Hey OP, your senses are correct, UVA and W&M are toast. Still a chance for Tech non engineering but not a guarantee. Plenty of great schools in VA, focus on JMU or all the SLACs that people babble about on this blog.