Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 15:18     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:"I disagree because, at least at our school, honors and AP classes receive the same weight when calculating GPA. So, yes, AP is perceived as higher but statistically the distinction between honors and AP is "meaningless."

At application time your DC's school's councilor will send a description of the two types of courses to each college.

You need to contact your DC's councilor ASAP and see if you are correct or not.

At our school, they had the same weighting but the descriptions indicated that AP classes were much more rigorous.

The review of a college application at schools that are even marginally selective is much more than comparing weighted GPAs.


Seriously, some of you people need to CHILL. This is not an emergency. I UNDERSTAND that counselors explain the levels of classes to colleges. I UNDERSTAND that AP's are considered more rigorous than honors. I am just saying that the STATISTICAL WEIGHT assigned to both of those course grades when GPA's are calculated are the same. You all seem to have totally drank the kool aid that your kids may not survive the future unless they kill themselves taking the absolute highest number of AP courses they can possibly manage.

Seriously our successful college search is already behind us. So we get how it works. We just believe in breathing through the process.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 15:06     Subject: Grades Junior year
Rigor is more important. A 4.0 freshman and sophomore year -which is not hard -should lead to multiple AP's and a B in a AP is not bad at all.

Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 14:51     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
Honors classes are just a notch above "remedial." Just another case of DCUM snobbery. And yes, I am a parent of a child who took plenty of general education classes in HS, mixed with some honors and a couple of APs, and had a slight drop in GPA sophomore year. Students who are "on track" can be very successfull at their college of choice, as will OPs child.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 14:29     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
"I disagree because, at least at our school, honors and AP classes receive the same weight when calculating GPA. So, yes, AP is perceived as higher but statistically the distinction between honors and AP is "meaningless."

At application time your DC's school's councilor will send a description of the two types of courses to each college.

You need to contact your DC's councilor ASAP and see if you are correct or not.

At our school, they had the same weighting but the descriptions indicated that AP classes were much more rigorous.

The review of a college application at schools that are even marginally selective is much more than comparing weighted GPAs.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 14:28     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
Read the post more slowly. They said "AP's are perceived as higher." So, they are not kidding themselves.

They are also correct about how the GPA is calculated.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 14:26     Subject: Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:I disagree because, at least at our school, honors and AP classes receive the same weight when calculating GPA. So, yes, AP is perceived as higher but statistically the distinction between honors and AP is "meaningless."


Your school and you may value them alike but that doesn’t mean colleges do. For class rank there’s no distinction. But many (all?) colleges unpack GPA in a way that suits their analyses. Not all 5.0’s are the same. An A in physics mechanics or calc BC means a helluva lot more than some 9th grade GT history class, don’t kid yourself.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 13:16     Subject: Grades Junior year
I disagree because, at least at our school, honors and AP classes receive the same weight when calculating GPA. So, yes, AP is perceived as higher but statistically the distinction between honors and AP is "meaningless."
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 09:02     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:
This is OP...it’s more like she was an A- student freshman year, solid A sophomore and will be back down to A- if she can’t get up her tougher classes. I was just wondering if it even matters if the GPA fluctuates less than 0.5 points over this time. I mean the classes are much harder!!

And we aren’t aiming for top 20


It won't matter. Please don't tell your hardworking A/A- student that she needs to "turn it around" or "get it back in gear quick." If she has more weighted classes, her GPA for the year may still be higher than last year (if you're in a district that puts weighted GPAs only on the transcript).

My senior had a couple of B/B+ grades freshman year, all As and A- sophomore, and one B and one B+ junior year. He had two honors courses in 10th, and took 4 honors and 2 APs in 11th. I'll report back if he is shut out of colleges based on this disturbing pattern. DCUMers like to pretend that it's the norm for kids to graduate with all As and 12 AP classes.


