Posts by boldbadger1

Jose Wells3 said:Look, I’ve got a C+ on her report card, but her GPA is sitting at a 3.5.

Since the second semester kicked off, she's been working like a total beast. She’s actually applying everything she learned in the first half, making real progress... and frankly, I'm rewarding that effort the way it deserves.

Heh, you couldn't be more different from my daughter's math teacher. We actually had a little deal—she and I agreed that if the kid hit a wall but made significant strides in the second semester (since she started with a flat B), she’d earn her way up to an A in math. Well, she did everything by the book—following all the JFK-style standards, putting together presentations, even solving extra problems for homework—only to have the teacher ask, "Why did you even bother solving those? I didn't assign them." 😬

I mean, she’s pulled straight As in basically every other core subject, so that B in math isn't going to tank her college applications—even though it's the one grade she worked hardest to pull up. We just ended up having this conversation about how even at a "good" school, you can run into people who simply don't know how to value hard work. It's probably good for her to get that perspective early—to realize the world isn't always sunshine and rainbows.🙂

Ethan Jones5 said:That's a different user entirely; there are two different Zooms on here.☕

You don't even know who banned you, you poor thing.☕

As for me—well, some random Zoom call just absolutely nuked my system. I call it the "Zoom-Zoom" effect—though honestly, I couldn't care less whether it’s a left-side or right-side Zoom that hits you—it wiped me out for six straight months. Just... gone.

I’m just incredibly grateful that we actually have someone stepping up to defend this forum against the nonsense from rapidstag2—whom I honestly want to thank from the bottom of my heart—and, of course, I owe a huge thanks to our colleague BoNber as well.

Charles Ramos4 said:Quick question for the current mod team. Is there any chance one of our regular users—specifically an Atlanta United fan—could step up as a moderator for this corner of the site? I feel like it would be more balanced if someone from our side handled this section, especially since the discussion about the Seattle Sounders is being moderated by a Sounders supporter, and the Portland Timbers thread is run by a Timbers fan. It might be worth mentioning that the vast majority of active posters on this entire board are actually Atlanta fans, so it feels a little strange that we don't have at least one moderator who also roots for the team.

I mean, why isn't Bryan Adams6 a moderator? I recently got slapped with a six-month ban myself, which was... well, let's just say an experience.

Garcia:

I was actually in talks with some folks over at Alavesa—they were the ones who first introduced me to the Istria region as part of their latest project. They kept showing me these glossy renders of the stadium and some sort of luxury campsite, and honestly, on paper, the whole thing looked incredible.

Turns out, reality isn't quite matching the sales pitch, but whatever. I had already made the trip, so I wasn't about to just pack up and head home.

What a mess. 🕺

Maybe even Robi took over Rudes based on those Kranjce renders. 😬

Full interview here

bluebison47 said:Well, looking at the flight path and those ExxonMobil towers... I guess this plane is likely heading toward Dublin or maybe somewhere in Ireland.😢

Nah, he's just circling back toward Florida because someone had the nerve to insult him at a roadside diner in Tennessee.

bluebison47 said:POV: William Gomez5 and me, Spring 2025. 👋

Honestly, I’ll probably end up joining you guys out there somewhere eventually. 🙂

northerntiger9 said:Looking at the SER data—at least from the perspective of RI—it’s clear that grades spiked across all grade levels during the COVID era; they definitely weren't this high before. But since last year, things have been trending down again, and now that we're fully back to in-person learning without any isolation requirements, everything will likely just settle back to normal.

My high school professor actually explained this exact thing to me once—he was predicting that general GPAs would drop during admissions season because we had spent an entire year stuck behind screens. And honestly, based on what I'm seeing, average grades are definitely taking a hit this year compared to those online years.

Donna Kim6 said:I’ve got a high opinion of Bjelanović as an SD, but I’m dying to know who he picks for coach.

They’ll probably just ship another kid over from Alaves to "develop"—though if you ask me, his influence on the coaching staff isn't nearly as significant as his impact on the roster. It seems more likely they use those shared resources with Alaves to scout and pull in specific players rather than management decisions.

