"A" in Robotics = Lower GPA?

[Paul Copioli]

For those of you not familiar with the way Texas Colleges work, there is an automatic admission for the top 10% (in most cases) of your class.

I have a high school sophomore in a very competitive high school. They weight pre-AP, AP, and IB classes so even though he has over a 4.0 average he is not within the top 10% due to a faction of students I call the GPA grubbers.

We had a lengthy conversation about it that ended like this:

Me: Do you even want to go to a Texas School?

Him: No.

Me: Well, then focus on the classes you like, take enough AP classes so you can still be on the varsity swim team and test out of a bunch of credits in college.

Him: OK, but what if I don't get into the best school?

Me: Don't worry about it. You have over 20 schools on your list of desirable schools so you will be fine.

Him: OK, sounds good.


His stress level has gone down significantly since that conversation.

Now, for you other Texas students that want to go to a Texas University ... I don't really have much advice for you other than to work hard and learn as much as you can, because that is really what matters in your education if you want to actually be productive in your career.

Paul