I expect my kids to take advantage of all retake opportunities for grades less than 90 percent. I want them to learn the material they didn’t master on the first go around because in certain subjects like math, concepts build upon previous ones. I think it’s also just generally good practice to be conscientious and care rather than blow off opportunities.

Additionally, MCPS is super weird about using tiny random pieces of data to ration access to accelerated programs and one B in one particular marking period can eliminate your opportunity. So it’s a good idea to use all available reassessments offered so you don’t get shut out of programs because of like one bad test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:So sadly Bs can derail college chances. It’s not just admissions but merit aid too. With the economy in the dumpster and the price of college so high, competition for in state is crazy. Along with competition for scholarships and merit aid.

If retakes are allowed, many of the other kids with Bs are doing a retake. Your kid would end up being toward the bottom for not taking advantage of the retake option.

It’s a horrible environment for kids and very different than when we were in high school.

That is depressing.

Tons of colleges take kids with Bs, and offer merit aid, but maybe those are not desirable schools to the people on this forum.

The vast majority of colleges take B students. Some examples are Univ of Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, plus other flagships. California State Universities, CUNY New York Universities, Montclair in New Jersey, Catholic University in DC, UMass Boston, The New School NYC, Suffolk University Boston, Marymount Univ in VA, Old Dominion, VA, Providence College RI.

That’s just a very small percentage of colleges that accept B students. Most colleges accept B students. Every state in the country has choices for B students. There are huge universities that everyone knows and there are small niche colleges that are very local.

Students will be successful if they find the right school for them.

I’m in NC. We were told that the minimum GPA your kid should have to apply to North Carolina (chapel hill) is a 4.5. Our friend’s kid scored a 35 ACT and has a 4.5 GPA, and his college counselor gave him 50/50 odds of getting in (with two legacy parents). It’s slightly better odds for NC State, but not much.

I'm sorry that is not right. I graduated from a high school in NC and I would bet $10,000 that this kid will get in.

My college counselor also thought I wouldn't get in, became I had some Bs, but I was accepted and got some "top third of accepted" designation (maybe bc I was a NMSF and AP scholar).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So sadly Bs can derail college chances. It’s not just admissions but merit aid too. With the economy in the dumpster and the price of college so high, competition for in state is crazy. Along with competition for scholarships and merit aid.

If retakes are allowed, many of the other kids with Bs are doing a retake. Your kid would end up being toward the bottom for not taking advantage of the retake option.

It’s a horrible environment for kids and very different than when we were in high school.

That is depressing.

Tons of colleges take kids with Bs, and offer merit aid, but maybe those are not desirable schools to the people on this forum.

The vast majority of colleges take B students. Some examples are Univ of Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, plus other flagships. California State Universities, CUNY New York Universities, Montclair in New Jersey, Catholic University in DC, UMass Boston, The New School NYC, Suffolk University Boston, Marymount Univ in VA, Old Dominion, VA, Providence College RI.

That’s just a very small percentage of colleges that accept B students. Most colleges accept B students. Every state in the country has choices for B students. There are huge universities that everyone knows and there are small niche colleges that are very local.

Students will be successful if they find the right school for them.

I’m in NC. We were told that the minimum GPA your kid should have to apply to North Carolina (chapel hill) is a 4.5. Our friend’s kid scored a 35 ACT and has a 4.5 GPA, and his college counselor gave him 50/50 odds of getting in (with two legacy parents). It’s slightly better odds for NC State, but not much.

It’s isn’t about college- it’s about work ethic and character. When you’re in school, being a student, learning, and academics is your job. I expect my kids to complete all assignments on time, follow directions given for said assignments, and reasonably study for test and quizzes. I expect them to look over errors and mistakes and learn from them. If they are doing these things and get Bs, that’s ok. If they have missing assignments, are doing sloppy work, not studying and get B, that’s a problem

I don't get upset, but I also don't brush it off. There are no re-takes at his school and grades are not weighted.

Public school family here. My children have never been allowed to re-take or re-do any type of test, essay or assignment. One of my kids failed a couple of tests in an AP classes and were not allowed to re-take.

Too bad colleges don’t know which schools permit these re-takes…/

Anonymous wrote:I actually took my son out of public school and moved him to a Catholic school because he was getting straight As but not doing A work. So I paid money for him to not get all As. Public schools have pretty low expectations these days.

Such an ignorant comment. Not all public schools are created equal. Ours is extremely rigorous. As in honors level or AP classes are hard to come by.

Anonymous wrote:If they are working their tails off, no. Otherwise, yeah, so most of the time, yeah.

Same here. Its more about effort.

Anonymous wrote:OP is not talking about a B student or B quarter grade or a B on a major test, but a B on an assignment. Who even knows what their teenager gets on every assignment?

