High School:Good Grades vs. Challenging Classes

[allison443]

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.

I have also read both threads.....I just wanted to point out that a few months ago, you encouraged your dd to apply to the out of state college, you knew the costs--now she's gotten in, why is this no longer such a good option? My dd (also a senior) has applied to all state schools (in state and out of state). $27K doesn't sound bad to me-our instate university is $23K! Some out of states are a lot higher. Also, many of the colleges we visited have writing centers, peer tutoring, study skills classes for freshman..there could be a lot of support there for your dd.
Also, my dd had a great first semester gpa-wise this year-we asked the guidance counselor to send the transcript to her first choice with a note saying it was her first choice-she was accepted so obviously it didn't hurt. Did your gc send your dd's midyear grades to her remaining choices? I know you said she was doing well this year.
Best of luck.

 

[Christine]

I have also read both threads.....I just wanted to point out that a few months ago, you encouraged your dd to apply to the out of state college, you knew the costs--now she's gotten in, why is this no longer such a good option? Did your gc send your dd's midyear grades to her remaining choices? I know you said she was doing well this year.
Best of luck.

This particular out-of-state college participates in a reciprocity agreement with the state of Virginia for certain majors. Two of which she might consider is Early Childhood Development (ages 0-3) and Sport Psychology. She thought she might apply for the Sports Psychology major and then she would get in-state tuition. So she applied to this school. Last month, I got an e-mail back from the person who arranges this and got some very unclear e-mail that this was no longer an option. I have to follow up on that but this was part of the rationale.

As for the semester grades. Yes, these were sent last week right after they were issued; however, two of the schools have rejected before they even saw them.

 

[tabby1881]

Are you KIDDING ME?!? I agree with you. And that teacher is INSANE. Unbelievable. I think someone should talk to the school counselors or guidance/career center at their high school, I'm sure these professionals would have a slightly different opinion .

agnes!

I agree with you so much! I'm sure that not everyone has had this experience, but we sure have! We were sold this ( A C is as good as an A in such & such course....) over and over again during 8th grade and the beginning of freshman year. Well now at the end of high school, senior year, we have found this advice to be a total, complete backfire. Very frustrating.

 

[punkin]

I agree with you so much! I'm sure that not everyone has had this experience, but we sure have! We were sold this ( A C is as good as an A in such & such course....) over and over again during 8th grade and the beginning of freshman year. Well now at the end of high school, senior year, we have found this advice to be a total, complete backfire. Very frustrating.

My DD16 had some Cs is honors courses (and almost one in an AP which she barely pulled up to a B right before the end of the semester), but overall, I am glad she was in the harder classes. She was with an more advanced group of kids and she learned a lot. Grades and college are almost secondary to me. As long as she gets in somewhere even halfway decent, I will be happy. Even CC for two years and then a transfer wouldn't phase me too much (but like I told OP, I would rather a 4 year school).

But, I agree 100% about the level of counseling in the schools. If I didn't have the internet for research, we would be completely hosed.

 

[agnes!]

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. ...

agnes!

What is Fairgrade?

Fairgrade is a parent-lobbying group in my county. Up until this group of parents decided to take action over the past year, our schools had a six-point grading system, one which was put into place back in the '60s or '70s. NO ONE can find out WHY our grading scale differed so much from other schools.

And it had been like this for so long, that many had the attitude of "that's the way it's always been", etc. So our kids were at a huge competitive disadvantage with other schools. If the commonly-accepted 10-point grading system had been in place, my DD would now have a much better GPA, the old way would have put her at a disadvantage for college admissions. In the old system AP classes only got a .5 bump AND Honors classes received NO bump in the weighting.

To see what a difference this has made and why I looooove Fairgrade, take a look at the following comparison with a 10-point grading system and a weight given to Honors/AP courses:

The two students with the exact same percentage grades end up with radically different GPAs. The Fairfax student has a 3.5, the neighboring county's student gets a 4.6. AND THEY BOTH HAD THE EXACT SAME PERCENTAGE GRADES .

