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teacher/college related question-
My little sister, a senior this year, is failing her AP Spanish 4 class. She wasn't eager to take the class but her guidance counselor suggested it since my sister got an A last year in Spanish 3. (the only available class for spanish 4 is AP) Now she's stuck. She's got an extremely low grade and the only help available is limited to the teachers schedule. As of right now, it's Tuesday's for 1 hour. My Sister has been going to this class for additional help but is still struggling. BTW- The highest grade in the class is a 71%.
Little Sis has been begging my Mom to please pull her out of the class but when my Mom phoned, the Principal refused. The Principal feels this is a great lesson for my little sister to learn you cannot ace everything. But my sister's guidance counselor is suggesting my Mom go above the Principal noting that the Principal's reasoning could affect my sister's college selection and acceptance. An F will lower her GPA and would stand out, her lowest grade is a B.
My Mom's dragging her feet on this decision, meanwhile my little sister is crying her heart out at home. Feel so sad for my little sister...she's worked so hard to get to this point.
Thoughts?
(btw- she's taking this course as an added 6th period, she doesn't need this course at all...it's supposed to be a "FUN" class...)
Re: teacher/college related question-
Hi Lisa!
If the guidance counselor is suggesting that you go above the principal, I would do it. It doesn't sound like the principal has your little sister's best interests in mind. Getting into college is so competitive today, and it's amazing that she is taking AP Spanish 4 - she should be proud of herself, not ashamed! If its not possible for her to get out of the class, is it possible to get a tutor outside of class? I understand that its important to realize that we can't always succeed at everything, but its terrible that she is so distraught over this. Go with the guidance counselor.
Becky
Hi
I am new here, but I thought I would chime in. There are several things to consider.?
?1. If the class average is so low, the teacher might be planning to grade on a bell curve. If thats the case she might end up getting a higher grade than what the numbers reflect.??Ask the teacher. Be honest and ask her what she thinks her grade could end up being.
?2. AP classes are weighted differently. If she?receives?a C her GPA point will actually count as a B. (I am not sure what happens when you fail).?
3. College-bound students are expected to take AP courses. If she is in need of them having that extra AP course then the class might be?beneficial.
4. If worse comes to worse you can petition to have that class count as a regular spanish 4 course and not an AP one. This is tough, but you can do it. You have to argue that that the student was incorrectly placed in the class and she was set up to fail.
?5. If she has good grades, has taken some APs and honors courses, I ? ? ? ?would drop. ?If she has not taken any of the more difficult courses I ? ? ? ? ?would say that she should stay - only if she is honest with the teacher ? ? and??can get a C or better.
*I used to be a college admin counselor- now I am an adjunct?
Not a newbie, but haven't been around for a while.
Getting into college is really competitive...more so than even 5 years ago. ? I worked as a school counselor for the past 2 years and this came up quite a bit. ?What you need to find out is what's the school policy regarding class drops. ?Regardless of the type of class most schools have this. ?In our district a student had 2 weeks to drop from the beginning of the semester. ?If not, they had to stay. ?Your mom can go to the school board, but then again they may just refer her back to the policy. ?I would recommend just sticking it out and waiting until 2nd semester to drop. ?Her counselor at that point will just have to move her schedule around if its in the middle of the schedule. ?
Another thing to consider is her college application. ?If she isn't going to take it 2nd semester, she has to make sure she doesn't put it on the application. ? We have had students apply for college and drop a class after they applied and at the end of the year, when the school reviews final transcripts and sees that they didn't actually take that course, they rescind their offer. ? Like chocolatelvr said, she will also get that additional point because it's an AP course and if she has a C, it's considered a B.
?Hope this helps!
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