Posts by hiddendriver34

Look, I know he’s messed around with smoking a few times with his buddies after school, and I know he had a beer once or twice.

It doesn't really rattle me that much, though I definitely hope he doesn't turn into a full-blown smoker or a heavy drinker. 😬
Knowing the kid, I honestly don't think he will.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Regarding the ABCD format—I went through something almost identical when I was sitting for my last certification. It was a grueling 200-question exam spread over four hours. They have you under such strict security, too; they do a full sweep of your area with a camera and run you through a metal detector before you can even sit down. You can't even sneak in your own little pack of tissues 😂. On top of all that, you have to finish a prep course through a major prep firm and then spend about three months grinding away at the material. There is absolutely no way to bluff your way through if you haven't truly mastered the content. Some of those questions are so dense that just reading and processing a single one can take over a minute. So, while everyone is busy complaining that the ABCD style is just making things needlessly complicated 😂, I think the real issue is simpler... a test needs to be designed properly from the ground up ☕
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That goes without saying—you aren't going to pass your high school graduation exams by winging it either. Statistically speaking, if you just guess, you'll land a 25% accuracy rate. If you get incredibly lucky, maybe 30%. That’s still nowhere near a passing grade. Even the entrance exams for the FBI use multiple-choice; naturally, you have to solve the problem on the scratch paper they give you first, and then bubble in the answer you calculated. Personally, I don't see any issue with those kinds of test formats whatsoever.

Susan James said:It looks like there are only a handful of entrance exams available, from what I can tell, and most of them seem to be centered around schools in the Chicago area.
I don't really count those as part of the standard process—you know, like applying to art school where you spend years preparing just to sit for an entrance exam. Or those dual-language programs where kids have to pass a proficiency test in the language of instruction, especially if they haven't been studying it since elementary school. To me, those feel like their own separate categories entirely.
I’ve noticed that these kids—our future students—really seem to have this incredible built-in resilience to stress. It’s actually quite impressive to watch. 😬

I think that external evaluation really hit the mark this time. It was exactly what we needed.
I honestly worry that this is all going to end up being just another standardized, cookie-cutter approach—basically an "Americanized" version of a massive, soul-crushing national exam. It feels like we’re heading toward that same kind of rigid, one-size-fits-all testing system we see everywhere else in the States.

I was just sitting here thinking about that whole situation, and honestly, it’s been on my mind quite a bit lately. It’s one of those things where you realize how much can change in an instant, right? I remember back when I was living in Chicago, I had a similar feeling during a major storm—everything felt a bit uncertain and heavy for a moment, but eventually, things settled down. It’s funny how life works like that sometimes. Just wanted to share that little thought! kaže:
I honestly think they’re just testing the waters here. It makes sense to me—if they spend the next couple of years being more flexible with how we handle high school graduations, it'll be much easier to roll out any major changes later on. It gives both the students and the parents some time to actually get used to a new way of doing things.

I think things will get a lot smoother once the teachers at our local elementary schools get used to kids asking that one inevitable question: "Is this going to be on the SAT?"
Ah, well, if that's the case, then we don't have to worry about learning it! No big deal. 🥳

Wait, why is having multiple-choice or objective questions considered a bad thing? 🤔 Is it really better to force someone to scribble down a word instead of just circling one? If someone doesn't know the answer or can't solve the problem, providing options doesn't help them at all. To them, every single option looks equally (un)logical. Besides, even on the SATs, you still have to write out two full essays that aren't multiple-choice. 😉

Olivia Smith2 said:I'm not quite sure—but shouldn't we just encourage them to get into MIT at all costs?

Honestly, I saw this coming a mile away.

😬

If they haven't listened to reason by next year, I might have to resort to some old-school discipline and maybe even a little bit of "tough love" therapy.

rowdypanther12 said:I’m already starting to feel a little slow sometimes, especially when my daughter shows me something she’s programmed or gets all excited about how her math teacher explained a concept in such a simple, clear way. 😂
Honestly, I can't make heads or tails of it either. It might as well be written in code. 😵
Not again—she’s just totally off base. Looking back at everything she’s said about where she wants to start her career, it's never been anything like a solid foundation in science or even a basic starting point.
Sure, maybe it'll round up to an 8, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen just yet.