Honors classes are meaningless, they are just a notch above remedial, they are "on track". It really is the AP classes that make a difference both in terms of vigor and GPA. If your kid was in HS during the 1980s "honor" classes would be fine, but now they don't cut it.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:47     Subject: Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:I think if there are high quality extracurricular activities or work on top of all the testing etc junior year, colleges will understand that scenario. It sure is frustrating to those who really worked their butts off freshman and sophomore year to be told that a slight slip junior year is essentially worse than if they had not done as well freshman year.


But a top college would be an excruciatingly unpleasant experience for a kid like this - so something bad isn’t happening by a kid like this not being accepted there. Kids should do extracurricular activities because they like them, not because they’re trying to get into a higher level college.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:45     Subject: Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am a little skeptical of the upward trend benefit. Isn't your GPA your GPA?


Some schools don't count Freshmen grades at all.

My son had a serious upper trend and he got into the kinds of school reflected by his sophomore and junior grades plus test scores. Mostly his merit aid was based on straight GPA, which affected where he wound up.


This was DS's experience as well. DS had B/C's 9th grade year but nearly straight A's by senior year in the most rigorous classes offered by the school. He ended up being admitted to some good schools (UMCP-in state, Tulane with some merit, and one top 25 university etc). Gender/high test scores might have made a difference as well. It seems pretty obvious the upward trend helped, however, straight A's all the way would have been better!


Holy cow you just had to get in that full , long winded brag about your kid, didn’t you?
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:43     Subject: Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:Not good. Trend matters. Better get it back in gear quick.


It’s not that it’s ‘not good’ it’s that your child doesn’t belong at a top university so don’t push them towards that. Accept the child you have and steer them towards schools like American U, Towson, Salisbury, not Princeton or U of Maryland / UVA.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:42     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
College admissions folks understand that the work gets harder as high school progresses. Most kids who got straight As as freshman and sophomores will have a B or two as juniors. If the junior year schedule is rigorous, that's not the end of the world.

I think when people talk about upward or downward trends, they mean something more dramatic. Did you mess up your first two years of high school but then turn it around and do great? Or, conversely, did you fall off a cliff your junior year. Minor fluctuations are not the issue.
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:40     Subject: Re:Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:I haven't seen any actual or anecdotal evidence that going from an A- to an A to an A- is really considered a "downward trend." This "pattern" will also result in a stronger GPA compared to a kid who messes up freshman year and brings those grades up to the A/A- level. Even with holistic admissions, the cumulative GPA and test scores are weighted heavily.

Outside of the tippy top schools, it seems unlikely that an admissions officer is going to look at a transcript with mostly As and the occasional B+ and think "Wow, this kid really screwed up!"



+1

OP, It sounds like your daughter is a diligent student who is doing her best in more challenging classes. Don't worry about this "trend" and please don't put stress on her to "turn it around." I'm sure she is well aware that her junior year grades are important. Her college counselor and tools like Naviance will give you a good sense of the range of schools she should apply to senior year. She will get into a good school where she can thrive!
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:25     Subject: Grades Junior year
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am a little skeptical of the upward trend benefit. Isn't your GPA your GPA?


Some schools don't count Freshmen grades at all.

My son had a serious upper trend and he got into the kinds of school reflected by his sophomore and junior grades plus test scores. Mostly his merit aid was based on straight GPA, which affected where he wound up.


This was DS's experience as well. DS had B/C's 9th grade year but nearly straight A's by senior year in the most rigorous classes offered by the school. He ended up being admitted to some good schools (UMCP-in state, Tulane with some merit, and one top 25 university etc). Gender/high test scores might have made a difference as well. It seems pretty obvious the upward trend helped, however, straight A's all the way would have been better!
Anonymous
Post 11/08/2018 08:17     Subject: Grades Junior year
I think if there are high quality extracurricular activities or work on top of all the testing etc junior year, colleges will understand that scenario. It sure is frustrating to those who really worked their butts off freshman and sophomore year to be told that a slight slip junior year is essentially worse than if they had not done as well freshman year.