Final Grades/GPA thread/School/University Discussion

[Duckster]

Anyone From Ontario?

Here, Universities only look at your top 6 grade 12 marks including all prerequisites to the program. Mine were:

1st Semester:
World History 87% (A)
Sociology 89% (A)
Canadian and International Law 88% (A)

2nd Semester (still haven't finished yet):
Food & Nutrition 92% (A+)
Writer's Craft 85% (A) Will very likely drop since I did shit on my ISU
English 83% (A-) Could go either way after finals

I also got an 84% in Data Management last semester and 72% in Environmental Studies but English is a pre-req for almost all University programs, so I put that instead. I failed so many classes in highschool, so I'm content with my final grades.

We don't do the whole GPA thing here, but those marks would translate roughly to a 3.5 or something like that, wouldn't they?

I'll be attending University of Toronto in September for linguistics. Should be interesting. If you look at my classes you'll notice I'm not a math/science person. No practical career path for the win!

 

[BlakBlastoise]

Grades don't mean a thing about what a person knows, so i don't really think they are very important. I always got fairly "meh" grades (always did just enough to get a 3.0 GPA or 80% average) and i didnt really know much of what i was supposed to know. My brother on the other hand, "falconpwnch" as he is known here, always got shit grades, like straight F's maybe one D if he was lucky. He always knows pretty much everything he;s supposed to at his grade level. He even took a test as a sophomore in high school so that he is exsempt from ever going back to school. He passed it very easily even though none of his teachers thought he could get even close. They based their judgement on grades, not his knowlege.

The same thing kind of applies to jobs here in the US. The employers always pick the person who has the most qualifications and references. Not the person who is best at what they do. That's a different topic though, so i'll stop at that.

 

[CarltheChemist]

I just got my masters in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT

I didn't realize MIT had an aerospace program, I thought we were one of the only schools in the Northeast that had one.

Anyways, I just finished my last 2 quarters of my freshman year in our schools Chemistry program, and I did pretty decent.

Chem 3 & 4: B
Calc 3 & 4: A
Philosophy: B
Music Histroy: NR (no record- basically an F that doesn't appear on my transcript)

Good grades- not great but good enough. As we like to say: C's get degrees!

 

[animenagai]

Can I ask you guys something? Are you kids known to be the smarter ones in class, or are these grades pretty much the average?

 

[chenman333]

I'm on the smarter side, top decile.

 

[Bass]

I have to say, I am a little bothered by some of these posts... Not so much the large percentage of relatively great report cards being posted but by the fact that so many people in here seem so anxious to get in to some classy, ivy league college.

I was a relatively good student in high school and took mostly honors classes, but unlike most of my fellow classmates, I wasn't striving to get the highest grade, join the most student organizations, or get admitted into a highly selective private school.

While on the subject of the college application process, let me tell you a funny story. In my AP Statistics class, we started the year off with a survey as to how many colleges each of the students were applying to. When everyone turned them in, the teacher went on about how in past years, there would be typically one outlier in the survey results. Most of the students in my class applied to at least 5 colleges. Some applied to as many as 12! But me? I was the outlier the teacher was talking about. I applied to just 1 college (University of Illinois), and got admitted too. And despite the fact that my family members were critical of my methods, I don't regret it in the slightest.

I honestly could not stand it when everyone else in my AP classes would complain about getting "3 hours of sleep" or "skipping dinner" because they had too much work. And, despite all of that, an astoundingly small percentage of them got into their first choice school, even though most of them had nearly flawless resumes.

Even if you did manage to get into a school like, say, Yale, do you really think the education you are gonna get there is light-years ahead of what you can find elsewhere? Of course not. All you are really getting is an overpriced school with a pretty campus full of rich snobs.

Yeah, I am starting to rant a little too much. But I want to make a point in that being such a large overachiever isn't really worth it in the end. Of course you should at least put some degree of effort into your course work, but stressing yourself out so much is unnecessary.

 

[Deleted User 33526]

4.0 ALL YEAR!!!

I attempted to fail band but failed at failing.

 

[chenman333]

Even if you did manage to get into a school like, say, Yale, do you really think the education you are gonna get there is light-years ahead of what you can find elsewhere? Of course not. All you are really getting is an overpriced school with a pretty campus full of rich snobs.

Its not the actual education that makes you want to go to an Ivy League. Its the brand name; like it or not, people who get into the Ivies are usually as good as it gets. Obviously there are exceptions due to powerful legacies, athletic recruits, tec. but most people who get into Ivies are absolutely amazing people who have unbelievable achievements. It basically "proves" to people you mean business before they even know you. It makes success a hell of a lot easier. Look at the justices on the Supreme Court; its an Ivy League monopoly. Top law firms, top business firms all look for Ivy league grads almost exclusively. Going to an Ivy for undergrad makes it easier to get into a top grad school. The idea behind going to an Ivy is that success begets success; much like how a seeded player gets an easier draw in the tournament, working hard to get into an Ivy opens up more opportunities.