It’s probably for the best that Beljo is there—honestly, if the front office decides to let Livaja go through some ridiculous fan vote ☕
... well, we definitely have someone capable of stepping up to fill that spot.

mellowskipper said:

I don't really have anything to say about albundy0009—not that I’ve been following their posts closely, mind you—but if there was supposed to be a point here, I suppose I missed it. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Or maybe there isn't much to pay attention to. It's hard to tell sometimes, I guess. mellowskipper says:
I completely agree with you there—and honestly, I’m struggling to see how someone like that would ever deserve priority for high school admission over a student who pulls a 4.0 GPA through sheer grit and self-study. It just doesn't add up. But then again, maybe that's exactly what you're advocating for with this whole system of yours and all those little comments you make. I guess that's just how you see it.

The person who mentioned taking time off was pretty explicit about their reasons—it’s entirely due to teachers failing to fulfill their basic responsibilities, which I suppose is a legitimate grievance. Honestly, it would be nice if you could drop those obnoxious comments about someone not being "cut out" for high school. I mean, seriously... where does that kind of arrogance even come from?

My daughter is studying entirely on her own—and she’s also in an honors program. It seems like most kids in the 10th or 11th grade are constantly getting private tutoring, or their parents are basically sitting there coaching them through everything just so they can maintain a 4.0 GPA and coast into those elite prep schools. My girl is sitting at a 3.7, which is strictly her own doing—no tutors, no hand-holding, nothing—so I guess the real question is... will that be enough to get her into the Graphic Design program she actually wants?
It’s pretty obvious that I’m the idiot here—the one who should have actually sat down and studied alongside my kid, or maybe just shelled out the cash for a private tutor like everyone else seems to be doing.
I ended up taking some time off—just my annual leave—to help her out with that massive mountain of essays and PowerPoints she’s drowning in. She’s managing for now, I suppose, though... the only thing I really did was show her how to use Google Forms to streamline things and hopefully save her a bit of a headache.
According to some people, it's just for Zagorski—a kitchen assistant.
I find myself wondering—though I suppose it’s a bit of a pointless question, really—what kind of schools all those fake fifth graders are actually aiming for? You know the type. They enroll in a prep school or an academy, go through all that unnecessary struggle—whether they make it easy or hard on themselves, I guess—just to graduate and call themselves something they aren't. It's all a bit performative, isn't it?

Actually, I think Zadar is holding its ground pretty well. As for Chicago—well, they told me at the Graphic school that you basically need to be north of a 70, plus a massive amount of points from the entrance exam to stand a chance. For the Media Technician program, I'm guessing it’s closer to a 74... maybe? It's hard to say for sure.
They’re only taking one class per grade level—so, if you're doing the math, I guess that works out to about 23 regular students per section. Maybe.
My daughter is going to give it a shot, I suppose—but honestly, it’s pretty discouraging that they only accept one class. I really hope that the straight-A students lean more toward the academic prep schools rather than heading off into Web design.

Look, just check out the suburbs surrounding the metropolitan area—places like suburban outskirts near Chicago or maybe parts of New Jersey. If you really can't make it work elsewhere, they have Computer Technician and Mechatronics programs, and the entry requirements aren't even that steep. There might even be an option to transfer over to the main city center after the first year.

The pressure exists because the system itself is fundamentally broken. Parents are simply doing the only thing they can within the circumstances they've been handed. Once the flaws in the enrollment system are actually fixed, there won't be any parental pressure left to talk about. I imagine that would be in everyone's best interest, I guess.

It’s not really a crisis for us specifically—with her score sitting at 74.30, she’d almost certainly land a spot as a Radiology Technician (which is about 90% similar to being a Google designer; she isn't going to be a programmer anyway, a fact I can confidently gauge having spent over 20 years working in IBM), and maybe even a Google designer if the cutoff drops—which is a possibility, given how many people pulled straight 5s during those two weird COVID years. As a backup, Cleveland is only a quick train ride away.

I’m speaking in general terms here—it’s just a shame that kids who graduate with honors and want to pursue a career in IBM-related fields can't, simply because the demand is through the roof. And I assume our school in Savannah doesn't exactly have the capacity or the legal permission to just arbitrarily add more classrooms...

mellowskipper said:Which schools are we even talking about here?

