Please please please as a HS math teacher, reach out to her teacher to help identify the issues. Is she missing foundational algebra 1 skills? Struggling to apply the basics to more complicated problems? Distracted in class/not doing the work/not asking questions? Does the teacher think she can pull it together, or is it a lost cause?

If she were in my class at my school, I would encourage you to tell her she is dropping the course. I know she doesn’t want to, but she’s a child and you’re the parent. An F in honors means she isn’t retaining anything and is going to be set up to fail in future math classes. Forget about college, an A/B/C in regular algebra 2 means she has some basic understanding of the concepts. In honors the extensions are clearly so far over her head I doubt she is grasping the basics either.

I’m sorry—I know it’s hard. This is the course where years of holes are discovered, unfortunately. Never learned your factor pairs? You’re expected to be able to factor trinomial mentally. Used substitution to check equations instead of solving? Too bad, equations have multiple answers now so it won’t work. A lot of kids try honors and drop by the end of Q1–she certainly won’t be alone.

Anonymous wrote:She's in 10th grade? She'll salvage a C this year, but needs to maintain that grade or get a better one next year.

The tippy top schools are probably out, as they have their pick from many perfect applications, but there are tons of colleges on the table! TONS.

god not true. If this is a 1 class thing then your school can write that it was an anomaly. I would consider taking a summer course though to demonstrate how serious she was about learning from this.

Drop down to regular and keep the tutor. She doesn't get to stay in a Honors class she is failing. The goal is to learn the material and if you are failing after first quarter, then you are not doing that and are in over your head

Anonymous wrote:rit means your dd writes an essay on what she learned from flunking a class and she moves on with her life

this

Honestly, you need to be less worried about what an F means for college and more concerned that either you kid has checked out or is in over their head in a class where they need to understand the material to progress. They need the math they are supposed to be learning in A2 for pre-calc, calc, etc. and even superinfection places in college. It doesn’t just stop this year.

My DC stepped off the honors track in A2 in FCPS and never looked back. Standard A2, pre-calc and Non-AP Calculus, all with As. Now at W&M.

Last weekend, she texted me a picture of her economics notes the caption: “Do IR, they said. You will finally be done with math, they said”. And when you Zoom in to the notes, it’s all mathematical equations and the words “Derivate that bad boy!” are circled. And there are at least two more 300 to 400 level econ classes after this to go to do the bare minimum for an IR major.

Yes, your kid needs to pass to get into college. But they need a basic understanding to survive HS— and apparently even some college majors that are not traditionally classified as STEM.

That said, at some point kids specialize. If your kid isn’t doing engineering or similar, maybe it’s time to drop the honors track. An A in standard (with an understanding of the material) beats a D-F in honors (with no clue) every day.

Yes, you can still get into WM. When, yes, the IR department apparently expects a passing familiarity with Calculus.

At my DD’s private school they say in the handbook:“Many colleges and universities will not acknowledge credit for courses with a grade lower than a C.” I wouldn’t be happy with C-, never mind an F. Your DD needs to drop the class. It really doesn’t matter what a minor thinks in this situation. She is the child, you are the parent, and she has proven she can’t do the work.

Talk to the tutor and see how they think she’s doing and whether she’s capable of bringing up her grade. I know it’s scary — my otherwise A student was carrying an F at one point in math in his Sophomore year, and he worked very hard the rest of the semester and brought it up to a B-. There were a couple of tests early on in which he didn’t understand the concepts, but he got there in the end. Try to limit the freaking out and work the problem with the tutor — math is one of those things that you can develop a mental block about if you get too much pressure (ask me how I know).

Ignore those who say your kid isn’t destined for top colleges. There are a lot of very smart kids for whom math doesn’t come easily. My DC is not a natural at math, and got a 34 on the ACT with a small amount of tutoring on the math portion and got into a list of excellent colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Retake the first semester in summer if available? And drop to regular for second semester? Colleges will see their retake in summer but if she does well, should be okay.

+1 THIS.

I'm not positive on this, but I'm pretty sure that the new grade completely replaces the old grade. A school would see (I think?) that they took it both semesters (at a minimum, they'd see a hole in their fall, 2023 schedule and no math class that semester and draw a conclusion). But I don't actually think they'd see the E.

Unfortunately, that means taking the Part B of the course next semester before repeating Part A. But if your tutor is as good as you say, maybe that ok?

I'd also think you could move down to the 'regular' section now. (If you end up retaking the course in summer, this wouldn't matter for transcript. But she would get a course for second quarter more appropriate for her current math capability, which would better prepare her for second semester.

PP here. Sorry. I just noticed I'm not in the mcps forum. the above would work in mcps but I don't know about other counties.

A 'F' might signify that remedial work is needed. Dont treat it too negatively.

It might also suggest a STEM line in college is not the best option for ur kid. Much better to realize this now than later on.


Finally, one subject does not relegate you to a cc ( it might impact a T50 admission) but below that, they all want your tuition $$$

Dropping from honors to the regular class makes sense if it's been a struggle from the beginning.

Did she really have an F the first quarter? I'm guessing not if you only just hired a tutor. She might be able to turn it around.

Anonymous wrote:Retake the first semester in summer if available? And drop to regular for second semester? Colleges will see their retake in summer but if she does well, should be okay.

+1 THIS.

I'm not positive on this, but I'm pretty sure that the new grade completely replaces the old grade. A school would see (I think?) that they took it both semesters (at a minimum, they'd see a hole in their fall, 2023 schedule and no math class that semester and draw a conclusion). But I don't actually think they'd see the E.

Unfortunately, that means taking the Part B of the course next semester before repeating Part A. But if your tutor is as good as you say, maybe that ok?

I'd also think you could move down to the 'regular' section now. (If you end up retaking the course in summer, this wouldn't matter for transcript. But she would get a course for second quarter more appropriate for her current math capability, which would better prepare her for second semester.

Your daughter will not be relegated to CCs only because she failed one class. But she might have to retake it and that's ok cause it will probably make her a better student in the long run. You've done your part by hiring the tutor. Let her ride it out and if the grade is lower than a C, she can retake it during summer school or next year.

Anonymous wrote:All of you clinging dearly onto this false notion that anything but a 4.0 unweighted GPA in this grade inflated world is an irrecoverable disaster are missing the mark.

Unless the grade somehow disqualifies the student from the progression of courses needed to graduate, a single F in a sea of As drags the student’s GPA down to a 3.93 …

It’s not a good thing, obviously. But this application season, the T20 schools will collectively accept at least 15,000 students with unweighted GPAs at or below that level.

And no, not all of them have hooks. In fact, the common denominator is that most of then applied with very high test scores.

If this particular student has other major potholes in their academic record or can’t score highly on the ACT/SAT, then the T20 is probably unattainable. But the test optional folks here who think their children with a 4.00 unweighted GPA but no test score to be found are not being second guessed by T20 schools who are not test blind - you are delusional. They know why your child isn’t submitting a test score, and in almost all cases, it has nothing to do with the pandemic, costs, availability, etc.

The schools are not only considering the final GPA. They do notice an F, and it might even be a disqualifier, even with every other grade an A. (And as another poster said, this type of class is foundational for the rest of high school math. It doesn't seem likely that a student will magically bounce back and get straight A's after not understanding Algebra 2.)

Anonymous wrote:Mason accepted 94% of students with 3.0 or higher

Agree. There are 2000 colleges in the US and getting an F really only matters to about to about 120 of them. There are tons of great schools where this wouldn't stop her from getting accepted.

Mason accepted 94% of students with 3.0 or higher