Is the math program different?
Does hitting an A on the SAT require extra effort, or will I need to make up for it later once I'm actually in college?

Sometimes I actually try to answer him in Greek when he tells me about what they did in school, since I can't make heads or tails of any of it. 😂

(The thing is, I don't actually know Greek—I'm just mimicking him.)

I’m really pushing my oldest toward a math-heavy path—ideally aiming for MIOC, which is basically the gold standard around here. The problem is, he’s totally undecided and hasn't got a clue what he wants to do yet. I'm nudging him because the kid is a natural; math and physics just click for him instantly. There are some incredibly high-level careers in physics, and since he hasn't even seen a "B" on his report card—he's consistently at the top of his class—it feels like a waste not to go for it.

To be honest, people with mathematical minds are like exotic, fascinating plants to me. I’m definitely not one of them (and neither is my husband; our son likely inherited those genes too).

He actually shares a similar philosophy to Summer—he’s hesitant about MIOC because he’s terrified of being buried under a mountain of work and losing his free time. He’s also worried about getting in since he doesn't have a perfect 4.0 GPA. But like I mentioned in a previous post, if you aren't obsessed with maintaining a perfect average and your ambitions are more balanced, you don't necessarily have to kill yourself working once you get there.

Don't get me wrong, I’m not a helicopter parent. I give my kids plenty of room to make their own choices, but I am being pretty persistent about this one. I’ve got one more year to try and win him over. 🐔

rowdypanther12 said:To be honest, as a parent, my main priority is making sure the school isn't overwhelming. I want my kid to have enough free time for hanging out with friends, sports, and just relaxing. 😁
The stories I hear about certain prep schools—where kids are basically glued to tablets just to stay calm or are studying eight hours a day—are honestly pretty terrifying to me.
Of course, half of that is probably exaggerated; I know how much people blow things out of proportion, like those horror stories about elementary school curriculums being too advanced for kids to handle. Still, high school feels like such uncharted territory for me that I really need to do my homework and ask around. 😁

I honestly think this is just something perfectionists do when they’re desperately trying to cling to that high GPA they had back in middle school, even though they can't quite hack it anymore. If you just loosen up the standards a bit and accept that you don't always have to be the absolute best at everything, you won't feel the need to obsess over those standardized test scores in high school.

Look, I totally get it. High school honors programs can be an absolute gauntlet for kids who spent middle school coasting on nothing but inflated grades and participation trophies. If a student enters high school with average abilities—or even slightly below average—but their elementary school report card makes them look like a genius, they’re going to hit a massive wall. It’s a total reality check. Honestly, any parent with half a brain can look at their kid and realize pretty quickly whether they actually belong in that advanced track or if they're just set up for a burnout.

rowdypanther12 said:It's pretty much the same deal as those "good" elementary schools—at the end of the day, it really just comes down to how much a kid chooses to get out of it.

Look, I never said all schools were identical. What I'm saying is that it’s incredibly tough to find a reliable yardstick when you're an outsider trying to spot which school is truly "better" than the next. Every single one has teachers who are amazing and others who are... well, not. A lot of it really just comes down to luck and which specific teacher ends up in your classroom.

rowdypanther12 said:I don't agree either, though people have made much worse choices when picking a school (myself included).😂

What I'm actually wondering about is the distinction between a "good" prep school and a "bad" one—don't they all follow the same curriculum?
And is a general college-prep track the best route for kids who excel at both languages and math but haven't figured out what they want to major in yet?

1. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure myself. Usually, people judge a school based on how their students perform in academic competitions or their SAT scores. But it's a bit of a "chicken or the egg" situation, right? Are those schools actually better at teaching, or do they just happen to attract the smartest kids from the local elementary schools?

