Sooo. Today (technically yesterday) the sophomores got their class ranks and cumulative GPA. (the fish will get them tomorrow, technically today)
For those of you who don't know, GPA is a grade point average. It's a small, tiny number. You get a different GPA for each class, and they're averaged together each semester for the semester GPA. Some schools have different systems, instead of semesters, but I'm pretty sure the majority of school is the US at least use GPA.
Our school does weighted GPA, meaning that an AP class would have higher GPA possibilities than a regulars class.
So, in a regs class, a 100 gets you a 4.0, while the same grade in an honors class earns you a 4.5. But in an AP class, a 100 will get you a 5.0.
And class rank is what number you are out of your graduating class, based on GPA. 1 being the best.
Soo.
My GPA, right off the sheet, for last year and first semester of this year is 3.9260869. And my class rank is 186 out of 917.
Decent, but not top 10% decent.
But now, I'm going to get to my real point: all the drama that results from this GPA.
Now, the district my school is in is a good district. Like, one of the best in the country for a public school.
And my high school? Dear god, it's insane.
You can not make it through a day without hearing the word "GPA" at least once. And once is minimal.
But yeah. At my school, there's this constant, never ending panic about GPA and class rank. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but we're experts. Professionals. We could make millions if this was a job. And I'm not exaggerating. The kids who are like in the double digits complain when their grade falls below a ninety seven.
No joke.
But it's really, really, really bothering me, y'know? Just this constant obsession with it. I have a 186, which is pretty darn good.
But at the same time, when I told my mom, I burst into tears, because I didn't want her to get mad at me. I made her swear not to before I told her.
But I hate the fact that even though I don't want to care, I have to. And I hate the fact that kids who really try get depressed when they're not good enough.
What really makes me mad, though, is just how unfair this system is in my eyes. Kids who take all regulars classes beat kids in all honors and AP classes.
Like, our regulars classes -- they're EASY. Especially core subjects. World Geography last year --- I was honestly bored to death in that class because all I had to do in the class was to pay attention whenever the teacher said something would be on the test.
Our honors classes honestly are a step up. They're more challenging than one expects an honors class to be honestly. Either AP World History is easy or Honors English is hard, but the two of those classes are at a pretty similar level.
Therefore, I find that the .5 GPA boost isn't worth the honors class, if that's the only factor you're considering.
But the AP class is worth it.
So..ehh.
But I kinda wanted to know what your school does.
Like...is it a similar system to my school? Is there the same grade panic? Sleep losing, life sucking grade panic? What do you think of this obsession with grades?
Oh. And I majorly apologize for this big block of text.
For those of you who don't know, GPA is a grade point average. It's a small, tiny number. You get a different GPA for each class, and they're averaged together each semester for the semester GPA. Some schools have different systems, instead of semesters, but I'm pretty sure the majority of school is the US at least use GPA.
Our school does weighted GPA, meaning that an AP class would have higher GPA possibilities than a regulars class.
So, in a regs class, a 100 gets you a 4.0, while the same grade in an honors class earns you a 4.5. But in an AP class, a 100 will get you a 5.0.
And class rank is what number you are out of your graduating class, based on GPA. 1 being the best.
Soo.
My GPA, right off the sheet, for last year and first semester of this year is 3.9260869. And my class rank is 186 out of 917.
Decent, but not top 10% decent.
But now, I'm going to get to my real point: all the drama that results from this GPA.
Now, the district my school is in is a good district. Like, one of the best in the country for a public school.
And my high school? Dear god, it's insane.
You can not make it through a day without hearing the word "GPA" at least once. And once is minimal.
But yeah. At my school, there's this constant, never ending panic about GPA and class rank. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but we're experts. Professionals. We could make millions if this was a job. And I'm not exaggerating. The kids who are like in the double digits complain when their grade falls below a ninety seven.
No joke.
But it's really, really, really bothering me, y'know? Just this constant obsession with it. I have a 186, which is pretty darn good.
But at the same time, when I told my mom, I burst into tears, because I didn't want her to get mad at me. I made her swear not to before I told her.
But I hate the fact that even though I don't want to care, I have to. And I hate the fact that kids who really try get depressed when they're not good enough.
What really makes me mad, though, is just how unfair this system is in my eyes. Kids who take all regulars classes beat kids in all honors and AP classes.
Like, our regulars classes -- they're EASY. Especially core subjects. World Geography last year --- I was honestly bored to death in that class because all I had to do in the class was to pay attention whenever the teacher said something would be on the test.
Our honors classes honestly are a step up. They're more challenging than one expects an honors class to be honestly. Either AP World History is easy or Honors English is hard, but the two of those classes are at a pretty similar level.
Therefore, I find that the .5 GPA boost isn't worth the honors class, if that's the only factor you're considering.
But the AP class is worth it.
So..ehh.
But I kinda wanted to know what your school does.
Like...is it a similar system to my school? Is there the same grade panic? Sleep losing, life sucking grade panic? What do you think of this obsession with grades?
Oh. And I majorly apologize for this big block of text.