This is what our grading system used to look like:
A = 94-100
B+ = 90-93
B = 84-89
C+ = 80-83
C = 74-79
D+ = 70-73
D = 64-69
AP classes were given a weight of only .5. Honors classes got nothing

Now it looks like our grading system will be shifted to the following or something very like it):
A = 93-100
A- = 90-92
B+ = 87-89
B = 83-86
B- = 80-82
C+ = 77-79
C = 73-76
C- = 70-72
D+ = 67-69
D = 63-66
D- =60-62
AP/IB classes will be given a 1pt. bump for assessing the GPA.
Honors classes will be given a .5 bump.
Students enrolled in AP classes as of January 2009 will get a 1pt retroactive bump. What to do with the present school year Honors classes is being studied.

agnes!

 

[shelly3girls]

Fairgrade is a parent-lobbying group in my county. Up until this group of parents decided to take action over the past year, our schools had a six-point grading system, one which was put into place back in the '60s or '70s. NO ONE can find out WHY our grading scale differed so much from other schools.

And it had been like this for so long, that many had the attitude of "that's the way it's always been", etc. So our kids were at a huge competitive disadvantage with other schools. If the commonly-accepted 10-point grading system had been in place, my DD would now have a much better GPA, the old way would have put her at a disadvantage for college admissions. In the old system AP classes only got a .5 bump AND Honors classes received NO bump in the weighting.

agnes!

Boy do I wish our school system would change! I have heard many schools have now adopted the 10 point system. Ours is even worse than yours!
A+ 99-100
A 95-98
A- 93-94
B+ 91-92
B 88-91
B-86-87
C range (not sure of breakdown) 76-85
D 70-75
F <70

It is brutal on the kids. I personally believe that this is an outdated grading system. It is too strict of a standard especially considering that our kids are competing against kids with the 10 point. When I applied to schools many years ago, some of them asked for % grades not letter grades. They calculated their own GPA. Now I see the problem with that is AP classes count the same as honors and even college prep. There should be one standard grade system and one standard way to weight advanced classes. Not that I believe schools should be forced into anything but there should at least be a set standard.

 

[agnes!]

Boy do I wish our school system would change! I have heard many schools have now adopted the 10 point system. Ours is even worse than yours!
A+ 99-100
A 95-98
A- 93-94
B+ 91-92
B 88-91
B-86-87
C range (not sure of breakdown) 76-85
D 70-75
F <70

It is brutal on the kids. I personally believe that this is an outdated grading system. It is too strict of a standard especially considering that our kids are competing against kids with the 10 point. When I applied to schools many years ago, some of them asked for % grades not letter grades. They calculated their own GPA. Now I see the problem with that is AP classes count the same as honors and even college prep. There should be one standard grade system and one standard way to weight advanced classes. Not that I believe schools should be forced into anything but there should at least be a set standard.

It is very confusing to everyone. At least your system had an A starting at 93 (or really a 92.5). Even with yours, someone I know very well would probably have had better letter grades almost every quarter. Yours is almost as confusing as ours used to be, what is it? Something like a modified 8-point system? You all might want to take a look at Fairgrade's website and follow their story. EVERYONE said it couldn't be done, *except* these parents. The stats when our kids were compared to kids from other jurisdictions are what I think tipped the scale...well, that and overwhelming voter turnout at School Board meetings .

agnes!

 

[punkin]

agnes! has already posted the grading system in my county (Montgomery) and I have a complaint about that too. Why do we not have + and - grades. An 89 is a B and a 90 is an A. A 100% is also an A. When I was in school, we just had numbers. This letter grading thing is just awful.

 

[Cindy B]

This particular out-of-state college participates in a reciprocity agreement with the state of Virginia for certain majors. Two of which she might consider is Early Childhood Development (ages 0-3) and Sport Psychology. .

Teaching is such a hard profession to go into right now. You are looking at 700-800 applicants per open position if you can even find an open position.

Some say ECE is even harder to find a position versus other certs. I have two certs, perfect grades from a well established teaching university and great rec letters and I still can't find a position.

I would say get out now from teaching... it's best.

 

[Christine]

Teaching is such a hard profession to go into right now. You are looking at 700-800 applicants per open position if you can even find an open position.