2. Yeah, definitely.

Back in the day, "classic" was basically code for the alternative crowd, but honestly, you’ll find every kind of subculture under one roof in any high school these days.

To me, that doesn't feel like the best way to decide which high school to go to.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Honestly, I don't get all this talk about end-of-year stress.
I also can't wrap my head around these different levels of graduation exams—like A, B, or C tiers. It feels totally unnecessary. Success should be measured by points or percentages, and finishing high school shouldn't be strictly tied to one specific exam; it should act more like a universal entrance standard for high schools.
In my opinion, a fair way to do it would be splitting the weight: 50% based on grades (not an average, obviously, just the last two years) and 50% based on the "graduation exam," or whatever they decide to call that final test. If a specialized vocational school needs a minimum threshold—say, at least 70% in math to get into a technical program—then they should just set that requirement.

Every school could easily set their entry bar low enough that you wouldn't even need a single point from the exam, relying solely on your GPA.

And if I’m being really picky, I don't see why a high school would need to come up with anything particularly special for their own entrance exams. The curriculum is standardized, so the questions should naturally stay within those bounds. 🙂

I'm totally with you on this. My only tweak would be that on the final exam, I'd want to test reading comprehension, math skills, and scientific literacy. Those are core life skills that actually develop over time. You can't just cram them into two months of studying, which would prevent people from just paying for overpriced, last-minute prep courses to game the system.

Susan James said:Just leave the religious education alone (there are plenty of Catholic schools already enough).

They actually scrapped points for a second foreign language about ten years ago, but interestingly, you could still take advanced Latin in classical academies if you had studied it in middle school. What's funny is nobody ever questioned whether all students actually have the chance to pick Latin in middle school. The usual argument was that not everyone has the opportunity to choose a second language, though based on the comments in the consultation, it seems some kids can pick three different languages as their "second" language!

As for computer science, I think the quality varies wildly from one school to the next (though that goes for foreign languages too), depending on who is teaching, who is enrolling, and whether they hand out easy A's just to keep the averages up. I know people whose kids skipped elective computer science because, after 5th grade, they realized the curriculum was way too slow for what they actually wanted to learn (those kids were more into algebra and stuff like that).
But it would be great if high schools offering an advanced computer science track, or vocational tech schools, had their own specific entrance exams for that subject. That would be a definite win.
That’s also why I think it’s so important that entrance exams aren't identical across the whole country. Schools should be allowed the autonomy to decide what they want to test and to design their own exams themselves. I see some pushback on this during the consultation, though—people are asking "what if a teacher knows the student personally and gives them easier questions?" 😂 Talk about having a lot of faith in teachers! 🥳

Look, I’m a professor myself, but that doesn’t mean I have blind faith in every single academic out there. 😉

We're talking about tens of thousands of individuals here. You're bound to find people who lack a moral compass, and let's be honest, nepotism is practically baked into our culture. I've even dealt with it firsthand—people expecting me to give "special treatment" to certain students just because of who their parents are, and then acting completely insulted when I don't play along.
And it's not just favoritism. I've heard stories about professors straight-up taking cash to write term papers for students. Someone like that isn't going to let high moral standards stop them from handing out exam questions under the table.

copperpuma11 said:From what I recall, the student submits a formal request to Nvidia and it usually gets approved. Once that happens, it isn't just a matter of goodwill anymore. Also, if memory serves, Home Depot typically releases those confirmations around November or December. The whole process takes a while.

Now, some schools might actually operate that way, but there’s no rule or requirement stating that the faculty board has to be the one making the final call on whether someone sticks to the agreement.

My partner is obsessed with afternoon classes, even though he’s aiming for a school that only runs morning sessions. I honestly don't get it. Why can't these schools just move the first period to 9:00 AM at the very least? It would make everything so much easier.

That’s just the professor being incredibly kind-hearted. Maybe there’s some elite tier of athletes mentioned in the official handbook that I’m completely oblivious to, but I’ve never personally dealt with an athlete who had to schedule special exam times like that.

