High School:Good Grades vs. Challenging Classes

[Kirby]

You know, sometimes it all depends on what the test covers as to how the kid scores too. For example, when my son took the ACT, the science portion was strongly chemistry but when my daughter took it this last year, both times the science portion was strongly physics.

My son took both chemistry and physics but since it had been two years since chemistry and was currently at the end of a year in physics, he would have benefited with a strong physics test. My daughter took an intro to chemistry/physics and then took the test at the end of her chemistry year. It would have suited her better to have been able to take a test strong in chemistry.

It's just the luck of the draw.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

I have not heard back from VCU. But ODU turned her down. ODU is supposed to be easier than VCU so not much hope for VCU. Many of her friends have been turned down for VCU this year.

She did not apply to CNU as they have become tougher than the others and she did not want to go to a small school. Mainly though, her GPA did not match the minimum requirements of that school. Mary Baldwin is private and not affordable for us.

Theater, Special Olympics, and Friends of Rachel.

She had letters done by her AP Psychology teach and her history teacher.

She took both tests, did poorly on the SAT, did better on the ACT (above each schools minimum requirement but nothing outstanding.

I'm sorry she (and you) are having to deal with all of this. It sounds like it is just a case of a rough application year. I would really suggest that you and your DD look into Mary Baldwin, however. I know it's private, but in years past (not sure about this year), they have offered a lot of scholarship money. If that's still the case, that might be an option for her.

If nothing at all works out, then the best advice I can give your DD is to do one year (or two) at a community college and try to transfer to the school she wants. Not ideal I know, but it is an option. Many VA colleges have programs set up to deal with this, where they take in a certain number of transfers from the area CCs each year. Again, good luck to y'all.

 

[Christine]

Just got the "reject" letter from VCU last night.

 

[agnes!]

Oh no. I am so sorry . You all are in my prayers.

And concerned for my sophomore DD too , I hope the extreme pickyness of the colleges has simmered down by the time she applies...

agnes!

 

[Christine]

Oh no. I am so sorry . You all are in my prayers.

And concerned for my sophomore DD too , I hope the extreme pickyness of the colleges has simmered down by the time she applies...

agnes!

I've heard now from several different people that it's not so much pickyness as it is a HUGE pool of applicants this year. Besides the economy causing more state school applicants, starting with the high school graduating class of 2008, there was apparently a "baby boom" that is ever increasing. I think I read it was a 5 year span that there is this surge of kids. I wish I could find that reference!

 

[punkin]

Just got the "reject" letter from VCU last night.

I am sorry.

..and I am worried for my Junior girl next year.

 

[Christine]

I am sorry.

..and I am worried for my Junior girl next year.

I think as long as you can carry a 3.0, *decent* test scores, and some extracurriculars, your daughter should be fine in most "safe" state schools.

My daughter has a cumulative GPA of 2.66 (her GPA right now during her senior year is much better plus she's carrying an AP course--but they aren't really factoring that). They are looking predominantly at her Junior year performance. The fact that she failed Chemistry is probably really hurting her.

 

[Cindy B]

I think as long as you can carry a 3.0, *decent* test scores, and some extracurriculars, your daughter should be fine in most "safe" state schools.

My daughter has a cumulative GPA of 2.66 (her GPA right now during her senior year is much better plus she's carrying an AP course--but they aren't really factoring that). They are looking predominantly at her Junior year performance. The fact that she failed Chemistry is probably really hurting her.

Sorry to hear that. Have you decided what she is going to do next year? So a 3.0 seems to be the ticket? I've heard that it is high 3's almost 4's around here, I'm not sure why.

 

[agnes!]

I am sorry.

..and I am worried for my Junior girl next year.

You and me both. I'm so thankful Fairgrade prevailed in their lobbying, the grading & GPA changes that have been (and will be) instituted will level the playing-field and help kids in this jurisdiction immensely.

I think as long as you can carry a 3.0, *decent* test scores, and some extracurriculars, your daughter should be fine in most "safe" state schools.

