Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[robinb]

I am gobsmacked.

I ordered my daughter's written portion of her failed Language and Composition AP exam and I requested that her teacher from last year score it for me. There is a website that helps you predict what your score will be on the exam when you enter scores from pretests and such. My plan was to have her teacher "score" her written exam and then I would enter that score into the website and then see what the minimum score from the multiple choice would be to score her a "3" on the AP. if that number is ridiculously low, I was going to pay for a hand rescore on the MC portion.

The head of the department just emailed me to tell me that they refuse to score her written exam. The assistant principal that heads Advanced Learning at the school was cc'd on the email so I assume she agrees with the decision.

I am waiting for my blood pressure to lower before I follow up with them. I will be so happy when my DD is done with that English department. That was the same department that penalized my daughter's grade Sophomore year for having her phone out in class. She went from an "A" to a "B" because the teacher added 100 points to the third quarter's gradebook for "participation" and gave my daughter a big fat 0. The same department head refused to do anything about the teacher penalizing my DD a full grade for a behaviour problem.

 

[Poohforyou]

Just got word today that my son made National Hispanic Merit Scholar. I'm so proud of him!! Now he can start sending in his applications. He was waiting to hear the news.

That's awesome, congratulations!!!!!

We know dd will be a national merit commended scholar but don't know about being a finalist. The cutoff for NJ is traditionally very high. I know, based on guesstimates, that she'd be a finalist in about 39 states.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Oldest doesn't start until after Labor Day but she's at school today for a workshop on the common application and some essay pointers. I thought it was going well because I hadn't received any anguished texts but her dad said she forgot her phone. Ha.

She's excited about the robotics team this year and I think she's dropping her winter sport, but her guidance counselor said not to worry about it and to stick with the stuff she really loved doing. So we'll see!

 

[Poohforyou]

Robinb, I'm really sorry about your situation. I guess I'm not surprised though that a teacher wouldn't feel comfortable doing what you're asking, even though it's disappointing. It might put them in an awkward situation with other students or the college board.

The schools my daughter is looking at require at least a 4 on APs. She has that or better on all but 1. It stinks to put the work in and miss the reward. Hopefully your dd did well in the class. That's the consolidation I'm reminding my daughter about.

 

[bjscheel]

I've scheduled a couple more college visits. Will be glad when we know where she's going (and her major!), but I guess it will be a while yet before we know on scholarships and such. I think we'll visit 5 in all, 2 public, 2 private, and 1 community college. Planning to have those done by the end of October.

This weekend I decided I would make it a point to work with her on ACT stuff every night till the test on 9/10. We've been concentrating on math so far. She gets all of it, she just runs out of time, doesn't read carefully enough, or makes a mistake as we all do. Hopefully with this review the concepts will be fresh in her mind and she will be able to work more quickly. Tomorrow she plans to take a practice math test without worrying about the timer, but still not dawdling over it, and see how she does when she's not stressed over the clock.

 

[AustinTink]

That's awesome, congratulations!!!!!

We know dd will be a national merit commended scholar but don't know about being a finalist. The cutoff for NJ is traditionally very high. I know, based on guesstimates, that she'd be a finalist in about 39 states.

Best of luck to her and congratulations on the commendation!

 

[robinb]

Robinb, I'm really sorry about your situation. I guess I'm not surprised though that a teacher wouldn't feel comfortable doing what you're asking, even though it's disappointing. It might put them in an awkward situation with other students or the college board.

The schools my daughter is looking at require at least a 4 on APs. She has that or better on all but 1. It stinks to put the work in and miss the reward. Hopefully your dd did well in the class. That's the consolidation I'm reminding my daughter about.

She got an "A" in the class which was why it was such a shock that she received a "2". In part, I blame the teacher for not preparing her properly but I did not say that in the email. Of course, all her friends in another class with another teacher earned "4"s. At least a "3" would have gotten her credit for some random elective. The "2" gets her nothing in college after working her tail off all year to get an "A".

Frankly, I don't think I am asking for something that is outrageous. I will follow up with the Assistant Principal.

 

[bjscheel]

Ahhh! DD made Homecoming Court! She asked some people to vote for her but wasn't sure she would make it, as she's not in what she considers the popular group. 2 of the other 3 girls are good friends so this will be fun. Anxious to see what they decide for color scheme on dresses- the girls try to coordinate each year. The theme is something about candy, so I don't know what kind of colors they will want to go with. I actually ordered some clearance long dresses from Younkers just in case that arrived yesterday and she really likes a white and royal blue one. If that one will work we will get by cheap- it was $13.

 

[mamacatnv]

I've been absent for most of the summer, made a major job change, looks like everyone is gearing up for an exciting year!
So many big decision on everyone's plates - so exciting! Congrats to all of you with whatever your kids opt to do, its exciting to see them begin to explore their "adult" options.

DD had to retake the SAT in July as her test center lost ALL the score sheets from the day she took the new format in May.
She did well although she plans to take again in October.
She spent the summer as a cook at the local Girl Scout camp, she loved it! Then she was off to N. California where she toured several schools including Univ. San Francisco, Mills, Berkley, Stanford, San Jose State, UC Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and I can't remember what else. She was gone 15 days. Loved Berkley and Univ. San Francisco. Berkley would be a stretch.....a big stretch but USF she would probably secure with no problem however, its stupid expensive and has major housing issues once past freshman year, has a low retention rate etc.

Then we did some more digging and currently, the Univ of Minnesota, Twin-Cities is on her radar. Good physics program, reasonable out of state tuition, big city and its cold. All items on her wish list.
The Univ. of Texas Austin is still an option - she is actually there right now, spending the weekend in one of the dorms with a friend, getting a students eye view.
Sr. year is in full swing, back to the crazy schedule of an athletic trainer, looking for a part time job and still contemplating whether or not she wants to drive.

