9th Grade Information

Our Counseling Department shared a lesson in the first quarter with all 9th grade students.

 A review of the lesson is outlined below:

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA? Which

one does a college look at? What is class rank?

All classes count in high school – you will earn a credit for each class

you take. Every final grade a student earns in a course is assigned a

quality point based on the chart below. Your grade point average is a

cumulative average of all of the quality points you have earned in high

school.

Number Grade     Standard   Honors        AP

   90-100                       4              4.5             5

   80-89                         3              3.5             4

   70-79                         2              2.5             3

   60-69                         1              1.5             2

    0-59                          0               0              0

Weighted GPA takes into account weighted grades that are awarded in

Honors and AP level courses. An unweighted GPA is calculated as if

Honors and AP courses do not receive any extra quality points (all

classes on a 0-4 scale). 

Most colleges will look at your weighted GPA 

first, and weighted GPA is used to determine class rank. 

Class rank compares your weighted GPA to that of everyone else’s in your

graduating class. GPA and rank are re-calculated twice a year, near the

beginning of fall semester and at the end of the school year.

I took Spanish/Math I/French I in middle school. Does that count as a credit?

Yes. If you took a high school course for credit in 8th grade, it fulfills that graduation requirement and counts as one high school credit. However, those grades do not get calculated into high school GPA.

I thought world languages were required to graduate?

Students are not required to take two units of a world language to graduate from high school. However, most colleges and universities, including all UNC system schools, do require two units of a world language to be considered for admission, so we recommend that students who are interested in college take at least two world language credits.

What are the requirements to get into XXX college/university?

Any student who is given a NC high school diploma will have met the minimum course requirements for the UNC system public colleges. It is very important that as you begin to explore other schools, you pay attention to their admission requirements and plan accordingly throughout high school. All states have different requirements, as do many private universities.

What is Naviance? How to do I get in to it? How should I use it as a freshman?

Naviance (https://connection.naviance.com/family-connection/) is a career and college planning website that is available to all Ballantyne Ridge students.  It allows to you research colleges and universities across the country, and also has some other great features like career searches and resume builders. All freshman should have set up their Naviance account during homeroom at the beginning of the year. Your username is your personal email address and your password is your student ID number. If you can’t access your account, email your counselor and they can help you out.

Some good things to look at during 9th grade are

• Resume Builder (can be saved and added to throughout high school). Find it in the About Me tab

• Cluster Finder and Career Interest Profiler (to help search potential careers). Find them in the Careers tab.

• College Research (get an idea of what certain schools require for admission, so that you can plan ahead). Multiple tools for this can be found in the Colleges tab.

What do colleges look at besides grades?

Each college has their own admissions process, but many consider (in no particular order): strength of schedule, grades earned, GPA, class rank, extracurricular activities, community service, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, and student essays.

Is the SAT or ACT more important?

All colleges or universities will accept either SAT or ACT scores. The tests are organized and formatted differently, and many students do better on one than they do on the other. We recommend taking each test at least once, determining which one you did better on, and re-taking that test at least one more time. You will take the Pre-Act and the Pre-SAT at school during your 10th grade year, and if you take those tests seriously, they can give you a good indication of what skills you need to brush up on and which test you may be strong at. All students in North Carolina are administered the ACT during March of their junior year for free at school. All other SAT or ACT tests need to be scheduled individually by the student.

Promotion Requirements

To be promoted to 10th grade the following must be completed:

A student must earn six (6) credits during 9th grade. Credits may be earned in any courses.