My daughter has a cumulative GPA of 2.66 (her GPA right now during her senior year is much better plus she's carrying an AP course--but they aren't really factoring that). They are looking predominantly at her Junior year performance. The fact that she failed Chemistry is probably really hurting her.

Do you know any alumni from the schools she might like? Can you shake the tree of family & friends to see who would recommend your DD? You have got to know someone who could possibly intercede for your DD with these Admissions Offices so they would take a second (and more *fair*) look at her.


agnes!

 

[Christine]

Have you decided what she is going to do next year? So a 3.0 seems to be the ticket? I've heard that it is high 3's almost 4's around here, I'm not sure why.

I have a whole other thread somewhere about next year. She does have one acceptance (out of state) that is a possibility. After discussions last night, she is so against community college. Nothing against the academics of the local CC but more the "clientele" so to speak.

As for the GPA, I'm only gleaning that all of her friends who have a 3.0 are getting into the safer state schools fairly easily. No they aren't getting into UVA, VA Tech, or William & Mary, but they are getting into the others.

 

[jrmasm]

You and me both. I'm so thankful Fairgrade prevailed in their lobbying, the grading & GPA changes that have been (and will be) instituted will level the playing-field and help kids in this jurisdiction immensely.



Do you know any alumni from the schools she might like? Can you shake the tree of family & friends to see who would recommend your DD? You have got to know someone who could possibly intercede for your DD with these Admissions Offices so they would take a second (and more *fair*) look at her.


agnes!

What is Fairgrade?

 

[Christine]

Do you know any alumni from the schools she might like? Can you shake the tree of family & friends to see who would recommend your DD? You have got to know someone who could possibly intercede for your DD with these Admissions Offices so they would take a second (and more *fair*) look at her.


agnes!

The only person I know is from the out of state school that ended up taking her. They first rejected her. I contacted him and he talked to someone and, viola, she was in.

 

[claudia]

please remember that essay's play a big part.....so for all of you with Junior's this year it is definitely not to early to start talking about this and the summer is not to early to begin working on them. Go to www.commonapp.org and register over the late spring or summer.(I am not sure when the schools become available so keep checking) Search for colleges your child thinks they might be interested in and add them onto their account. Then go through page by page and you will see what the essay's are going to be. Review the essay your child writes and be helpful. Have your child bring the essay to their English teacher for help if they want. Also, be very careful in your choice of who your child asks for recommendation letters.....not only take the grade of the course, but also think about the relationship that your child has with the teacher. Parents of Junior's should be discussing the choice of teachers now and have your child ask for that recommendation in the late spring...don't wait until Senior year to do this. Use tools like www.collegedata.com to see where you child stands "academically" for a college choice they may have. This site also allows you to put in other info such as the amount of EC and leadership positions they have held. It will help you figure out what is a good match and will offer you the option of manipulating all your child's info to see what they need to do to be a better candidate for the school.
Anyone with sophomore's even freshman should be thinking about "rounding out" your child's background with things such as jobs, volunteerism, joining school sports or clubs and considering officer/leadership positions in something that they really enjoy doing.
As Christine has stated and I have learned going through this process with DS, it is extremely competitive right now (don't know how long this will continue) for our young people to get into college. Getting our children's attention and talking with them about this is only going to help them in the process. So if you and your child feel that college is the right choice for them it is really never too early at this point in time to start making a game plan.

 

[Cindy B]

I have a whole other thread somewhere about next year. She does have one acceptance (out of state) that is a possibility. After discussions last night, she is so against community college. Nothing against the academics of the local CC but more the "clientele" so to speak.

As for the GPA, I'm only gleaning that all of her friends who have a 3.0 are getting into the safer state schools fairly easily. No they aren't getting into UVA, VA Tech, or William & Mary, but they are getting into the others.

I remember the CC discussion. Remember not all students are the pierced crowd.

There are MANY motivated younger students in my local CC's. Not all are the pierced tatted crowd. And believe it or not, some of the pierced and tatted crowd are 4.0 students.

 

[claudia]

Just got the "reject" letter from VCU last night.

Christine..I am so sorry..

 

[Christine]

I remember the CC discussion. Remember not all students are the pierced crowd.

