At Risk Of Being Rescinded by GT

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
1

Tl;dr: I got a D in calc and C in chem and am wondering how not to get rescinded by GT

Predicament: Possible Rescindment

So I just got accepted to Georgia Tech (in-state) with 33 ACT, solid ec’s, and whatnot. This is by far by dream school, but here’s the issue:

In 9th and 10th grade, I was enrolled in a college prep school and made nothing but As.

In 11th grade, I changed schools so that I could dual enroll full time at a reputable regional university. This year, I made all As other than a B in Chem1211 Lab.

This fall (senior year) I had a major slip up; the following are my courses and grades American Lit 2 A
Spanish 2 A
Chem 1212 and Lab C/B
Calculus D

Calculus was basically the first math class that I have ever struggled in. This particular professor, “the hardest on campus,” never gave homework. The grade was just the total of the five tests. In summary, the course speed was insane (largely bc almost every student that stayed- maybe 15 of the 30 originally- had already taken calculus), and I was unable to determine how best to study, which caused me to bomb the second test, making it nearly impossible for my grade to recover. I could have-and probably should have- withdrawn at midterm, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could pass, and, in the process, I think I’ve actually learned how to study (and also killed a phone addiction among other things, leading to much better time management).
Additional note: calc basically drug chemistry down with it; the class normally wouldn’t be that bad for me.

I know that I “will never survive at Tech with a calculus grade like that,” but aside from that, what should I do to avoided getting rescinded?

Possibly send an email to admissions explaining that my study skills and time management weren’t anywhere near what they needed to be but that with this experience I have dramatically improved all of those and learned to ask for help?
Maybe mention that I’m willing to change my major from environmental engineering to earth and atmospheric sciences? Perhaps mention that I’m willing to be on academic probation?
And of course note that I will return to my usual standards this semester (Taking physics/lab, Spanish 3, global issues, and music appreciation) and still greatly desire to attend.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I’m the best shot to fulfill my family’s longtime dream of a Yellow Jacket grad. (My aunt cried when she heard about my acceptance bc my grandfather had always wanted one of his kids to go there)

2

College courses are like that, although usually not as extreme as no homework at all. The expectation is that students have enough self-motivation to do what they need to do in terms of reading the book and doing additional practice problems as needed.

College math courses cover material at about twice the pace of high school math courses other than AP calculus BC courses that are taken immediately after precalculus.

In terms of rescission potential, what does the GT admission offer say for conditions of admission and what to do if you do not meet the conditions?

3

Thank you for the initial insight. From the letter:

“Please note that our offer of admission is based on the high level of academic performance and personal character you have demonstrated to this point. Upon your graduation from high school, we require that you send a final, official transcript to confirm you have maintained the quality of grades and courses on which we based our admission decision. We reserve the right to rescind our admission offer if there has been a dramatic decline in academic performance or rigor, or if there have been egregious behavior/disciplinary issues.”

4

You probably want to contact GT and ask whether rescission is likely. If so, then you should consider making other plans, such as starting at a community college and doing well enough to transfer to GT.

5

Are you retaking that calculus class or taking another calculus class this semester? Are you taking another college level science class this semester? If you can show that you improved in a similarly rigorous curriculum during this semester, I think Tech will be very receptive of your explanations for the drop off in performance last semester. I wouldn’t freak out about getting your offer rescinded just yet. Tech wants its admitted students to succeed and admissions will be willing to work with you if you are able to put their doubts to rest.

You absolutely need to do well this semester (hopefully all As), so that you can essentially say, “I messed up because of a combination of poor study habits and a less structured course environment and I have now learned how to study and better manage my time in a college setting.” If you can do that, Tech is not going to rescind your offer. However, if you have another bad semester or if you are not taking a rigorous curriculum this semester that can provide evidence that you’ve grown, I would be worried and start thinking about a Plan B. Hopefully you are taking rigorous courses you can do well in and this past semester will just serve as a good learning experience before you get to college. Whatever happens, keep your chin up and focus on doing well going forward. If you work hard, it’s all going to work out in the end.

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Thank you for your help here and across the community, @ucbalumnus

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Your advice makes a lot of sense @InPursuit . I am taking calc-based physics this semester, so I will definitely make sure to ace it. Thanks for the support

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@squirrelman Your grades will not be reviewed until final transcripts are in, so if you do well this semester I wouldn’t give it a second thought. If you continue to struggle this semester, I would definitely contact your admissions counselor there to check in, but it is unlikely they will rescind. My kiddo completely biffed his spring semester senior year and called his admissions counselor in a panic and because he was terrified they would rescind. Because his poor grades were in his dual-enrollment classes I think they saw it as more of an adjustment issue than anything else. GT is more likely to rescind for something like an arrest or bombing every single class. (tl;dr: You’re fine. Stop panicking and work hard this semester. :slight_smile: )

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I would not worry about the C. The D I would be more concerned with. They did not rescind my child with a C in college multivariable calc senior year and bagged the next semester of calc and took something else. That being said GT math almost pushed my child over the edge but survived. So unfortunately it only gets worse. GT is notorious for brutal math courses. Every class in my child’s major uses advanced Calculus and calc based stats. So its not just the “math” classes so to speak.

