Get Going Workshops

by Joanne Levy-Prewitt

A Bad Semester Grade Can Be A Valuable Learning Experience

Q: My son just got his first semester grades and learned that he got a poor grade in his AP math class. He had A's and B's on all his tests, and a B on his final exam, but he forgot to turn in many of his homework assignments for the semester. Though his school issues progress reports during the semester, I was not informed that he was behind on his assignments. His teacher weights homework heavily, and despite good grades on his tests and final exam, he was given a C for the semester. He has now turned in all his missing work, and has requested that his grade be revised.

I feel that the policy of weighting homework is unfair. I am worried that this poor grade, especially if he doesn't raise it by the end of the year, will hurt his chances of admission to a selective college. He is a junior, and this is the only C on his transcript. What do colleges think when they see a C in a tough course? Should I get involved and try to help him get his grade changed? He's also thinking of dropping this class. How will that look to colleges?

A: There are so many issues at play here that I'm not sure where to begin. Let's start with the fact that you weren't informed about your son's missing work. Although his teacher was remiss in notifying you of your son's missed assignments, your son knew they were missing. You could make the argument that you would have helped him get back on track if you knew, but that's a slippery slope. Do you want your son to become independent? Does he often need you to remind him to do, or turn in, his work? Is he too busy with other activities, or does he struggle with organizational skills? These are the real issues here.

I think it's great that your son is trying to negotiate this problem on his own. He should learn to advocate for himself whenever possible, and I imagine that he will be pleased if he resolves this independently of you. It's always tempting to swoop in and fix things for our children, but your son made some errors in judgment, and now he is paying the consequences. I call this a life lesson. If you told me that this class was too difficult for him or that he was struggling, I'd have a different response. But he is doing well on his tests. He's either overbooked, or has organizational issues, and he has learned the hard way that rules are enforced.

However, I often bristle when I hear that teachers are asked to change grades. If the teacher made a genuine mistake on the report card, then that is one thing, but grades are given based on information at the time of the grading, and subsequent information shouldn't really change that.

Selective colleges don't like C's. They'll tell you that they evaluate applicants based on a variety of factors, but if they ever opened up their files to the public, a "C" would be a rare sighting. Each year, they get thousands of applicants with perfect grades and perfect scores. If they accept a student with a C, it's because she or he is phenomenal in some way other than GPA.

If your son applies to a selective college, he should consider addressing this issue in one of his essays. Colleges will look at his transcript and wonder what happened, and an honest, straightforward, non-whiny, non-accusatory explanation is best.

The decision to drop this class should not be made lightly. Since he is doing well on his tests, I think he should stick with the class and not retreat merely because of a poor semester grade. If he learns this lesson about the importance of homework, and pulls his grade up in the second semester, colleges will be impressed with his tenacity and that he learned something from this experience. Moreover, he will leave for college with some great life experience under his belt.

COPYRIGHT 2008 JOANNE LEVY-PREWITT