There are MANY motivated younger students in my local CC's. Not all are the pierced tatted crowd. And believe it or not, some of the pierced and tatted crowd are 4.0 students.

I know. And really, when I made that offhanded comment I wasn't really trying to tie the whole issue up in that. Every community college in every town has a different atmosphere. I attended ours as an adult and I was really very pleased with the quality of the education.

A lot has changed in that 10 years since I've been there. Again, the school and its academics are still rated VERY highly (Northern Virginia Community College in case you are wondering); however, we have had a huge growth in immigrant population and, due to economics, the campus is flooded with that. This bothers my daughter to some degree. I was not aware of this particular issue until it was pointed out to me by others. Maybe this is exaggerated, I don't know. By the way, this *won't* be the deciding factor for me if she goes or doesn't. It's just an aspect I have to consider. And yes, she did work with a couple of girls who are attending this school. Personally she liked them a lot; however, they are very different than what she's used to. The one girl was working on her third child at age 21 (different fathers), very smart academically, but my daughter was starting to "glamorize" the whole baby thing and my daughter is thinking that this girl has got it together. Then the girl invited my daughter to the tatoo parlor to hang out while she got her latest piercing. Now, this was not a one-in-a-million oddball girl--she's met several like this. I guess I just don't want this type of lifestyle to become the "norm" of what my daughter sees, KWIM? I know you can't shield from the world but I don't want her flooded with that either.

I also know that students at 4 year colleges are not saints. I've been there myself. I know what goes on.

On top of that, I have my best friend whose daughter just graduated from Va Tech. She is adamant that my DD should go to the 4 year out-of-state school. She's not being a "snob" about community college as she took some summer courses there during her VA Tech education. She just knows the schools, knows who is attending, and is worried for my daughter going there. She thinks she's gonna get "stuck."

 

[Cindy B]

I know. And really, when I made that offhanded comment I wasn't really trying to tie the whole issue up in that. Every community college in every town has a different atmosphere. I attended ours as an adult and I was really very pleased with the quality of the education.

A lot has changed in that 10 years since I've been there. Again, the school and its academics are still rated VERY highly (Northern Virginia Community College in case you are wondering); however, we have had a huge growth in immigrant population and, due to economics, the campus is flooded with that. This bothers my daughter to some degree. I was not aware of this particular issue until it was pointed out to me by others. Maybe this is exaggerated, I don't know. By the way, this *won't* be the deciding factor for me if she goes or doesn't. It's just an aspect I have to consider. And yes, she did work with a couple of girls who are attending this school. Personally she liked them a lot; however, they are very different than what she's used to. The one girl was working on her third child at age 21 (different fathers), very smart academically, but my daughter was starting to "glamorize" the whole baby thing and my daughter is thinking that this girl has got it together. Then the girl invited my daughter to the tatoo parlor to hang out while she got her latest piercing. Now, this was not a one-in-a-million oddball girl--she's met several like this. I guess I just don't want this type of lifestyle to become the "norm" of what my daughter sees, KWIM? I know you can't shield from the world but I don't want her flooded with that either.

I also know that students at 4 year colleges are not saints. I've been there myself. I know what goes on.

She's not being a "snob" about community college as she took some summer courses there during her VA Tech education. She just knows the schools, knows who is attending, and is worried for my daughter going there. She thinks she's gonna get "stuck."

I understand what you are saying. Our (DH and I) former community college is very much like that as well with a more "seasoned" crowd so to speak.

I guess as adult students we have so much more discernment about people and know not to follow.

Is your daughter a follower or a leader? That could be the issue.

I never looked at college/university as a "place to meet friends". It was where I got my education. I did my classes and left. I worked. I met a few people but I really just kept to myself. I got a fantastic education and a great GPA so that really isn't the issue.

Also think about majors (even at the community college level), some majors have more motivated students than others. DH is an Economics major at a state university-- they are driven and very focused on school. I was a triple major with many dual/triple majors and well we were so extremely focused on school we (as students) never had time to get distracted by other things.