My DS received maybe five B+ final grades between freshman and junior years and was not shut out of college or at the bottom of his class in FCPS with a weighted GPA right under 4.0 and a 34 ACT. (He has ADHD, didnt take all honors and APs and got a lot of A- grades too). He got a $12,500/yr scholarship from UMD.

About 20-25% of the class graduated with a weighted GPA over 4.0. The idea that entire graduating classes in public schools have straight As in all APs and GPAs well over 4.5 is just not true.

Wrong. I am not aware of any school district in the area that allows retakes on anything other than summative (large tests or projects) assignments. Most of my kids’ classes only have two summative a per quarter. This isn’t a “B on an assignment.”

My middle school kid just retook a test on which she got a B. Brought it up to a 90 because that is the max. She made that decision on her own as SHE wants straight As. And this was a HS class.

My HS kid is at one of very few (2?) FCPS high schools using skills-based grading. They don’t allow retakes but grades can be “replaced” by future summative grades on the same skill.

Anonymous wrote:OP is not talking about a B student or B quarter grade or a B on a major test, but a B on an assignment. Who even knows what their teenager gets on every assignment?

My DS received maybe five B+ final grades between freshman and junior years and was not shut out of college or at the bottom of his class in FCPS with a weighted GPA right under 4.0 and a 34 ACT. (He has ADHD, didnt take all honors and APs and got a lot of A- grades too). He got a $12,500/yr scholarship from UMD.

About 20-25% of the class graduated with a weighted GPA over 4.0. The idea that entire graduating classes in public schools have straight As in all APs and GPAs well over 4.5 is just not true.

I want to warn parents to interpret such posts carefully.

For example in PP's situation: geographic diversity is extremely important to colleges.

If you're in MCPS and want to go to UMD, you need higher stats than that! PP's kid got in with lower stats because he had a little bit of geographic diversity going for him (and perhaps intriguing essays and ECs, PP didn't say). But coming out of a well-regarded, close-in MCPS high school, you simply cannot get into UMD like this, let alone get merit aid.

My friend's MCPS kid with multiple Bs on her transcript, and a less than stellar test score, was rejected from UMD, as expected, and accepted at Ohio State, which supposedly ranks higher! Because was a geographically diverse applicant for Ohio. Her parents pay twice the UMD in-state tuition for that privilege, without merit aid, and Ohio State is happy to take her.

My son (MCPS) had stellar stats but also no ECs at all, because he has autism and refused to take part in any after school activity. He was shut out of all the Ivy+ colleges and second tier. Accepted at UMD Honors with a little merit, McGill (they only look at academics, so obviously), St Andrews, etc. He ended up going to GWU, because he liked the city campus and they had exactly the study abroad options he wanted. They offered the most merit aid, since for GW, he was a desirable applicant and they wanted to retain him.

So understand who might want your kid, and make your plans accordingly.

My B student in HS became a B student in college. He got a job after interning at a company his senior year. His all A friends are still looking for jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually took my son out of public school and moved him to a Catholic school because he was getting straight As but not doing A work. So I paid money for him to not get all As. Public schools have pretty low expectations these days.

Not all public schools have low expectations and not every Catholic school is good. Those blanket statements don’t help anyone.

And aren’t even true. The public schools near us are so much


better than the privates. I don’t want to drive 30 minutes for a private school. Love the sense of community we have.

How are they better? They have low expectations. No thanks. If everyone has As…..

OP is not talking about a B student or B quarter grade or a B on a major test, but a B on an assignment. Who even knows what their teenager gets on every assignment?

My DS received maybe five B+ final grades between freshman and junior years and was not shut out of college or at the bottom of his class in FCPS with a weighted GPA right under 4.0 and a 34 ACT. (He has ADHD, didnt take all honors and APs and got a lot of A- grades too). He got a $12,500/yr scholarship from UMD.

About 20-25% of the class graduated with a weighted GPA over 4.0. The idea that entire graduating classes in public schools have straight As in all APs and GPAs well over 4.5 is just not true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually took my son out of public school and moved him to a Catholic school because he was getting straight As but not doing A work. So I paid money for him to not get all As. Public schools have pretty low expectations these days.

Not all public schools have low expectations and not every Catholic school is good. Those blanket statements don’t help anyone.

And aren’t even true. The public schools near us are so much better than the privates. I don’t want to drive 30 minutes for a private school. Love the sense of community we have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the school profile include, “We allow re-tests?” Do these same students imagine there is a re-testing policy in college? Any college professors, please chime in.

My DH is a professor and if he had a dime for every student who asked him about retakes… Even when he goes over the syllabus, he still had students asking about them. He does offer students a chance to show him what they are writing ahead of the due date for feedback. He said nobody takes him up on that offer.

Wow. Thanks for the update. Re-takes are so normalized,v the kids think everyone does it. Hard dose of reality