As for overpriced and full of rich snobs, thats so 50s. Top schools like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, etc. are need blind; they will cover the full demonstrated need. Under around 80k, its basically a free ride. Between 80 to 180k, the tuition is around 10% of income. Ivies are usually the best deals around, unless you really make a lot of money, in which case it doesn't matter. And yes, there are rich snobs in Ivies, but when you consider that 78% apply to financial aid and around 73% get it, you know that the vast majority of people there aren't the rich snobs you imagine they are.

As for the lack of sleep, the work, etc. I love rather enjoy it. Nothing gives me the sense of achievement like getting a whole shitload of work done in a night after cups upon cups of coffee. Its a pretty useful habit to develop for later in life if you have a difficult job.

 

[KidFlash]

Wow, all those A's people have make me feel dumb now v_v. I remember back in elementary school, I used to get all A's like most of you do now lol, but now that I'm in high school, I just get straight B's with occasional A. I still haven't got my report card yet but my GPA is somewhere in the 3.2-3.5 range.

Grades don't mean a thing about what a person knows, so i don't really think they are very important. I always got fairly "meh" grades (always did just enough to get a 3.0 GPA or 80% average) and i didnt really know much of what i was supposed to know. My brother on the other hand, "falconpwnch" as he is known here, always got shit grades, like straight F's maybe one D if he was lucky. He always knows pretty much everything he;s supposed to at his grade level. He even took a test as a sophomore in high school so that he is exsempt from ever going back to school. He passed it very easily even though none of his teachers thought he could get even close. They based their judgement on grades, not his knowlege.

The same thing kind of applies to jobs here in the US. The employers always pick the person who has the most qualifications and references. Not the person who is best at what they do. That's a different topic though, so i'll stop at that.

My friend was the same way as your brother. He did no work so he got very low grades but he's probably the smartest kid in my grade level. He's always participating in class and gets like every question right but is really lazy xD.

 

[RaikouLover]

Its not the actual education that makes you want to go to an Ivy League. Its the brand name; like it or not, people who get into the Ivies are usually as good as it gets. Obviously there are exceptions due to powerful legacies, athletic recruits, tec. but most people who get into Ivies are absolutely amazing people who have unbelievable achievements. It basically "proves" to people you mean business before they even know you. It makes success a hell of a lot easier. Look at the justices on the Supreme Court; its an Ivy League monopoly. Top law firms, top business firms all look for Ivy league grads almost exclusively. Going to an Ivy for undergrad makes it easier to get into a top grad school. The idea behind going to an Ivy is that success begets success; much like how a seeded player gets an easier draw in the tournament, working hard to get into an Ivy opens up more opportunities.

Yeah to an extent. But I agree with where Bass is coming from. Undergraduate Ivy League isn't all that different from going to the University of Illinois and the University of Delaware as far as employers are concerned (both schools are considered "public Ivies" meaning best public the country has to offer :)). I mean Ivy League supporters will argue how much better the opportunties are, but really its post-graduate work that will matter. And for the record, going to an Ivy League school now really is just to say "I went to Yale." Your 2.5 at Yale doesn't mean your better than the kid with the 3.8 at University of Illinois...

 

[Tangerine]

Even if you did manage to get into a school like, say, Yale, do you really think the education you are gonna get there is light-years ahead of what you can find elsewhere? Of course not. All you are really getting is an overpriced school with a pretty campus full of rich snobs.

I can probably make a case for University of Chicago having pretty much one pretty amazing set of courses that are "light years" ahead of other schools... at least, if you're going to challenge yourself and take the tougher courses that most kids even here tend to avoid.

Then again, I only applied to University of Chicago :P

And for the record, going to an Ivy League school now really is just to say "I went to Yale." Your 2.5 at Yale doesn't mean your better than the kid with the 3.8 at University of Illinois...

It's probably impossible to get a 2.5 in yale with all that grade inflation ^_^

Anyway... Grades don't measure how smart you are... so I don't know why people are always whining about that. Grades measure how willing you are to work with the system and excel within it. This is why employers will look at grades. I rather have a person who is hard working within the system working for me rather than some loose cannon who refuses to do work or can't cope with a system.

 

[Firestorm]

Can I ask you guys something? Are you kids known to be the smarter ones in class, or are these grades pretty much the average?

The United States has a pretty easy grading system as far as I can see. Although it's anecdotal, I remember my friend moving down, I forget which state, and getting about 10% higher in every single course. He was already a fairly smart kid as far as booksmarts went. Smogon will also skew a bit higher as far as academics go. Most game forums do.

Oh and I agree with aamto. Man up whiners.

