B in math... advice?

Applying to College
1

I ended with a B in Honors Algebra 2 (sophomore), and I’m worried that this will hinder my chances of getting into an Ivy League… I want to major in the humanities or business (management??), and I have an A in Honors English, APUSH, and Honors French, but I have a B in chemistry as well.

I know that getting into an Ivy requires you to be at the top of your grade, but I’m bothered by my grades in math and science. Will that heavily factor into my acceptance in college if I’m majoring in the humanities or business? If so, what are some actions I can take to show colleges that I’m not bad at math?

2

It all depends how you do relative to other people in those classes.

3

Do your best. There are 3000 colleges in the USA…there is one for you. You can have 4.0 average, 1600 SAT and still not get into an Ivy. A B in Honor Alg 2 is not “bad”. Keep working on improving.

here are ideas:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2026961-what-to-do-when-you-arent-doing-well-in-a-hs-class-p1.html

4

It’s only April. Why not work to get the A’s you feel you need between now and the end of the school year?

5

Do teachers at your high school set aside time after school to help students? Teachers at my D’s school do. It is by choice. Any students can stay after school during those time slots.

If you can afford it, private math/science tutoring is another option.

Do your best. There are a junior year and at least a semester in a senior year for you to improve your grades.

Aim high is good but be realistic. Ivy or not, the competition is fierce these days.

6

Make the effort to move the grade to an A. You are apparently treating a B as an anvil around your neck. Put that aside.

There is precious little students can do to azure they have produced an application that assures admission to the Ivies and that includes students with fabulous credentials. Your grades are not perfect and you have not taken admissions test yet.

You are on the road to becoming an excellent college applicant. Explore other options.

7

Seriously, see what your test scores are and then start making these evaluations. Did you take the PSAT? Did you take a practice ACT as a sophomore as well (many do)? Worrying about your grades with no test scores, or about your test scores when your grades are incomplete, can both be a waste of time. Focus on your ECs and think about what you may want to study, areas of the country you want to live in (northeast schools or west coast, etc.), the type of large/small campus you want, etc.