The current list of schools:
Amherst (no idea why she is still stuck on this one)
Univ TX - Austin
Texas State - Safety school
Univ. San Francisco
Univ. Minnesota Twin-Cities

 

[AustinTink]

Is anyone else's kid submitting a resume with their college applications? Apparently, mine is, per the suggestion of his guidance counselor. What a different application experience kids have these days compared to my own.

 

[laughinplace199]

Is anyone else's kid submitting a resume with their college applications? Apparently, mine is, per the suggestion of his guidance counselor. What a different application experience kids have these days compared to my own.

That's really interesting. I've never heard of kids doing this. We have a family appointment with DD's college counselor on Friday so I'll ask about that.

 

[aprilgail]

Is anyone else's kid submitting a resume with their college applications? Apparently, mine is, per the suggestion of his guidance counselor. What a different application experience kids have these days compared to my own.

I dont know if she submits it but this software the school uses for college stuff has them do a resume.

 

[IDoDis]

She got an "A" in the class which was why it was such a shock that she received a "2". In part, I blame the teacher for not preparing her properly but I did not say that in the email. Of course, all her friends in another class with another teacher earned "4"s. At least a "3" would have gotten her credit for some random elective. The "2" gets her nothing in college after working her tail off all year to get an "A".

Frankly, I don't think I am asking for something that is outrageous. I will follow up with the Assistant Principal.

Wow, I'd be upset too! Students are supposed to be graded on whether or no they are meeting the standards, not on a ridiculous vendetta the teacher has. If behavior points are included, then I could see 10 points taken away for each phone infraction, but to take away all 100 points is ridiculous. I would have asked to see the rubric used to determine how the behavior points were given or taken away.

Also, don't believe for a minute that most of the students in a different class got 4's and 5's. You will find the 2016 distribution charts here:
https://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2016-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php

And if it makes you feel any better, DD who is a college junior this year got 3 credits for AP Lang but she still has to take an upper level English anyway as part of her graduation requirement. She didn't even sit for the AP Lit test her senior year in high school because her university requires a score of a 5 to get the college credits and she didn't think she'd get a 5. Having the class on your DD's transcript will still benefit her and will help her GPA because AP classes are weighted heavier.

My DS took the AP Lang test last May and he got a 2, as well. It's a bummer, but he still learned a lot in the class and still got an A on his report card. He decided not to take the AP Lit class this year and took the regular 12th grade English instead.

 

[AustinTink]

I dont know if she submits it but this software the school uses for college stuff has them do a resume.

Same here.

 

[AustinTink]

That's really interesting. I've never heard of kids doing this. We have a family appointment with DD's college counselor on Friday so I'll ask about that.

Apparently it's to expand upon the activities and awards they already list in the application. Seems redundant to me.

 

[punkin]

Apparently it's to expand upon the activities and awards they already list in the application. Seems redundant to me.

I have to wonder if the admissions office even has time to read all this extra stuff, considering the huge numbers of applications some of the more selective colleges get.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

My son and I visited the University of Alabama last week
Beautiful campus with alot to offer
It far from home about a 12 hour drive
DS really liked it alot but it would make me nervous him being that far away from home

 

[AustinTink]

I have to wonder if the admissions office even has time to read all this extra stuff, considering the huge numbers of applications some of the more selective colleges get.

He just wrote a two-page resume. Had to cut it off at two pages because it was getting out of hand. I know they want to get credit for all the service, etc. they have done but still, sheesh, it's a lot.

 

[robinb]

And if it makes you feel any better, DD who is a college junior this year got 3 credits for AP Lang but she still has to take an upper level English anyway as part of her graduation requirement. She didn't even sit for the AP Lit test her senior year in high school because her university requires a score of a 5 to get the college credits and she didn't think she'd get a 5. Having the class on your DD's transcript will still benefit her and will help her GPA because AP classes are weighted heavier.

My DS took the AP Lang test last May and he got a 2, as well. It's a bummer, but he still learned a lot in the class and still got an A on his report card. He decided not to take the AP Lit class this year and took the regular 12th grade English instead.

The school refuses to read the test and apply any numerical value to it. The teacher might be willing to read the exam and verbally give us an opinion on it, but that's all.

They don't seem to upset that my DD failed the exam and I was told outright by the assistant principle who heads Advanced Learning at her school that the teachers do not teach the classes to the exams. Taking the AP exam is voluntary and many parents have complained in the past that too much time is spent teaching to the exam rather than teaching a class at a higher level to help prepare for college. I genuinely don't understand why a class titled "Advanced Placement ..." isn't taught, at least in part, to pass the AP exam and obtain that advanced placement credit in college. It's "Advanced PLACEMENT" not "Advanced PREPARATION". I dug up results from previous years and her high school's passing rate (3 or more on AP exams) is poor compared to 2 of the other 3 high schools in the district. My DD is taking 3 AP classes this year (AP Environmental Studies, AP French (5th year French) and AP Calculus AB) but I don't know how many exams she will take given the how much the school values the exams.

I know that the A will look good on her transcript and we're just going to be happy with that. Unfortunately, our school district does not weigh Honors or AP classes. Every "A" is the same.

 

[aprilgail]

I know that the A will look good on her transcript and we're just going to be happy with that. Unfortunately, our school district does not weigh Honors or AP classes. Every "A" is the same.

That part stinks! Even if they score a 1 on the AP test they still get weighed grades for it. They weigh honors and then they weigh ap more than honors. If you are a great student just taking regular classes and get a 100 in them all you will still not be in the top 10-20% of the class because the kids that take honors and AP have averages over 100