Advise, if you have time

Applying to College
1

<p>A C junior year.
I've always been pretty bad at science, and have consistently gotten B's in AP sciences, along with B's in spanish after switching schools. I got a C in honors physics last year, for something that went wrong in the last minute and it was completely unexpected. Whatever, I was pretty horrible at it anyway. I've gotten A's in everything besides those two subject areas. This year, I don't have the same spanish teacher whom I didn't get along with for the last two years and am not taking a science course (I doubled up in science every other year and there was no way I was going to take AP physics). </p>

<p>Am I out of the running for top colleges or does my performance this year mean something? I have been and am taking the hardest courseload offered, and my EC's are recognized as the best in my school. Not bragging or anything, because my academic gpa is definitely subpar compared to some of the geniuses in my grade. I go to the #1 public school in my state, so it gets pretty competitive. </p>

<p>I guess what I'm asking is, what do you feel I should do to help my situation? Any advice is appreciated; thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>What do you mean by top and what are your scores?</p>

3

<p>Let’s say top 20. Dream schools : Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown. </p>

<p>2190 SAT, 32 ACT - retaking both.
740-750 Subject test scores.</p>

4

<p>Nothing you can do to change the past. Live with what has happened.</p>

<p>Apply and wish for the best.</p>

5

<p>Obviously a C isn’t going to come out in your favor. However, I think CC gets us a little too crazy about little things like this. If you have gotten all A’s besides one B and one C, your average is still going to be killer. My family is close with an admissions officer at an Ivy (not in the right college I’m applying to so no advantages there haha) who legitimately said that if a student is weak in one area and that weakness is consistent and it’s not the area they plan to study, it can actually help them because it shows that they were 1. challenged in their courses and 2. are human. There are plenty of top twenty schools that will forgive you that C if you have great ECs, a good essay, and excellent recs.</p>

6

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<p>Those schools would be very tough without a hook or exceptional talent.</p>

7

<p>thanks for the help.
if I were to get solid grades, even straight A’s, this first semester – would it make a decent difference? Or are they still pretty out of reach?</p>

8

<p>They are certainly worth applying to, but odds are low. At Dartmouth, the least selective of the three this year, 40% of those ranked were number 1 or 2 in their class. Your SAT score is just median for the school, and that includes the 40% plus with hooks.</p>

<p>Put your real energy application wise into slightly less selective, good schools IMO.</p>

9

<p>Chasing - The schools you mention are a reach for any student. That said, your scores and GPA are good enough that I’d encourage you to apply … ED if possible. If you aim too low and get accepted everywhere, you’re going to wonder “what might have been?” And that’s a bad place to be. Good luck to you.</p>

10

<p>To add onto the OP’s question, will it look better if I get a B or a C in an Ap class first semester but bring it up to an A second semester?</p>

11

<p>I think I can answer that elasticity - of course it will look better. I’m pretty sure colleges love rising trends.</p>

<p>new hope : i always had it in mind to early decision to dartmouth, but I think that my performance in school will greatly rise this first semester. Furthermore, my speech and debate tournaments and model UN conferences will continue to add to my resume… overall I think that my application will be significantly stronger by January than it will be by November. Do you still think I should ED?</p>

12

<p>Columbia, dart and Brown are NOT reaches for every student. On top of academics and EC’s, each school has a particular “character/style” that defines its education. You need to be a “fit” to get in. I find it somewhat funny that you can love Brown and Columbia equally. Make sure you do your research on those schools and you’ll realize that it is very very very difficult to have equal passions for both Brown and Columbia.</p>

<p>Having a number of B’s and a C won’t do you very good for those three schools. Get some backups.</p>

13

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<p>This is not correct. They would rather see all A’s all the time.</p>

<p>I would not ED Dartmouth. There is no advantage applying Ed there without a hook.</p>

14

<p>I meant that rather than seeing two C’s, they’d see aC then an A.</p>

15

<p>yang, I do have my back ups. I’d just much rather be at those schools and am trying to do whatever I can to help my case. </p>

<p>I do see how you’d think I haven’t done my research though. Also, Dartmouth is drastically different from the other two as well. But they all pose very different, unique benefits that I’d love to see in a school. </p>

<p>My dream school would be something like one in Columbia’s location, with the D-plan, with Brown’s atmosphere and attitude, and with the 10-20 people I know at Cornell already. But since that won’t happen, I guess I’ll have to make do with what’s out there. That is, if they take me in.</p>

16

<p>The problem is that Ivy League schools have boatloads of qualified applicants without Cs. It’s not that any admissions officer will see your grades and be like “oh look at that C, what a joke of an applicant.” It’s just that they have to differentiate between all of the applicants they get.</p>

<p>A C isn’t going to ruin your chances anywhere but it is a weakness in your application nevertheless. It shouldn’t discourage you from applying.</p>

17

<p>hmom, you always mention this “40%+ students with hooks”…</p>

<p>where did you come up with that number? sounds like a bit much…</p>