The Weight of a Flawed System
Tyler Canham
“This assignment has been successfully submitted!” I had just turned in my final exam for Calculus 3 and was done for the rest of the college semester. Thinking back to all of the hours I have spent on this class in the past, I was relieved that it was finally over, and even more relieved when I saw that I had received an A in the class. However, after all that work, I would only receive a 4.0 to weigh into my GPA–the same as if I were to receive an A in Physical Education 9.
Taking math courses ahead of most of my peers has been a repetitive cycle ever since I was first advanced in 3rd grade to do math with the older kids. In the fifth grade, I went from having to take Templeton math in the morning to going back to Lannon Elementary during the day. Then in the eighth grade, I walked over from Templeton to Hamilton High School to take both Geometry and Advanced Algebra. I was already through three of the math classes that Hamilton offered and only had two harder classes I could possibly take. Freshman year I ended up taking Pre-Calc, and sophomore year AP Calc BC, both year-long classes. And by then, I was done with the highest level math that Hamilton High School offers to its students and had to move on to higher education–college math.
Even though I was challenging myself with classes that some adults have never taken, it would hold less worth than my AP Calc class (5.0 scale). Hamilton High School is effectively punishing its students for wanting to advance themselves in education, an education that the district likes to pride themselves on being one of the best in the state.
There are many reasons that having our current grading scale in place discourages students from advancing themselves by taking actual college courses (not AP). These classes are harder in material than classes at Hamilton High School, including AP classes; thus, risk does not equal reward. Taking a college class on a 4.0 scale has a guarantee to lower your class rank, and a guarantee to lower your cumulative grade point average, which colleges will use to base their decisions of admittance on.
Here are a few examples to better explain the impact of Hamilton’s current policy: Taking a college class is a significant risk because if you do not receive an A, it will have a larger effect on your grade than an AP class. For example, if you receive a B in a college class, it would only count as a 3.00 (vs a 4.00 in AP scale), which would greatly decrease your GPA in comparison. Also, due to some of the top students having a weighted GPA over a 4.0, taking a college class actually lowers your GPA regardless of your final grade. For example, if a student had a 4.125 weighted GPA going into junior year and took two college classes, no APs, and got straight A’s, it would drop to a 4.08. However, if the college classes were weighted on a 5 point scale, in the same scenario the student would receive a 4.17 grade point average–a significant difference–including a notable difference in class rank.
Not only is this system only affecting students currently at Hamilton High School, but it also had an effect on students who have already graduated. Aayush Iyengar, a 22’ graduate currently attending Purdue, had this to say on the current system:
"Obviously, I understand that it is tough to give AP level credit to a class that is not even offered at the high school. But AP classes are classes designed to imitate college courses and allow students to earn college credit early. So it doesn’t make sense that students who actually take college courses–courses that are on par or even beyond the difficulty of these AP courses–should be weighted the same as the average high school class. For example, as an engineering major myself, it makes much more sense to take Calculus 3 and Differential Equations at a local college, as these are classes that I later did not need to take when I actually went to college. Weighing these classes lower gives the perception that students should take as many (unrelated) AP classes as they can instead of taking the classes that actually will help them out in their future, as GPA is definitely a major factor of any student when it comes to choosing their future classes."
Even though class rank and GPA may not seem that important, they actually are. The valedictorian of Hamilton High School receives $2,500 a year in tuition for UW schools. This could end up subtracting about 15-20% of the cost for college tuition. Many competitive schools such as Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Northwestern, etc. consider class rank “Very Important” according to their admissions offices based on the Common Data Set. This automatically puts kids taking these college classes at a disadvantage.
Although the policy currently hasn’t changed, when talking with administration they have started the conversation to potentially change this policy. Administration has met with parent focus groups to share their childrens’ experiences, met with Student Services to discuss potential changes to be made, and have made an effort to contact other high schools and college/admissions panels to get their insight into what is the best for Hamilton High School students. As these discussions continue, it is important that they finish with the policy being changed to ensure that future students have better opportunities and are encouraged to further their education without punishments.
“Each Child. Every Opportunity for Success” is the Hamilton High School District mission statement. With the current weight of college courses on the 4.0 scale, Hamilton is failing its own mission by setting up some of their top students for failure, the very same students that reflect their academic success. This policy needs to be revisited and changed so that future students have every opportunity for success.
