Anonymous wrote:OP Here - my son gets As on tests. Therefore he thinks homework is a complete waste of time. I need the "it gets better" campaign speech!

No clear how he goes from As on tests to a 2.0 average. Also not clear why he thinks its a waste of time if he's getting a 2.0 average. I guess I would still want to know what he is doing instead that pulls him away from homework and whether its possible that he's depressed.

Anonymous wrote:How much is the homework weighted in each class? If it is worth over 10 percent of the class he will never get over a C. Some high schools give an automatic A to anyone who scores a 5 on an AP test. Look for that type of high school. Lots of kids prefer to do other things besides homework, particularly if they can get an A on the test. It seems like there are lots of people who jump to the conclusion that these types of kids must have learning disabilities or ADHD. Really, it sounds like he sounds like a smart kid who catches on quickly and doesn't see the long term consequence of not doing homework. If you search for a diagnosis, you will find someone to label him. I was like him, smart but a lazy student in high school. I ended up a community college, transferred to UCLA, and went to a top tier graduate school.

How is that possible - you don't get AP results back until July. So some schools don't finalize grades until mid summer? What schools do that?

Anonymous wrote:OP Here - my son gets As on tests. Therefore he thinks homework is a complete waste of time. I need the "it gets better" campaign speech!

Point out that an A on tests but not as a final grade means he's won the battle but lost the war.

Anonymous wrote:OP Here - my son gets As on tests. Therefore he thinks homework is a complete waste of time. I need the "it gets better" campaign speech!

You have just described my son who will be starting high school next year.

OP Here - my son gets As on tests. Therefore he thinks homework is a complete waste of time. I need the "it gets better" campaign speech!

How much is the homework weighted in each class? If it is worth over 10 percent of the class he will never get over a C. Some high schools give an automatic A to anyone who scores a 5 on an AP test. Look for that type of high school. Lots of kids prefer to do other things besides homework, particularly if they can get an A on the test. It seems like there are lots of people who jump to the conclusion that these types of kids must have learning disabilities or ADHD. Really, it sounds like he sounds like a smart kid who catches on quickly and doesn't see the long term consequence of not doing homework. If you search for a diagnosis, you will find someone to label him. I was like him, smart but a lazy student in high school. I ended up a community college, transferred to UCLA, and went to a top tier graduate school.

OP -- What is he doing instead of his homework after school? That may also give you a clue as to what is going on with him. As a Dad who was once a teenage boy. that's where I would suggest you start.

Most high schools will send a copy of the grading scale along with the transcript, so I wouldn't worry about that aspect much.

But not doing homework is kind of a lame reason to be getting a bad grade, and not one that can be explained away on essays like a learning disability can.

However colleges like to see upward trends, so all is not lost if he gets his act together. But if he sticks at a 2.0 throughout school, he's not going to have a ton of college options.

Anonymous wrote:Also, isn't a 2.0 a C average?

If it is or isn't, it's not enough to get you into a second tier college. I went to an unranked college (4th tier the call it) and did just fine.

Also, isn't a 2.0 a C average?

First of all, you should have him evaluated for LD issues and for possible depression. Most kids don't just stop doing homework unless there's a reason. Its sometimes hard to spot depression in a teen, but this is a red flag that you should at least look into.

Second, look into changing schools. If he's refusing to do homework, I don't care how brilliant he is, the school isn't teaching in a way that he's going to learn. You were probably drawn to a competitive school because he's so bright but there are plenty of other schools around that challenge kids intellectually.

He's in 9th grade and you are worried about college when you should be worried about the next three years. Its a long time in the life of a teen and you don;t get those years back. You need a plan for the problem itself. If he is truly checked out it could become a far more serious problem. You should address it now.

Is this a school the regional college reps will be familiar with? For example, in the DC area college regional reps are aware that some public and private high schools are tougher than others, and they weight the GPA accordingly, either subjectively or with their own reweighting schemes.

If your kid scores highly on APs or SAT II subject tests, that's another way to demonstrate mastery of the material outside of the GPA, and suggests his school is really hard.

As for the whole work ethic thing, I too have a smart freshman boy who could be putting more effort in. If you figure it out, let me know.

My dd had low grades in 9th grade because of LDs. She brought them up in later years. Her recommendations were very strong because she was such a hard worker. She did fine in the college app process.

If he hugely increases his grades and does well on SATs he might have a shot at a decent college. If not then there probably isn't much point in paying for him to go to college anyway if he has no interest in working at it. Let him follow another path - take a gap year or just start working until he is ready to take advantage of college.

YES! Your son will do fine, if not great! As the mother of a few older boys I can tell you that boys will grow up when they're ready and not a minute before. I found that around 22 they are mature and focused.
Maybe a tutor would help him with homework? Maybe a bribe.
Rest assure, everything you say to them they hear. Keep talking, especially Dad.
As far as the college process, we had to be creative. A state school would not have been a good choice for one of our boys. At the end of the day, his sport got him in to a private Division One school. The coach got him in, but we did not get any money. How far is he willing to go? Colleges like to take kids from far away states. How about the military scholarship program? I don't know much about it, but some kids thrive in that structure.

Help. My 9th grader is brillant, but refuses to do homework. I think he has a 2.0. To be fair, his school grades as follows: 100 - 95% A, 94 -90% B, 89 - 85% C, 84 - 80% D. Please don't ask why we signed up for this! It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Anyway, did you experience this with your son and did he eventually get it together and go to a good college? How was the college process?

Thanks in advance for your advice.