 

[chenman333]

Well going to an Ivy School does help a lot in going to a good graduate school (imagine admissions comparing the kid with a 4.0 from Princeton and the kid with a 4.0 from say, U of Delaware). The Ivies still have some of the best graduate schools around, and its much easier to get into those coming from another Ivy than coming from a public university. And obviously a good graduate school will help lead to higher success as a doctor, lawyer, etc.

And yes, U Chicago is pretty hardcore. Very intellectual people if that is your sort of thing though. Not for the people looking for a place like Brown or Stanford; they are a bit more laid back.

 

[Skull Duelist]

I'm in my Junior Year of high school. I don't know my exact grades yet, but other than my English class (which my teacher intentionally did not put in my 200 point final, and I got a C - because of it), I have good grades. My report card hasn't been mailed to me yet, so I don't know my exact grades yet.

My schedule for next year:
AP Probability and Statistics
AP Government
AP English Literature
Law and Justice
Current Issues
and a bunch of other History courses that I don't remember the names of at the moment.

My Potential College Majors: English Literature, Psychology, Journalism

Also, for those of you who are in college, I have a question. My Algebra II teacher keeps telling us that we will need to take a math course our senior year (at my High School, it's optional) to be ready for the one required college math course. Is this true? Should I take a math course, or would AP Probability and Statistics work?

 

[Sephiroth32194]

High School Freshman

Theatre Arts I - 94
Spanish II - 95
Advanced English - 89
Advanced American History - 90
Algebra I - 85
Biology I - 97
Debate I - 99

This year wasn't too great, basically because of Algebra. I'm really bad at math :/ But overall I'm really happy :D

 

[Skull Duelist]

I love how a lot of people consider a 'B' a grade that can be improved on.

 

[Tangerine]

Is it really as academically hardcore and soul-crushing as its reputed to be, or is that just its reputation around my school?

It's not terribly bad unless you do it to yourself (IE: take Inquiry Based Calculus or something like that). On a usual course load with the Core, you're probably doing 1~2 problem sets a week combined with about 150 pages of reading... which isn't that bad. Things are just accelerated since we work in 10 week quarters so midterms/finals come up really quickly. I don't think it's that bad... but that's probably just me :P

For general advice, General Chemistry seems to destroy everyone, so I highly recommend taking the AP chem exam and getting a 5 on it if you're not going to major in any Physical Sciences (if you are then there's really no point other than to get into the higher leveled courses)

 

[Stathakis]

at our school, they make freshmen take physics! "oh, you'll learn the calculus as you go along." they also have this weirdass course called "humanities" which is like english and history combined but for the IB program rather than ap, so like whatever. fucking french 4 as a freshman killed me. They need to start offering greek as an IB class

Advanced Physics - 96
Sociology - 94
Advanced Geometry - 99
Music Theory - 92
Humanities 1 L - 94
Humanities 1 F - 93
French IV - 90
Jazz Band - 99

 

[Skull Duelist]

I really wished that they offered Sociology at my school. = [

 

[EspyJoel]

The United States has a pretty easy grading system as far as I can see. Although it's anecdotal, I remember my friend moving down, I forget which state, and getting about 10% higher in every single course. He was already a fairly smart kid as far as booksmarts went. Smogon will also skew a bit higher as far as academics go. Most game forums do.

Oh and I agree with aamto. Man up whiners.

The Grading system doesn't look that simple to me, its pretty simple in England as its just A*, A, B, etc but people talking about getting 4.0, etc is confusing me, but probably just because I'm from England not USA.

 

[Burn Jack]

The Grading system doesn't look that simple to me, its pretty simple in England as its just A*, A, B, etc

The A* at A-level seems to be causing plenty of confusion, mind.

 

[Ulquiorra]

Man I haven't posted in a long while. Well here it is.

AP US History - A
Honors Physics - A (this one was an easy A)
Honors Contemporary Composition - A (had fun in this class!)
AP Art History - A (I never knew how boring art history was!)
AP Calculus AB - A
Academic Decathlon - A (Easy A but it's a ton of dedication if you've taken it)

Just a question: Anyone heard or participated in Academic Decathlon?

 

[yoshi!]

The A* at A-level seems to be causing plenty of confusion, mind.

Not the way that I've seen it. At AS-level, you need to get an A (80% overall) and at A2-Level, you need to get 90%. That's all there is to it.

 

[Polis4rule]

I don't have a fun schedule for next year.

IB Spanish (equivalent to Spanish 5) SL
IB History of the Americas SL
ITGS HL (lol, biggest waste of a class ever; should have never taken it)
World Lit SL
Band Honors (lol again)
Calc BC HL
IB Physics HL

But w/e. Just hoping to get into Georgia Tech and get some money from them.

 

[akuchi]

Not the way that I've seen it. At AS-level, you need to get an A (80% overall) and at A2-Level, you need to get 90%. That's all there is to it.

Is that what it's gonna be when it comes in, and are you sure you've got it the right way round? It's a lot easier to get 80% at AS than 90% at A2..