I know quite a few of the younger students couldn't handle the difficult majors--it was too much pressure and many dropped out. Many broke off engagements and a few people got divorced.

There are challenging majors in community colleges, which tend to "weed out" the 13th graders if you know what I mean.

At my local community college, the nursing, sign language, education, dental hygiene and the laser program (not even sure what exact major it was) was very challenging with lots of prereq's and advanced classes.

Can your daughter take some pre-req classes at a CC now-while she is still in high school? That is pretty common around here. I had a few high schoolers in my Basic Psych and Child Psych courses. It was a way for these high schoolers to see what college is all about and they got credit that looked "good" when they applied to other colleges.

The other thing to think about is taking night courses at the community college. In my case, there were more motivated students in night courses because they were working during the day or they were just older in general.

 

[Trish Bessette]

please remember that essay's play a big part.....so for all of you with Junior's this year it is definitely not to early to start talking about this and the summer is not to early to begin working on them. Go to www.commonapp.org and register over the late spring or summer.(I am not sure when the schools become available so keep checking) Search for colleges your child thinks they might be interested in and add them onto their account. Then go through page by page and you will see what the essay's are going to be. Review the essay your child writes and be helpful. Have your child bring the essay to their English teacher for help if they want. Also, be very careful in your choice of who your child asks for recommendation letters.....not only take the grade of the course, but also think about the relationship that your child has with the teacher. Parents of Junior's should be discussing the choice of teachers now and have your child ask for that recommendation in the late spring...don't wait until Senior year to do this. Use tools like www.collegedata.com to see where you child stands "academically" for a college choice they may have. This site also allows you to put in other info such as the amount of EC and leadership positions they have held. It will help you figure out what is a good match and will offer you the option of manipulating all your child's info to see what they need to do to be a better candidate for the school.
Anyone with sophomore's even freshman should be thinking about "rounding out" your child's background with things such as jobs, volunteerism, joining school sports or clubs and considering officer/leadership positions in something that they really enjoy doing.
As Christine has stated and I have learned going through this process with DS, it is extremely competitive right now (don't know how long this will continue) for our young people to get into college. Getting our children's attention and talking with them about this is only going to help them in the process. So if you and your child feel that college is the right choice for them it is really never too early at this point in time to start making a game plan.

This is wonderful information - thank you!

As a parent of a freshman DD I am going to take all of this into effect. My DD has a good start (so far) she averages in the low 90's in all classes and she has volunteered as an assistant coach for a 5th & 6th grade basketball team plus she babysits. She is already looking at possible summer jobs but it is hard since she is still 15 years old. I hope this is a good start!

 

[claudia]

This is wonderful information - thank you!

As a parent of a freshman DD I am going to take all of this into effect. My DD has a good start (so far) she averages in the low 90's in all classes and she has volunteered as an assistant coach for a 5th & 6th grade basketball team plus she babysits. She is already looking at possible summer jobs but it is hard since she is still 15 years old. I hope this is a good start!

Sounds like your DD is doing great. My DS had a difficult time with getting the summer jobs at that age too, so he decided to volunteer at our local hospital. He loved it so much that he has continued doing this through HS. Also, encourage your DD to take the most difficult courses (whether it be Honors or AP) that her HS offers. Encourage your daughter to be involved in the things that she loves to do and to try some new things. DS thought he might want to be in the medical field...ex. psychology or doctor. He decided to take AP Psychology in his sophomore year and that helped him decide that it wasn't something he was interested in as a career. Now with the hospital volunteer, the idea of doctor dwindled away, but he found an interest with helping and assisting people. So now he is interested in a business career that will help large groups of people...ex. economics/finance in organizations similar to Red Cross or Unicef. Best of luck to your DD....

 

[punkin]

I have been reading this thread and your other thread, and her's my $.02 worth (and that's exactly what it is worth). If you can at all financially swing it, send her to the 4 year school. I grew up a lot in college and I was very similar to your daughter as far as grades. My SATs were fabulous, but I took them like I did everything else-with no studying or even preparation. I learned to work in college.

If she likes the 4 yr school and wants to go there- then I think that's where she belongs.

Good luck.