Lets start off with a backstory so you can get a feel of where I’m coming from.
I recently moved to another state the summer before my Sophomore year. I finished my freshman year with a 4.0 GPA so I was off to a good start.
As a sophomore I am taking Choir, Anatomy and Physiology, Health Science, Principals of Health Science, Pre AP English 2, Pre AP Algebra 2, Chemistry and Geography.
I have a 3.8 gpa and I also took the SAT this year making a 1140 and 1050 on the PSAT.
I currently have A’s in my other classes, a B in English and a C in Math!
It’d be a miracle to finish math with a B but at this rate I’m finishing my sophomore year with a C in math–my first C ever.
(I want to become a doctor so I want to have a good college application, get into a good college, and have lots of scholarships to take care of some or all of the cost.)
I was heavily involved in extracurricular activities during my freshman year however I am only a part of one club this year. I plan on being more involved next year, I made it a priority to get a feel of the academics of the school before I devoted my time else where if that makes any sense.
I believe that if I had grown up here in the state that I currently live in I could’ve easily avoided the C. My freshman math teacher could’ve taught us more and I feel because of that, I didn’t have a good foundation in math going into my sophomore year. I want to argue that the reason why I have a C is because I am adjusting to the state and what not.
I am FREAKING out over my C and I have no idea how its going to affect me.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should do right now as a sophomore in their second semester and also any advice as to what I should do during my senior and junior year to make up for it???
Thank you to those in advance to those who took the time to read all of this and left some advice, I truly appreciate it.
I had a C also in Algebra 2 PreAP during Sophmore year (I intend to be an engineering major haha). However, I got myself a tutor and this year in PreAP PreCalculus I got a high B+ semester average. If I didn’t have a tutor, I would have probably failed.
On an unrelated note, you really need to study for your SAT/PSAT. You mentioned that you wanted scholarships and many schools do offer scholarships for national merit finalists (some schools even offer full rides to NMF, plus you get the scholarship from the exam itself).
I also did the SAT a few months ago (1380, pretty low, so I have to retake). However, on the PSAT I got a 1460 which wasn’t too shabby (only missed a single question on reading and 3 on the math).
I’ll definitely look into a tutor for my junior year, I can’t afford another C. Did your C in PreAP Algebra 2 affect you severely? Or do you think that your B+ in PreCalc makes up for it? About the PSAT/SAT, I totally agree with you, I practice through Khan Academy since I don’t have a tutor. Nice scores though!
I don’t think @RMNiMiTz realized that you are only a sophomore. An 1140 on the SAT in 10th grade is not a bad score; in fact, it is above average. Take a look at this site: http://blog.prepscholar.com/whats-a-good-10th-grade-act-/-sat-score. You have plenty of time to study to improve your score, and the fact that you are already practicing with Khan Academy is excellent.
However, you should focus on your grades until the end of this year. You shouldn’t be worrying about how you are going to argue why you got the C. You can do that later. Instead, you should seek out all of the help you can get: ask for extra help from your teacher, go to a tutor one night a week (if you can afford it), go through each of your past tests/quizzes and find out what you need to work on, discuss problems you don’t understand with your friends, etc. There are plenty of options for you, and while this C is not the end of the world (it won’t deny you admission to a school), you say that it’d be a miracle to get a B – if this is true and the B is achievable, then give it everything you have to earn that B. While you may not be able to earn it, you will certainly become a better math student and will perform much better next year. One thing I would not suggest, however, is to move onto PreCalc next year if you do end this year with a C. You would likely be better off retaking that class next year (this might replace the C on your transcript) or taking it over the summer somehow, which might also replace the C. Since you are struggling in Algebra 2, then it is unlikely that you will earn a higher grade in a harder class (I’m not saying you can’t, but you would likely feel like you are behind and confused).
Overall, don’t let this one grade in math concern you. I can guarantee that if you continue to do well in general (as you are), earn a good SAT or ACT score next year (which you are on track to doing), and continue to build your EC’s, you will be able to go to an excellent school. I’d suggest that you do some volunteer work, attend a summer program, or even get an internship this summer, all involving medical work and things that align with your passion of becoming a doctor. This will help build your EC’s, and you might learn more about the field you plan on entering. I wish you the best of luck, and I’d be happy to help more if you have any other questions. That said, if you take anything from this post, let it be that you will be completely fine in the future even if you aren’t able to bring that C up, but it can’t hurt to give it your all.
Thank you so so much! This definitely helped me ALOT, gave me peace of mind and hope that I can finish math with a decent grade as long as I give it my all.
I will schedule an appointment with my counselor to look into retaking algebra 2 so that I can have a better grade and also have a good foundation going into PreCalc since it’s only going to get harder. As of now I believe that’s the best option for me, I feel that I’d benefit a lot more by retaking the class, actually understanding it and going into math next year with more confidence. In my school at least Algebra 2 is a junior class so I wouldn’t necessarily be behind if I do retake it.
However this doesn’t mean I won’t be working hard to earn a B at the end of the year. District doesn’t allow extra credit for math unfortunately My grades are always so close to a B in math but never quite getting there (78’s and 79’s every grading period) so its quite frustrating not having extra credit when I am so close to a B! It terms of looking at older quizzes and tests I will for sure do that, especially since I do well in classwork and homework while tests are what bring me down.
I agree with everything that you said, thank you once again for all the reassuring and encouraging advice! I hope to keep in touch with you in the future
@Thatonegirl4787 chill out bro I had 3 C’s in my A-G courses and it reflected in my UC GPA, but I still have been admitted to a very good UC under their highly competitive computer science program. Moral is, theres bigger things to stress about. Kill your SAT and have strong UNIQUE extra curriculars. You’ll be fine. The fact you just wrote a novel about your C grade shows you’re probably a driven student who will be fine.
No I did realize she was a sophmore. I made a 1370 on the sophomore year PSAT and I was only able to improve 90 points (to 1460) by my junior year. While 1140 is “above average”, average usually isn’t what schools are looking for.
I would say my C did negatively affect me, but what’s done is done. Can’t go back to fix it now, so the only thing left is to keep on going and try to do better next time.
My grades are always so close to a B in math but never quite getting there (78’s and 79’s every grading period) so its quite frustrating not having extra credit when I am so close to a B! It terms of looking at older quizzes and tests I will for sure do that, especially since I do well in classwork and homework while tests are what bring me down.