All A's and a D.. what now?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>SAT: 520 math, 730 writing, 800 critical reading</p>

<p>My PSAT qualified me for some sort of merit recognition, probably commended. </p>

<p>SAT IIs: </p>

<p>English (expected): 700s
AP US History (expected): 700s</p>

<p>Fresh: 4.0/4.0</p>

<p>Soph: 4.1/4.1 </p>

<p>Junior:
AP English: A-
AP US History: A-
AP Studio Art: A
Honors Spanish 4: A-
Chemistry: B
Algebra II: C/D <-----------------------------</p>

<p>I'm guessing that's like a 3.8 weighted. =( </p>

<p>AP Scores:
AP English: 5
AP US History: 5
Summer school this summer for 2nd semester. </p>

<p>Senior Year:
Statistics
AP English
AP Studio Art
AP Environmental Science
AP Spanish Lit
AP Spanish Lang
Govt/Econ</p>

<p>No special circumstances ... I just am very poor in algebra II. Tried my hardest, but had an unfortunate mishap with my teacher. There was a problem with some makeup work, teacher decided to make me take a makeup test to replace 2 missing tests, I wasn't prepared, failed horribly, the end. =( </p>

<p>Good extracurriculars.</p>

<p>What sort of schools do I stand a reasonable chance at? I was not expecting my algebra grade to drop so low.</p>

<p>I'm really not sure of what to do, because my strengths are so polarized, and my failure in algebra this semester. If it helps, my school counselor absolutely adores me. </p>

<p>UC Berkeley?
UC Los Angeles?
UC San Diego?
UC Davis?
USC?
NYU?
Boston University?
University of Arizona?</p>

<p>Should I even bother applying to:</p>

<p>Duke? (visited it)</p>

<p>Help. =( </p>

<p>Any ideas? Interested in international relations, economic development in 3rd world countries, languages, art, environmental studies...</p>

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<p>There is still time to improve your math score. Take a SAT prep course over the summer, and test again. As it stands your top 3 choices are reaches, especially UCLA and UCSD which are numbers-driven. Craziest things have happened to Berkeley applicants, so it's unpredictable. I still say your best bet will be taking SAT again.</p>

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<p>Improve those numbers. I calculated you have a 3.18 UW with the Junior Year. Try to bring those up. The Sat's also.</p>

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<p>Your math grades/scores will hurt at top schools. Try as hard as you can to improve them.</p>

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<p>i have a similar question. what if you took alg2/trig and got a C, but took trig over the summer and recieved an A? Does that improve your chances or is it a non issue?</p>

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<p>with the D it really depends. i mean if you can get your teacher to change it to a c better for you. if not then you need to make that grade up at a community college or summer school beacuse all uc schools dont accept Ds. im not sure about the other private schools but with usc im pretty sure what they would do is average the make up grade with the D. (i talked to an admissions guy about it but he wasnt very sure) call up dukes admissions and see what they recommend you do. i dont think you should worry though keep the rest of your grades up this year and next year</p>

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<p>depends on the school. with ucs they would look at it and take it into consideration. with private schools theyre all different. but some i think might average the two grades</p>

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<p>my opinion is that if you can show you are able to handle superior math courses, like calc, perhaps you could "brush" that grade away with an excuse?</p>

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<p>I had problems with math too but i didn't get C's in normal classes... (before AP Calc BC that is.. they are more understanding of AP classses generally @ college though) Try to raise those numbers, that'll definately help... I got in USC and I had C's from AP calc bc and AP chem... (chem was because i missed 2 months of the beginning things and couldnt catch up.. and i'm just bad at math) Then again, that might be because I'm an art student. Hm.</p>

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<p>You will have trouble with the elite schools, such as Duke, unless you get your math score up on the SAT. Your record screams weakness in math up to this point. The quickest way to help yourself would be to improve the SAT 1 math score to above 600 at a minimum, and then get a decent score on the SAT 2 math test. That way, you won't have to take higher level math, which I suspect would be difficult for you.</p>

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<p>END OF YOUR LIFE. LOL U SUCK.</p>

<p>Actually, you should take the exact/similar class at a community college, and transfer your cc credit to high school. Talk to school registrar or counselor. They should <em>replace</em> your old grade with new one....as if you never received C/D in the first place.
As for SAT math, get a Princeton Review book. Specifically Princeton Review because of its informal tone, which you lessen your math anxiety, and through coverage of math topics.</p>

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<p>I don't think you're looking at your GPA correctly, your Junior year is more of 3.16 to 3.33 (depending on your Algebra class, D is 3.16, C is 3.33). Although you're calculating weighted GPA, most colleges take unweighted.</p>

<p>Do you have a chance at taking the ACT? If so, do it. I think you can still sign up for the last one this year and pay the late fee. The ACT is over 5-6 sections, and the Math section is only one of the 5-6, so it carries less weight on your scores, and your chances at schools will greatly increase.</p>

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<p>from the looks of it... it seems that you are really good in humanties/social sciences courses.</p>

<p>If you apply to a liberal arts school, just explain that in your interview/essay, and they will probably understand.</p>

<p>Just don't try and go to MIT or anything that would be engineering</p>

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<p>bouncechrissy:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Slight Reach
UCSD: Match
UCD: Safe Match</p>

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<p>thank you for all of the suggestions/advice!</p>

<p>I had a bad experience in middle school with my algebra classes because my parents forced me to take the advanced level math all three years (because at my high school, you can't take advanced science if you aren't in advanced math), even though it was obviously too hard for me. As a result I did very poorly, despite a ton of studying, felt awful, didn't learn much, etc...</p>

<p>Should I mention this in my application at all? I don't want to sound like I'm whining, but I have no idea if that is an appropriate thing to include.</p>

<p>if i take the semester of algebra II that i failed over again at summer school, is that the same as taking at community college? does it matter whether i take it over at community college or summer school (i.e: is community college better?)</p>

<p>According to my counselor, taking it at summer school will "replace" the old grade (as in when I report my grades, I report the summer school grade), but on my actual transcript it will remain the same. does community college change the grade on the transcript?</p>

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<p>I would be more worriewd about the 520 than the one D. I would spend the time getting that into range for your schools. Duke would be a virtual impossibility and the top UCs seem unlikely. Study like mad or try the actS.</p>

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<p>yep, up the math score, and i guess try to negate it by taking it at a cc or talking to the teacher.</p>