@Michelle Nelson4, I’m right there with you on everything you said. That extra credit system is honestly such a headache because of that exact reason. If we actually lived in a wealthy nation where schools could afford all those programs I mentioned earlier—and if coaches actually had the budget to run hour-long sessions twice a week out in Key West or up on the Upper East Side—then maybe we could have a real conversation about whether those extra points are fair.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Regarding GPA and elective courses, I honestly don't get why they don't just mandate that the average is calculated solely based on core subjects, while electives stay separate. The way things are set up now, it feels like we're just demotivating kids who take those elective classes by letting it mess with their overall standing.

As for the sports credits, I think it’s pretty pointless that they only focus on school-sanctioned athletics. To be honest, schools shouldn't really care if a student spends three hours a day training at a local gym or just playing PlayStation. In my opinion, they should just stick to the core curriculum for 7th and 8th grade, and maybe offer extra credit toward high school entrance exams or graduation requirements. At the end of the day, there isn't really any reason to reward or penalize how someone chooses to spend their free time.

Now, if someone is pursuing extra education—whether it's sports, languages, music, or anything else—that *should* matter to schools, but only if every single student actually has an equal shot at accessing those opportunities.

rowdypanther12 said:I wanted to ask, does religion class count toward the GPA for high school?

Regarding second languages, isn't there an advantage to enrolling in a class where the instruction is actually in that language?
🤔

Everything counts.

It’s a weak incentive, though. They should at least allow students to take that extra language without it being graded for credit, so kids can learn purely for the love of it, letting teachers teach without all that intense academic pressure.

Sarah Hall53 said:You want to hear something truly ironic? If you look back about ten years ago, you could practically count on one hand the number of schools that didn't offer a second foreign language or computer science. Fast forward to today, and those days are long gone—you can basically walk into any school in the country and pick those two electives if you want to. And honestly, it’s about time, too... there aren't even any extra credit points being handed out for kids who spent four years stuck in the late afternoon shift just because they had to grind through an extra subject compared to everyone else.

The biggest irony here is that some students who finish with a solid B in an elective actually have a harder time getting into certain schools than a kid with the exact same grades who didn't take any electives at all and just stuck to the mandatory curriculum.

I don't have a definitive stance on the whole "extra points" debate.
On one hand, I really respect it when a kid shows genuine passion for something. I truly believe that students who go out of their way to develop diverse skills—whether that's sports or picking up a new language—should have an edge over the kids who just do the bare minimum required by the state and spend every spare second playing video games or hanging out in the woods.
On the other hand, I personally know at least two families who simply can't afford club sports, and like wanderingbadger44 mentioned, in many rural parts of the country, those kinds of programs don't even exist.
If we use those points, it basically becomes a reward for privileged kids, so I'm honestly stumped on what the right move is. 🤷

Actually, I do know the fix. Once they switch everyone to full-day schooling, let's just build an extra gym, a pool, and a music hall in every single school. Hire the staff and offer free activities tailored to whatever the kids are actually interested in. 😁

Susan James said:Honestly, this just feels really sad to me.
I really want to believe that in the high schools where kids are making these big life decisions, there are teachers who actually care about ensuring students walk in with a solid foundation—knowledge they’ll actually enjoy building upon.
I’d love to see them motivated enough to actually verify that knowledge before enrollment happens.

No matter how huge the workload is, I truly believe it pays off to check proficiency in subjects where the curriculum builds on itself;
It would mean less repetitive teaching, fewer gaps in student knowledge within the same classroom, and a much more productive environment for everyone involved.
It's just frustrating.

Totally. But look, there’s a whole side to this industry that people on the outside just don't get. For some teachers, it feels like they're carrying the entire weight of the school on their backs. They’re the ones teaching the core subjects that lead up to graduation, so everyone expects them to go the extra mile—more prep, more responsibility, more emotional labor. It’s constant. Meanwhile, you’ve got teachers on the complete opposite end of the spectrum who basically just clock in, do the bare minimum, and nobody ever asks anything extra of them.