Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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Needless to say the next five students in the class have taken all the AP classes they could. AND ARE A BIT MIFFED that she has taken the easy path to the goal. So she has few friends in school and states she doesn't really care. One might say she lacks warmth.


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If one of the other five students became valdictorian should he/she feel sorry for the ones that did not?

I dont know how the american school system work, but wount a higher gpa help her get into better schools, she may have been able to do well in the AP courses but this would lower her gpa. She realised that and did not take any AP couses this does not seem shortsighted to me. Taking the hardest course not thinking about the consequence would be the shortsighted think to do imo

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

Also, some colleges don't count Ap classes. University of Rochester is one I know of for sure..... and since I'm a guiadance counselor I should know more.

AP will eventually be going away anyways, and International Baccalaureates degrees will take its place.

This girls is also doing her high school a favor. By so obviously exploiting a loophole they will have to change the system. You should simply not be aloud to be Valedictorian without taking multiple AP classes.

And why are you hanging around with high school girls?

Ken

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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And why are you hanging around with high school girls?

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Duh.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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you cant really hate on this girl for playing the system.



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I am not hating her. I just think her goal was shortsighted. And I understand a high school freshman has very short sight. I struggle with the parents not wanting their freshman child to go for the most and best education available.
And I struggle with the system being so playable. I think AP classes should carry more weight. Yes there may be easier classes than others within the AP, good teachers and bad teachers in both groups, but it would still be fairer. There are gut courses everywhere but I see value in weighting.
And I think gambling four years of education for the scholarships is a bad gamble. One bad semester and one of the five kids behind her might have overtaken top spot. Then she has no top spot and is missing the knowledge that was available to her.

I found out a little more info today.
She is the youngest of 5 kids. The other four were all in top 5 of the class. Two took AP classes, two did not. There might well be a family dynamic in play.

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The knowledge is extremely overblown. She can always catch up on the knowledge later, if she feels like it. A great deal of the knowledge won't even be useful to her in college, and by the time college is done, will be as useless as if it were never possible to accumulate at all. It's very far from an intellectual society we are living in.

What this girl did was saw her chance and took it. If there are flaws in the system, it is exactly the wrong thing to do to blame the individual for being smart and practical enough to play them. What deserves criticism is the system, not the person who in self defense works it properly so she doesn't get screwed.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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I don't like your school's system at all. There's already the prom king and prom queen for that, not to mention the entirety of the rest of high school. Your school's system basically makes the distinction of being valedictorian meaningless.

And 80% average is enough to qualify? Not impressive on that front either.

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the only responsibility of a valedictorian is make a speech at graduation correct? How is getting the best mark a good qualification for that? How is a vote not?

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That's a super bizarre way of looking at what being a valedictorian means. You might as well comment on the importance of her wearing a special hat.

Which basically it seems like you are.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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My high school is so awesome that we had 2 valedictorians. There were only 50 graduation seniors.

Valedictorians tend to be pretty boring people imo.

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Definition of small sample size - even though yours is weirdly doubled!

WTF the definition of accomplishment seems to be buried in touchy-feely wish wash. At least you haven't argued -- so far! -- that being valedictorian should depend on how much you are wuvved. Or good looking, or whatever.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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Her parents have done her a disservice by not insisting she work to her capabilities.

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Her parents are letting her lead her own life. If she wanted to take AP courses, and think for herself, and learn more than one side, she could have. The only thing the parents should have done was say, "I think you'd do great in this class", nothing more.

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I don't know. I don't have kids, but don't they tend to not always have the best judgement, often misplace priorities and look to their parents to help prepare them well for life?

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Insisting was the wrong word. I should have used encouraged. I personally would have encouraged or bribed....



Parents who think a 14 year old should be leading their own life are mistaken. They are just beginning to think for themselves. It is a tricky age where you are beyond the " Because I said so!" age and into a more subtle form of guidance where you leave them thinking they actually came to the right conclusion on their own. Very tricky...

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Parents forcing high schoolers to do stuff really pisses me off. I don't know, my parents didn't force me to do anything, I chose AP(ish, it's actually IB) for myself. They never talked to me about drugs, I don't do drugs. Etc etc etc

I find it amazing, the amount of students in my college classes that still can't think for themselves.

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Even among the wisest, everything is still case by case.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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I don't like your school's system at all. There's already the prom king and prom queen for that, not to mention the entirety of the rest of high school. Your school's system basically makes the distinction of being valedictorian meaningless.

And 80% average is enough to qualify? Not impressive on that front either.

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the only responsibility of a valedictorian is make a speech at graduation correct? How is getting the best mark a good qualification for that? How is a vote not?

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That's a super bizarre way of looking at what being a valedictorian means. You might as well comment on the importance of her wearing a special hat.

Which basically it seems like you are.

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We also voted for our valedictorian, and any other method seems silly to me. Almost every year the person voted in was someone that had made friends with almost everybody in the grade. This generally made the speech more entertaining and more meaningful to the graduating class then what the top marks person would be.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

um, voting for valedictorian seems retarded to me. best grades should get valedictorian, funny speech can come from class president.

Re: I met a girl last night, she is a high school senior
 

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I don't like your school's system at all. There's already the prom king and prom queen for that, not to mention the entirety of the rest of high school. Your school's system basically makes the distinction of being valedictorian meaningless.

And 80% average is enough to qualify? Not impressive on that front either.

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