My little brother failed another of his classes in high school

Gelzo

I overheard my dad had some choice words to say to him, and now it's pretty awkward around here. I'm just kind of chilling out in my room right now, as I was earlier.

I feel kind of bad for him, but it's not like he didn't do this to himself.

IanExMachina

So what does this mean does he sit it again or something?

(Also highschool age =?)

Nyktos

Oh man, tell me about it. My brother is the same way.

Gelzo

He's 17. This upcoming year would be the year he graduates provided he gets his act together. I don't think his prospects for college are great.

Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure he can take another year to graduate if he needs to, but I don't think that would be optimal for a number of reasons.

Forzare

I don't really get people who fail multiple classes in high school.  It really doesn't take that much effort in most classes to squeak through with a passing grade.  You almost have to try.

And I find it hard to have sympathy with these people when I missed roughly 1/2 - 1/3 of my classes from second semester in junior year forward, and still managed to graduate with fairly good grades.

IanExMachina

(Also by College you mean University right?)

Also ITT I have no idea how your education systems works from going from school to university.

In the UK you take a-levels you get UCAS points based on the grades, each uni has ag rade limit to get in. (Apart from the best in the world Cambridge, and the like.)

Gelzo

Sorry, yeah, university. Don't we call "community college" what you call "college"? I don't think anyone really has a problem getting into community college.

I think I took like 4 advanced classes in my senior year, and I can tell you it was hard to keep up with them all. I got as low as a D in one of them.

But I don't think his schedule is nearly as rigorous. I think he's just sort of been slacking off with video games. Dad said that he's not going to be able to play video games next year, but I doubt they'll stick to that.

Wicked223

It really doesn't take that much effort in most classes to squeak through with a passing grade.

Not for you, maybe.

LouieW

Forzare,

I suppose that might be true in certain circumstances, but I would keep in mind that different places have different standards for what passing/failing mean. For example, I know that in some states, it is possible to get "D"s and still pass a class (i.e. getting somewhere around a 60%) average whereas certain other states have an "all grades lower than 70% are failing ones" policy. I do not think that completely excuses people for having trouble in school, but I believe it puts things in perspective a bit.

The fact that some people have motivation, time, or learning disability issue probably is part of that too (pretty much what Wicked223 said), but I think that only the last two are easy to actually use as excuses.

Vivi

I hate when people say "you have to try to fail".

InsanityAddict

My little bro flunked his study half a year ago and now plays the role of jobless stoner. Glad I moved out so I don't have to be confronted with his fail every day.

IanExMachina

@Gelzo

Primary School (5-10yo) > Secondary School (11-15yo) > 6th Form (16-17yo) (The ages can be higher by a year depending on birthday)

So he is getting ready for university then?

What kind of tests/methods does the US use to decide which Uni to go to?

Vivi

I don't think there are really any tests to decide which Uni to go to. You just pick one and try to get in.

IanExMachina

But how do they know you are worth admitting?

Gelzo

Well, you write some essays, they look at your grades and SAT scores, and you include what kind of extracurriculars you did in your application.

Crimson

SAT/ACT combined with grades and extracurriculars. Different Colleges put more weightage on different things.

IanExMachina

By grades are they gained from coursework and exams at the end of each subject taken at the last year of 'school' before uni?

SAT?

Standardised something something? 

We have SATS in the UK but only at primary school and lower secondary (Basically do you get the basic concepts of each subject.)

The only Uni's here I know that actively care about Extracurriculars are the oxbridge kinds.

Crimson

>By grades are they gained from coursework and exams at the end of each subject taken at the last year of 'school' before uni?

No, they look at your entire transcript, detailing all the grades you got in high school. Though raw GPA is what matters most.

>The only Uni's here I know that actively care about Extracurriculars are the oxbridge kinds.

The only colleges that care about them over here are Liberal Arts schools and Ivy Leaguers.

Gelzo

Actually, I don't know by heart what SAT stands for. Looks like Scholastic Aptitude/Assessment Test. But yes, it is a standardized test, generally taken at the high school level. You get multiple chances to take it, though it costs a bit of money.

Grades from high school pretty much depends on the teacher for each class. Generally they include homework, tests, projects, etc. 

Oh yeah, and I hear some colleges like to look at whether you're taking advanced classes, so a high grade in an easier class isn't always better.

Crimson

^Actually no. It's better to get an A in a regular class than to get a C in an advanced class. Like I said, raw GPA matters most.

Gelzo

I hear differently, but I guess it might depend on the schools we're talking about.

IanExMachina

GPA? Grade Point Average?

Honestly it sounds confusing.

When you say they look at your entire high school class what do you mean exactly?

Comparison to the Uk:

A levels are only taken in the 6th form part, the last 2 years of pre uni education.

During them you take exams and do coursework that leads to your grade in that subject.

(The grades become UCAS points etc.)

Chagen

GPA is a rating from 0.0 to 4.0. 4.0 is the highest. It's an average of all your grades.

Don't ask me why it's 4.0 instead of 100.0. America makes no goddamn sense whatsoever.

Gelzo

Well, at the end of each semester you get a grade on the 4.0 scale for each class. This is recorded, and you submit to them the grade for each class of each semester.

IanExMachina

Ehhh, I really shouldn't try to understand this drunk.

For the UK semesters are Uni only, schools work on terms.

So you do kind of test at high school with stuff?

What age is high school from-to?

Crimson

I mean they look at your grades from the last four years before university education, grades 9-12 for me, that's high school.

How you get a grade in a particular class varies wildly. I've had some classes that put 90% on their weightage on exams, while others don't have any exams at all and count only homework and participation.

^14-18 years of age, usually.

IanExMachina

So what about those sport people I see in US media who just do sport and get uni places?

Gelzo

High school is for four years and includes ages around 14-18.

Oh yeah, you can get into universities if you do really well in sports so you can play for their team. And I think your chances can improve if you can play for their band, I have a friend who did that.

ninjaclown

School (no matter what level) is a breeze for some, nightmare hard mode for others. It's simply the difference in how the mind processes information.

IanExMachina

^^

The idea that sport = uni places is a bit off to me.

Whilst you may do P.E. (DOPHILIA) as some variant of an A level to get to uni to anyu continuation you still need the points/grades from your other 3/4 subjects at A level.

Chagen

Remember that this is America we're talking about. Sports rivalries between Colleges are holy wars.

If you're a good athlete, they'll take you even if your grades suck so you may fight on the religious battleground that is the footbal/basketball field.