The local technical high school—they've got Google designer tracks (74.37 - 20 spots), media technician programs (72.4 - 20 spots), and computer technicians (75+ - 40 spots).

Just to give you some perspective on how those designer scores stack up elsewhere:

Scranton - 61.17
Des Moines - 64.90
Indianapolis - 61.99
Seattle - 63.99
Pittsburgh - 61.47
Miami - 67.59
San Diego - 70.06
Charleston - 47.61

Now, over in Washington, D.C., they have entrance exams—so people are hitting those 170 marks—which makes it almost impossible to draw a fair comparison, honestly.

Kate Jackson4 said:That isn't about the scoring threshold... it's about how they handled admissions last year. We're talking about two different things...
The cutoff score is simply whenever the school decides they've had enough...

As for how many points they'll require for admission this year... it’s basically a lottery. We won't know until we take the shot... 😁
Perhaps the required score will be lower than last year... ☕

You're being absolutely right there; that "cutoff" was just the lowest score accepted last year. There isn't some official minimum threshold set by the district for enrollment👍

From what I've been hearing through the grapevine from a few professors, everyone is expecting a general dip in grades this academic year—especially when you consider how much those two years of remote learning during the pandemic skewed everything

Mark Johnson12 said:Out of my group of 17 students, three or four are aiming for prep school. Three of them are hitting that perfect 4.0 GPA, and honestly, they’ve truly earned it—it’s not just a participation trophy. I know two of them pretty well personally, so I don't think the admissions interview will be an issue at all for them.
Mine is sitting at a solid 3.0, though they aren't exactly top of the class. They'll likely end up with around a 72% score, so prep school isn't really on the table, nor is it something they're set on; they'll probably head toward a technical college instead.

We have a bit of a weird situation here in Cincinnati. The cutoff score for the IT and electrical engineering programs is sitting right at 72.30, which means my little one is cutting it incredibly close with their current points. It would actually be easier for them to get into a standard high school, though that isn't really the plan. For context, the score required for a web design track in Cincinnati is 74.96—it's actually the only program in the whole country requiring over 70 points...

Rachel Cooper3 said:So—it would have been a penalty if it hadn't been a foul?

What an absolute joke. A penalty? Sure—it couldn't be more obvious than that—but honestly, these modern rules are just pure idiocy...

Douglas Roberts49 said:And where did the Europa League vanish to?

It’s because our coefficient is basically non-existent—just total garbage. Honestly, if we actually had some decent standing, even a domestic champion could realistically fight for a spot in the EL.😬

Douglas Roberts49 said:So what exactly are they playing for in Europe if they're sitting in 3rd and 4th place... the Conference League?

Yeah—plus the cup winner gets a spot too—but the league champion is the one heading straight into the Champions League qualifiers.

Adam Myers4 said:Hajduk is performing even worse than they did last year, but that’s really just a symptom of how much Osijek and Rijeka have cratered since last season. GNK is actually holding steady here—they just had an unrealistically high points tally during the first half of the season, followed by an unrealistically low one in the second.

Honestly, we should probably take a look at the historical data here—has there ever been a time where the 3rd and 4th place teams had such a pathetic percentage of earned points? Looking at the numbers, Osijek peaked at maybe 52 out of 108, and Rijeka at 51 out of 108. Both of them are sitting well under the 1.50 points per game mark in the league. It's just... statistically bizarre, I suppose.

Honestly, both Miami and Chicago were just a complete letdown—total anticlimax if you ask me. What a waste of time...

casualskipper65 said:It’s only a decent derby if they're setting off fireworks. ☕

But seriously, it was a hell of a match. What can you even complain about? Seven goals, pure run-and-gun action—none of that boring 0-1 nonsense where everyone just sits there obsessing over how perfectly they parked the bus. God forbid anyone actually tries to play football instead of just playing defense.

The real spectacle has finally kicked off—the actual derby of the round—unlike that absolute snooze-fest we've got lined up for tomorrow...