Friday, May 25, 2007
Misinformed By My Son's High School
Dear Guidance Guy,
We just learned that the universities look at grade 11 marks because the second semester marks in grade 12 are not ready yet. My son Mark had recently made it his goal to take a five year Business Administration course at Wilfred Laurier in Ontario, Canada. This course requires an 86% average which he has not been maintaining. His math dropped from an 89% to a 76% due to a single exam on which he did poorly. The head of the math department told me that they will take his whole year of math into account, and realize that he had one bad day. I now find out directly from the university that they will only look at the final mark. She mentioned that it was good that I talked directly to her, because the high schools often misinform the students about universities.
He is also doing poorly in Chemistry, which was not initially in his course selection. His guidance counselor told him he was "much too smart to be taking a Marketing course" as she crossed it out and wrote in Chemistry. My son went along with this, and has suffered as a result.
Mark may spend another year in high school to ensure that he gets the grades he needs for acceptance into this university, but we are unsure whether the course is worth it. There are several other four year Business Administration courses that have lower requirements.
Can you tell me what he will be missing out on if he takes one of the lesser courses? Can he become a CA through either route?
Thank you very much,
Jackie
P.S. I also found out from Laurier that their course requirements have changed for 2008, while Mark has already filled out his course selection for next year. I realize that the necessary changes can be made, but it seems to me that the communication between high school and university could be improved upon.
*** *** ***
Dear Jackie,
There are a lot of aspects to this situation. I wonder how many (actually how few) exams this math course has if one test can drop his year average seven points.
I would have a hard time telling you how much your son miss out on by taking a lesser course. But you are correct in thinking it's a good idea to ask the admissions counselors at the college about their policies. Part of the problem that guidance counselors can have about advising students is that different colleges have different policiies. There are many thousands of colleges in Canada and the United States. Trying to know the policies of all is unrealistic and unnecessary, since it's so easy to find out from the university what they expect.
If your son's guidance counselor crossed out Chemistry and put in marketing, it was an unprofessional thing to do. It was also disrespectful of his interests. However, some more assertiveness on the part of you and your son would have been helpful here. At his age he should have the skills to stand up for himself and say what he wants. And you could have made a phone call to the school and insisted on putting things back the way they were.
To answer your question, I'm wondering if by CA you mean accountant. In the United States this is referred to as a CPA, or Certified Public Accountant. Again, I don't have a direct answer to your question. But this is one of those times when you or your son can make a phone call to the university.
Whether or not this college is right for him depends on what kind of plans he has for himself. My experience tells me that the selectivity of the college is one of the least important factors in whether or not it provides a quality education. Someone could learn a great deal and be very well prepared at a school with lower admission standards. Much of it depends on the level of maturity and commitment of the student.
Best of Luck,
The Guidance Guy
We just learned that the universities look at grade 11 marks because the second semester marks in grade 12 are not ready yet. My son Mark had recently made it his goal to take a five year Business Administration course at Wilfred Laurier in Ontario, Canada. This course requires an 86% average which he has not been maintaining. His math dropped from an 89% to a 76% due to a single exam on which he did poorly. The head of the math department told me that they will take his whole year of math into account, and realize that he had one bad day. I now find out directly from the university that they will only look at the final mark. She mentioned that it was good that I talked directly to her, because the high schools often misinform the students about universities.
He is also doing poorly in Chemistry, which was not initially in his course selection. His guidance counselor told him he was "much too smart to be taking a Marketing course" as she crossed it out and wrote in Chemistry. My son went along with this, and has suffered as a result.
Mark may spend another year in high school to ensure that he gets the grades he needs for acceptance into this university, but we are unsure whether the course is worth it. There are several other four year Business Administration courses that have lower requirements.
Can you tell me what he will be missing out on if he takes one of the lesser courses? Can he become a CA through either route?
Thank you very much,
Jackie
P.S. I also found out from Laurier that their course requirements have changed for 2008, while Mark has already filled out his course selection for next year. I realize that the necessary changes can be made, but it seems to me that the communication between high school and university could be improved upon.
*** *** ***
Dear Jackie,
There are a lot of aspects to this situation. I wonder how many (actually how few) exams this math course has if one test can drop his year average seven points.
I would have a hard time telling you how much your son miss out on by taking a lesser course. But you are correct in thinking it's a good idea to ask the admissions counselors at the college about their policies. Part of the problem that guidance counselors can have about advising students is that different colleges have different policiies. There are many thousands of colleges in Canada and the United States. Trying to know the policies of all is unrealistic and unnecessary, since it's so easy to find out from the university what they expect.
If your son's guidance counselor crossed out Chemistry and put in marketing, it was an unprofessional thing to do. It was also disrespectful of his interests. However, some more assertiveness on the part of you and your son would have been helpful here. At his age he should have the skills to stand up for himself and say what he wants. And you could have made a phone call to the school and insisted on putting things back the way they were.
To answer your question, I'm wondering if by CA you mean accountant. In the United States this is referred to as a CPA, or Certified Public Accountant. Again, I don't have a direct answer to your question. But this is one of those times when you or your son can make a phone call to the university.
Whether or not this college is right for him depends on what kind of plans he has for himself. My experience tells me that the selectivity of the college is one of the least important factors in whether or not it provides a quality education. Someone could learn a great deal and be very well prepared at a school with lower admission standards. Much of it depends on the level of maturity and commitment of the student.
Best of Luck,
The Guidance Guy
# posted by Larry Hochman : 8:54 PM