10

I would strongly second what scubadive said about math at Tech. When I came to Tech it had been a year since I had seen calculus because I took BC as a junior and AP statistics as a senior (which is not calc. based). I chose to accept advanced standing in math based on my AP score, but quickly found that I was no longer well prepared for calculus at Tech. In my case, I actually struggled most with reacquainting myself with the trigonometric identities I had failed to fully memorize in high school (we always got a “cheat sheet” in high school). It all worked out in the end and I graduated with highest honors, but please do not take math at Tech lightly. If that means not accepting advanced standing, taking fewer hours your first semester so you have additional time to devote to your first math class, or taking some sort of refresher/self-studying over the summer before you start, that’s all fine. And if you do encounter trouble, reach out for help immediately. Tech has lots of great tutors and professors are usually very amenable to reconsidering your first test score if you do well in the remainder of the course.

Math is so integral to so many courses at Tech that it’s critical for you get off to a strong start. In fact, I would guess that the quality of high school math preparation of incoming freshmen correlates highly with their undergrad GPA. There’s a reason admissions admits almost exclusively students who have already taken calculus, but as my experience shows, doing well in AP calculus does not always translate to being well prepared.

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Thanks again @scubadive @InPursuit @yankeeinGA . I’ll be taking this advice to heart. Y’all are making the School of Modern Languges sound all the more appealing, though!

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My son’s offer was rescinded last year. He failed an online CS course and his grades had slipped a bit. He wasn’t exactly rescinded–they offered first-semester academic probation, but he declined the offer as he just didnt want to go in the first place. I would recommend that you speak with an admissions officer and be clear about your concerns. They don’t want to have to reject someone that they spent time on "recruting:

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@mom2galovelies Out of curiosity, why didn’t your son want to accept the condition of first semester academic probation? As far as I know, all academic probation would entail is a limit on registering for more than 14 hours during his first semester. As long as he passed his classes, he would then have been back in good standing for his spring semester. This seems like an ideal solution since it allows a student to attend and sends the message that they need to focus on their academic performance. Once they do that for one semester, everything is back to normal.

Was this just a case of not accepting responsibility and/or feeling like the school no longer wanted him?

Learning from failure is a very valuable life skill that many Tech applicants and students have never really had to face before, so I certainly can understand a knee jerk reaction (I admittedly don’t know if that was the case in your son’s situation). That said, I would encourage students to take advantage of any offers they get to move past their prior shortcomings.

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@mom2galovelies I appreciate the firsthand experience and second the above question.

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Hard to know. My son’s senior year was stressful, and his parents literally stood by him as he finished his college applications. He made a decision to attend Tech at 11:57 pm on April 30. He is also extremely introverted and doesn’t easily address people, so when the admissions office called him with options, he didn’t defend the conversation. He just doesn’t want to attend. Otherwise, I don’t know where the “rejection” leaves him, in terms of not wanting to attend for the rejection.

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Hi, I am wondering if a C in Physics C would cause Georgia Tech to rescind me. I am taking 6 AP courses this year and I did very well on the first semester with all As except for a B in Physics. In third quarter, it is like every single teacher is trying to cram as much as possible. I am having weeks where I literally have 2 tests per day this quarter and it has been very stressful. I am leaving 3rd Quarter with a few Bs and a C in physics. I am normally an A student. In fact, I have never gotten a B until this year. Does that mean a grade decline? Should I email Georgia Tech about it?

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Students who plan to attend and pass at GaTech, may want to learn calculus on their own as much as they can before day 1 if they have not passed Calculus BC with a good grade. . Do you have a plan to review what you do not understand? What major are you planning on right now?

A couple of things you can do starting today:

Take MIT Open Course 18.01 now. or Khan Academy. Go learn calculus and that will help you choose a major
depending on whether you enjoy mathematics or struggle to understand it.

A few hints about majors–

Computer science requires a year of linear algebra, some graph theory and discrete prove based math.
Some will find these classes much harder than Calculus 1.

Calculus 3 and differential equations are also much more challenging than Calculus 1 and 2, and build
on what you know, so you must learn calculus 1, with a B grade or the next math class will be exceedingly difficult.

Pick your college, major wisely if you do not like mathematics ,there are plenty of majors that do not use
calculus. Most may require a few math classes however.

There is a business major and other liberal arts majors at GaTech to pick from as well. Materials Science is a bit less mathematical. There are some science majors that may be less mathematical. Stay away from Industrial engineering and electrical engineering if you feel weak in math or do not enjoy math.

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I asked both my children to take MIT Open Course 18.01 over the summer before freshman year at GaTech and Case Western. They both thanked me. It turns out thats the single thing any student who is studying mathematically intense major needs to do, review calculus the summer before freshman year. Don’t worry about the words MIT. Its just calculus and the class is on line, all the lectures and all the homework sets and tests. Go learn it! If you understand calculus, college then is still challenging but it will not grind you to DEATH!!!