Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
She can still get into a decent college. She has a whole 3 semesters of grades to go! Who is this counselor telling you this stuff? Just adjust her schedule accordingly going forward, make sure she is taking the appropriate classes. She overreached this semester. They actually like to see kids challenge themselves, all she needs to do is dial it back.
Once more, I used to run a program to prepare undergrads for the med school application process and high school grades are definitely not an issue.
It's the counselors at the school where I teach who are telling me that colleges do not want to see C's in AP classes. They tell me that they will assume she's just not bright enough to handle them. I guess that is the logical assumption.
Her high school transcripts determines her options for premed and that, most definitely, impacts whether she gets into a good med school. There is an, unfortunate, domino effect here.
My mistake was not realizing that colleges have gotten this grade competitive. Back when I was in school, your GPA was only a minor portion of what determined what was open to you. I didn't even have a 2.0 but I had offers for both admissions and scholarships because my test scores were high.
It's the counselors at the school where I teach who are telling me that colleges do not want to see C's in AP classes. They tell me that they will assume she's just not bright enough to handle them. I guess that is the logical assumption.
Her high school transcripts determines her options for premed and that, most definitely, impacts whether she gets into a good med school. There is an, unfortunate, domino effect here.
My mistake was not realizing that colleges have gotten this grade competitive. Back when I was in school, your GPA was only a minor portion of what determined what was open to you. I didn't even have a 2.0 but I had offers for both admissions and scholarships because my test scores were high.
Well colleges don't want to see Cs on transcripts but that does not mean that nobody goes to a four year school if they have ever gotten a C. Scholarships are very difficult to obtain even when grades are stellar. Med schools care about college GPAs.
You have excellent state universities in your state. Her best bet is to go to the state U where she can get the best grades. Medical schools care about what your college GPA is and your MCAT scores. Where you go to undergrad is unimportant. They don't even care what your major is as long as you take the required classes to be admitted to medical school.
Do not let a school counselor talk you into the idea that your child's medical career is over just because she got a C in AP English in 10th grade.
It sounds like DD's HS guidance counselor was the same one that my sister had in the 1960s.
Even though my sister was tied for first place in a HS graduating class of over 600 students the guidance counselor told her that she "wasn't smart enough" to be successful in college (probably because she was female). When she was selected for Phi Beta Kappa my sister sent him a copy of the notification. She also sent him a copy of her final transcripts for both undergraduate and masters degrees. My sister had a perfect A average at a top ranked University.
Perhaps, your daughter may receive fewer scholarships but don't rule out medical because of one bad HS semester and the advice of a HS counselor.
It's the counselors at the school where I teach who are telling me that colleges do not want to see C's in AP classes. They tell me that they will assume she's just not bright enough to handle them. I guess that is the logical assumption.
Her high school transcripts determines her options for premed and that, most definitely, impacts whether she gets into a good med school. There is an, unfortunate, domino effect here.
My mistake was not realizing that colleges have gotten this grade competitive. Back when I was in school, your GPA was only a minor portion of what determined what was open to you. I didn't even have a 2.0 but I had offers for both admissions and scholarships because my test scores were high.
Check your PMs.
Also, I can tell you that the phenomenon of bright kids who have never been challenged hitting the wall when they finally are is not new. It usually happens freshman year in college. LOL! It's actually a good thing she's getting this out of the way now. Now she will already know how to operate at her top potential.
If it were her high school counselor telling her to take med school off the table, then YOU would be the one who should be outraged. She's a high school sophomore who has been accelerated in order to get her to learn how to struggle. This is exactly the goal. If you discourage her, she'll quit believing in herself.
We had our daughter start kindergarten at age 4, which has caused a ripple effect throughout her schooling. Some good, some not so good. She didn't have straight A's in high school. She didn't make qualifying scores on any of her 4 AP classes. She was not able to do dual enrollment. Her ACT score wasn't all that great. She went on to college and chose not to enter the Honor's College. She made a C in theater her freshman year that took her six additional A's in order to get her GPA up to a 3.75. Her MCAT score wasn't great either. But because she learned how to manage her time, and because she has an incredible work ethic, she was able to graduate at 21 with two bachelor's degrees, one in biology, the other in psychology. She served as a TA and taught a freshman class as a senior, she worked on several different research projects, and her summer internship working in the med school neuroscience lab led to a year-long job that all combined to give her a strong medical school application. She didn't get into any top schools, but she was a shoe-in at our local med school, where she was elected secretary of her class, and where she has distinguished herself in many other ways. None of her other friends or colleagues got in the same year, even those with higher grades and more research experience. Some of them had applied to 20 schools or were making their fifth or sixth annual applications. They weren't thrilled about her getting in on her first try. If she had been judged on her grades in high school, she would never have made it, but the admissions committee members see each applicant as an individual and judge them on their own merits.
Every student is an individual. Never tell her what she can't do. Better to tell her what the obstacles will likely be if she chooses to take the hard road. Imagine how she would feel if her counselor told her she didn't have what it takes to be a doctor. Then imagine how much worse it would hurt to have her own mother tell her that. Be her biggest cheerleader at the same time that you help provide her with the experiences that will help her dream come true. The summer before our daughter's senior year, I insisted that she take part in a week-long Health Careers Camp sponsored by a non-profit Health Careers organization. It was not a good experience overall. It was badly organized, and the other students were mostly from the city's vo-tech center interested in nursing-related professions rather than medical school. There was a little bit of shadowing, but not anything really inspiring. Yet being able to put that on her med school application as the first practical step toward her training made her realize that it was good to have done it, even though it could have been much better.
Support your daughter and begin helping her get into a hospital careers group, do volunteer work, and start job shadowing. Those experiences will make it easier for her to understand why the things that she is learning at school are so important.
My husband is a physician, and says he was a terrible student in school until after college, even. He certainly had Cs in high school and in college. He failed calculus 4 times. After college he went in the Navy, where he discovered that he is actually brighter than most folks (trust me, this is true -- he is scary-smart.) He got an MS degree, then after a bit applied and was accepted to med school.
He is a great doctor, and like I said, is super bright. He has so much space in his head for stuff that it freaks me out. He will talk ad naseum about quantum physics and history and music theory in addition to his medical knowledge. Yikes.
Her load is very heavy right now. Seriously, I never had a college course that was as much work as this AP History class is and I survived engineering school. If it weren't for grades counting for so much, I'd chalk this up to a good learning experience for her WRT managing her time and workload and learning to study effectively. After this class, anything they throw at her in college will seem like a cake walk.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If it weren't for grades counting for so much, I'd chalk this up to a good learning experience for her WRT managing her time and workload and learning to study effectively. After this class, anything they throw at her in college will seem like a cake walk.
