HS sophomore decision that may affect college acceptance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sympathize. DD was in a similar boat and an advisor in a program she was in suggested that she switch schools to get a better high school GPA. DD decided that would feel like running away, ended up taking calf twice because she failed it when she took it first (in 10th at her school). I have very mixed feelings about it all. I am proud of her perseverance but aware it came at a high cost (she has completed high school but still feels anger thinking about the program). Confidence is built with success... and she now feels very confident she will get back up after failures. She did not get admitted to Washington University (Seattle) into their Computer Science program but she did get admitted to a school she feels lucky to attend. GPA felt pretty important in college admissions time yet she still managed to be admitted to “reaches” and to be awarded merit. And she had a pretty low GPA.
If I could do it again this time I might recommend she choose the easier route. I tried to make it her choice but who knows how I colored her perceptions. If I could do it again I would let her know there is no shame in deciding this is something to try again later. It is not running away to regroup and strategize. Then again, she came through alright.
Best wishes to you and your son.

Was you DD at STEM or International school in the Seattle area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my daughter received a 78 in honors physics freshman year and a 79 in Spanish. She took AP Physics this year and got a 93. If she stopped to retake honors physics, she would have never gotten to AP. She is going to a top 50 school for engineering.

Grades aren't anything. He can use it as an essay. Talk about how he overcame it, could of withdrew, but wanted to be honest and accept it and move on.

Sounds like your DD is is one smart girl! Good job mom! The teacher and counselor have gotten into his head a bit. They feel that overall GPA is more important and Alg 2 truly is a building block for Pre Calc, Calc. It's a small public HS (140 kids in his grade). They have time to devote this kind of personal attention. It's also a young staff! His counselor is just 10 years out of college and his teacher is 26! I guess they've got a pulse on the admissions people.

However, the counselor and his science teacher feel that he should take AP Physics 1 even though he's struggled in Alg 2. School doesn't offer a regular physics 1 class or even honors. Go figure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, my daughter received a 78 in honors physics freshman year and a 79 in Spanish. She took AP Physics this year and got a 93. If she stopped to retake honors physics, she would have never gotten to AP. She is going to a top 50 school for engineering.

Grades aren't anything. He can use it as an essay. Talk about how he overcame it, could of withdrew, but wanted to be honest and accept it and move on.

Sounds like your DD is is one smart girl! Good job mom! The teacher and counselor have gotten into his head a bit. They feel that overall GPA is more important and Alg 2 truly is a building block for Pre Calc, Calc. It's a small public HS (140 kids in his grade). They have time to devote this kind of personal attention. It's also a young staff! His counselor is just 10 years out of college and his teacher is 26! I guess they've got a pulse on the admissions people.

However, the counselor and his science teacher feel that he should take AP Physics 1 even though he's struggled in Alg 2. School doesn't offer a regular physics 1 class or even honors. Go figure!

It sounds like your son is getting some very good advice. I would go with what the staff is telling him to do!

[Anonymous]

OP never answered the question of whether removing this class from the transcript completely would make it appear that he took one class fewer than a full courseload. Or was he doubling up on math AND taking an extra academic class?

[Anonymous]

Do not retake. My DS has had a learning disability for much of his schooling but suddenly around 10th grade something clicked and he's gotten much better at math. It would be absurd to retake a class for getting a C. The problem is taking two different math subjects at once. Not many kids could handle that. Kids learn what's presented, whether they have gaps or not. My advice is to take non-honors pre-calc (if in MCPS) rather than honors. The pace is much more reasonable and the student still advances to AP Calc AB senior year. DS's friends who are taking honors pre-calc are struggling. DS is getting A's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP never answered the question of whether removing this class from the transcript completely would make it appear that he took one class fewer than a full courseload. Or was he doubling up on math AND taking an extra academic class?

OP again - he doubled up on math and took Alg 2 as an elective. They will remove the withdrawal from transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not retake. My DS has had a learning disability for much of his schooling but suddenly around 10th grade something clicked and he's gotten much better at math. It would be absurd to retake a class for getting a C. The problem is taking two different math subjects at once. Not many kids could handle that. Kids learn what's presented, whether they have gaps or not. My advice is to take non-honors pre-calc (if in MCPS) rather than honors. The pace is much more reasonable and the student still advances to AP Calc AB senior year. DS's friends who are taking honors pre-calc are struggling. DS is getting A's.