Some say ECE is even harder to find a position versus other certs. I have two certs, perfect grades from a well established teaching university and great rec letters and I still can't find a position.

I would say get out now from teaching... it's best.

She doesn't want to be a teacher which is why she's leaning towards the Sports Psychology. Granted, you can't get a job in this field either (the department's website even says so!!) but she does enjoy psychology and I'm hoping that maybe she can transition it to something in the physical therapy field.

 

[agnes!]

Any updates Christine? Anyone whose kid maybe unexpectedly got into numerous schools? I think us anxious parents on this thread need some good news too...

punkin - The problem with these local jurisdictions is that the system administrators get wedded to their own grading system, it's theirs therefore it has to be the best. If they change it, that means there was a problem and that they were wrong.

agnes!

 

[Christine]

Any updates Christine? Anyone whose kid maybe unexpectedly got into numerous schools? I think us anxious parents on this thread need some good news too...

agnes!

No, nothing new since the VCU rejection the other night. Most of my DD's friends who are getting in have a 3.0 average and they are getting in to Radford, ODU, and VCU. Haven't heard of anyone yet applying to Tech. One of her friends did get into JMU and she is a VERY strong student. So, they are getting in, but there is the other group that is getting massive turn downs just like her.

Still waiting on George Mason, Radford, Mary Washington, and Kent State (Ohio).

 

[punkin]

Christine, remind me again which out of state school she got into?

I am looking for schools that are fairly close to home for my DD16. It is really easy to come up with dream schools, but the safe ones are more difficult. I am looking for ideas.

 

[Christine]

Christine, remind me again which out of state school she got into?

I am looking for schools that are fairly close to home for my DD16. It is really easy to come up with dream schools, but the safe ones are more difficult. I am looking for ideas.

She has been accepted to West Virginia University.

They are part of a reciprocity program with 12 other states (Maryland included). You can go to a website and put in your state and the state of the college you want to go to. A bunch of majors will pop up that the out of state school offers that your state doesn't. If you can find one, you can go to the out of state school for in-state rates.

 

[punkin]

She has been accepted to West Virginia University.

They are part of a reciprocity program with 12 other states (Maryland included). You can go to a website and put in your state and the state of the college you want to go to. A bunch of majors will pop up that the out of state school offers that your state doesn't. If you can find one, you can go to the out of state school for in-state rates.

What web site? Do you have a link?

I heard that WVA has a decent engineering program that they are very supportive of the students.

 

[Christine]

What web site? Do you have a link?

I heard that WVA has a decent engineering program that they are very supportive of the students.

Here you go!

http://www.sreb.org/programs/acm/acmindex.aspx

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

I would say get out now from teaching... it's best.

Cindy,
I am so sorry. I have seen your posts now and again about teaching, and it is so sad to see someone's hopes and hard work dashed. I finally gave up finding a full time job, and let my cert. expire. I think a lot about what teaching should be vs. what I see and it hurts knowing that I could do a good job.

OK - but back to thread subject.

I just found out today that our brilliant school board decided to weight grades for incoming freshman in honors classes. Ok - great, but now my son who is going into 10th could be in an honors Algebra 2 class sitting next to a freshman whose grade will be weighted, and his won't. What a drag.

 

[punkin]

Here you go!

http://www.sreb.org/programs/acm/acmindex.aspx

Thanks so much.

 

[Tink33]

We have not received one acceptance or rejection letter for DS17. After reading this thread yesterday, I asked if his friend with the almost perfect SAT and 4.4 GPA has received anything either. I guess with our budget crisis in California, there is no postage to send those letters out.

 

[Skatermom23]

She has been accepted to West Virginia University.

They are part of a reciprocity program with 12 other states (Maryland included). You can go to a website and put in your state and the state of the college you want to go to. A bunch of majors will pop up that the out of state school offers that your state doesn't. If you can find one, you can go to the out of state school for in-state rates.

I'm reading this thread closely because my DS will be applying to all the same schools your DD is. I think his top choices are JMU and GMU. He will probably try for VCU and CNU as well. If he doesn't get into one of those, I don't know what we will do. He doesn't want to go to Tech (whew!) and the private schools are out of our reach. Keep us posted on your DD.