I have a stellar record with the exception of a C and a D on my 10th grade transcript for chemistry. I am looking for advice on the best way to soften the blows of these scores.
Methods I am considering: taking the AP chemistry test (self-study) and scoring a 4 or 5. Would this help, and how much? Because this would take tremendous effort.
self-study for another science AP to show that I am not that bad at science?
Or simply accept that I am god awful in science and hope and pray that selective colleges can see past this if I choose to major in a completely non-science related major?
I am aiming for Cornell/Brown level, and my SAT score and ECs are very solid.
I am open to ANY suggestions/tips on remedying this problem. Any advice is generously appreciated!!!
<p>What was your average grade in Chemistry? Did you have a C? A D is pretty hard to camaflouge...Did you get the C first than the D, cause that would show you brought it back up, if the C was first than you got worse...take another science would be my guess</p>
<p>I got a 78 (or maybe 79) the first semester and a 73 the second semester. :(</p>
<p>I don't know what to do - I am willing to do anything, retake the course if I have to, as long as it will help. Should I write about the circumstances surrounding my subpar grades in my essay? Or somewhere on the application?</p>
<p>I'm not sure what type of response you're trying to elicit here, wanggggg89, but let me start with this: open your mind.</p>
<p>Not all teachers are the same, nor all classes, nor all onset of good study habits, nor all domestic circumstances, and in this case I got not one but four bad hands.</p>
<p>And when everything else - junior year grades that show a stark improvement, perfect SAT score on first try, strong leadership roles and most importantly, good, resilient, unflinching character - indicates that I have what it takes to succeed, despite living under the roof of an abusive father for fifteen years before finally being dragged along for a messy divorce that involved physical assaults and threats on my life and my mother's life - and yes, this all occurred while I was supposed to be studying for a chemistry quiz every three days - maybe you'll see the sheer idiocy of your logic.</p>
<p>collegedude01,
I am sorry to hear about what must have been a horrible situation for you and your mom. If your GC can incorporate your chaotic and stressful sophomore year into his/her rec that will go a long way to taking the sting out of them. You can address your family situation in a positive light (as in you came out of it more mature and stronger) elsewhere in the rec and it won't come off as a pity ploy. There are places for 'additional information' in most of the apps where you can put this information without shooting a whole essay on it. The essay should be about you, yourself, not the nonense you have had to live with (my opinion, some will differ). </p>
<p>Pulling a good SAT II score in some science (physics or chemistry is preferred if you are looking at engineering) will show that you can do science. If you are looking at the humanities, concentrate on Lit, History or one of the languages. </p>
<p>Also, if you HS profile lists how grades are determined, a D at your school would be a C elsewhere. Again, this is something that should be in the GC rec if at all possible.</p>
<p>I can't tell you if all schools will consider personal factors. I can tell you, based on my son's results thus far (sub-par grades due to an elder care situation) some schools do take them into consideration. In our situation, I went in and talked with my son's GC about the family situation, and brought in a letter describing what was going on. When she wrote her rec, she had this information in front of her. </p>
<p>I hope that things are calmer for you now. Will you be able to visit your schools this spring or summer?</p>
<p>Well you should have pointed that out immediately. How was wangggggggggggggggggg supposed to know that? That changes things, because colleges are very receptive if bad grades are explained to have been caused by extenuating circumstances like that. Wanggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg was assuming that you had just done badly, without any outside troubles, in which case that usually IS a pretty good indicator that you will struggle at a top school.</p>
<p>Collegedude, your crediting a D in Chem to a family situation..I can understand that. But you said you had a "stellar" transcript otherwise..hmm..now wouldnt one think that the 'extenuating circumstances' you were under would have effected your grades in other classes??</p>
<p>An 'otherwise stellar record' - not transcript - would refer to my SAT score, my EC's, my recommendations and my essays (I had to get these done for scholarship/summer school purposes), all of which I know are very strong.</p>
<p>To answer your question, however, AP Chemistry required a significantly larger amount of time and attention outside of school than any other 10th grade class (with the possible exception of World History, where I made B's both semesters). There were several more loose B's in 10th grade, again, not a great year for me for reasons I won't even begin to go into on here.</p>
<p>Yep, me. I failed Algebra two four years ago in tenth grade. I think I attended class a grand total of 20 times over the course of the second semester--got a 6% on the final.</p>
<p>Now I have a 35 ACT, 800x3 SAT2's, and 3.89 Umich Gpa (3.86 is top 3% here).</p>
<p>Applying to transfer a few places including Brown. I think I might have a shot - never say never.</p>
<p>that just doesnt make sense. how can you get a 6% on an algebra final and then all of a sudden figure it out and get a 35 on the ACT and i'm assuming an 800 on one of the math SAT 2's. I'm impressed and amazed.</p>
<p>edit: ah it's algebra 2, but still, you get my point.</p>
<p>I got a D on my biology exam but an A for the overall term grade because I worked very hard throughout the year with good homework and class test results. I was dumb enough not to get much sleep before the exam, and I didn't read the questions properly. And our teacher isn't very good, either (been getting straight A's in biology until this year). Only two people ended up with an A and a B in our class.</p>
<p>I wonder if exam grades weigh more heavily than term grades. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>maize&blue - never say never is right. None of us here can say whether a D or an E will completely eliminate your chances of getting accepted, unless there's an admissions officier lurking about somewhere.</p>
<p>
[quote]
that just doesnt make sense. how can you get a 6% on an algebra final and then all of a sudden figure it out and get a 35 on the ACT and i'm assuming an 800 on one of the math SAT 2's. I'm impressed and amazed.</p>
<p>edit: ah it's algebra 2, but still, you get my point
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It wasn't that I couldn't do it--it was that I didn't do it. Through a combination of being very sick that year and not giving a damn about my grades in the first place I just didn't go to class...ever. Like I said-I missed at least 2-3 days a week that year, and math isn't something you can really just pick up without being taught or something that I just knew already.</p>
<p>In college I started taking care of myself a lot better and did much better in school.</p>
<p>Also, when I took the act in HS I got a 30. I had a 34-36 on ever subsection and bombed math to drop my composite down a few ticks. I retook it this year just to prove that I know that stuff now (got an A in calc at umich-very, very few people get higher than a b+ because of a merciless curve) and got a 35 composite.</p>