It's OP, thanks for your input! You're right. A lot clicked for DS this year (10th). Unfortunately it wasn't Alg 2. He did take both geometry and Alg 2 this year. As of now, he has a 94 avg in Geo and a 76 avg in Alg 2 so it's likely a C- unless the next Unit test and quiz are perfect scores. He came home tonight and said he's going to withdraw!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, my daughter received a 78 in honors physics freshman year and a 79 in Spanish. She took AP Physics this year and got a 93. If she stopped to retake honors physics, she would have never gotten to AP. She is going to a top 50 school for engineering.

Grades aren't anything. He can use it as an essay. Talk about how he overcame it, could of withdrew, but wanted to be honest and accept it and move on.

Sounds like your DD is is one smart girl! Good job mom! The teacher and counselor have gotten into his head a bit. They feel that overall GPA is more important and Alg 2 truly is a building block for Pre Calc, Calc. It's a small public HS (140 kids in his grade). They have time to devote this kind of personal attention. It's also a young staff! His counselor is just 10 years out of college and his teacher is 26! I guess they've got a pulse on the admissions people.

However, the counselor and his science teacher feel that he should take AP Physics 1 even though he's struggled in Alg 2. School doesn't offer a regular physics 1 class or even honors. Go figure!

OP, read the high school science curriculum thread on MD School forum- it might give you a better understanding of whether taking AP Physics 1 is a good idea. That class seems to me equivalent to what is called Honors Physics. There are other AP physics classes that are harder.

[Anonymous]

I can not believe counselors are telling kids to retake classes they got a C in. What the heck? I can’t believe they allowed two maths too. I would have a lot of choice words with the principal/dean for this.

High school is to learn. Not to make some fake college resume that looks perfect.

Many kids get one or even a few C’s. It shows more character. Some things you had to work for a bit harder than others. Not everyone gets A’s. Taking two years of a math you didn’t fail, is a scam. Schools should be embarrassed. This isn’t his true transcript.

[Anonymous]

School only offers AP Physics? What do “average” kids take? Or is the “AP” Physics really just egular physics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can not believe counselors are telling kids to retake classes they got a C in. What the heck? I can’t believe they allowed two maths too. I would have a lot of choice words with the principal/dean for this.

High school is to learn. Not to make some fake college resume that looks perfect.

Many kids get one or even a few C’s. It shows more character. Some things you had to work for a bit harder than others. Not everyone gets A’s. Taking two years of a math you didn’t fail, is a scam. Schools should be embarrassed. This isn’t his true transcript.

There are classes my kids could get C's in that I wouldn't recommend they retake. Math is not one of those classes, unless I have a child who is not going to continue taking math. Nor is foreign language. Those classes build on the knowledge learned in earlier classes, and if a child does not get the foundation, he will have a much harder time in following classes. Some kids will be able to shore up gaps as they find them and those kids can usually move forward knowing they're going to have to commit more time to these subjects. Other kids will struggle to stay on track and won't have time or ability to teach themselves the things they didn't learn, and retaking can be beneficial for them.

It's not the grade, it's the knowledge the grade represents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can not believe counselors are telling kids to retake classes they got a C in. What the heck? I can’t believe they allowed two maths too. I would have a lot of choice words with the principal/dean for this.

High school is to learn. Not to make some fake college resume that looks perfect.

Many kids get one or even a few C’s. It shows more character. Some things you had to work for a bit harder than others. Not everyone gets A’s. Taking two years of a math you didn’t fail, is a scam. Schools should be embarrassed. This isn’t his true transcript.

Seriously. Is this what we've come to?
Take a step back and think about how ridiculous this is all is.

[Anonymous]

I'm a PP who said don't withdraw, but you know what. It really doesn't matter either way. In 5-10 years I doubt your DC will even recall this decision. He sounds like a great kid who will do just fine no matter what. So best wishes to your DC! And p.s. Take a total break from math this summer. No tutors, no review. Just enjoy life. To much thinking about the future is bad for health.

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can not believe counselors are telling kids to retake classes they got a C in. What the heck? I can’t believe they allowed two maths too. I would have a lot of choice words with the principal/dean for this.

High school is to learn. Not to make some fake college resume that looks perfect.

Many kids get one or even a few C’s. It shows more character. Some things you had to work for a bit harder than others. Not everyone gets A’s. Taking two years of a math you didn’t fail, is a scam. Schools should be embarrassed. This isn’t his true transcript.

Seriously. Is this what we've come to?
Take a step back and think about how ridiculous this is all is.

No wonder everyone in MCPS has an A average.