I have always considered myself a smart person and a good student. My grades are mostly A’s with one or two B’s here and there. I am a junior this year taking Honors Chem, notoriously known as the hardest class in my entire school. I finished this semester with a C (78%). I have taken regular physics (A’s both semesters) and regular biology (A’s both semesters) freshman and sophomore year. This has been the first class I have truly struggled in.
This semester I am also taking AP Lang (A), APUSH (A), APEURO (B), Integrated 3 math (A), and Business 100 (as part of duel enrollment- A). This would be my only C in all of my academic career.
How badly does this affect my chances at applying to colleges like USC, UCLA, UCSD, USD, SDSU, UCSB, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley.
I have not taken my SAT yet, but I do participate in mock trial, volunteering, and I have multiple recommendations from my teachers.
I plan on going into law or politics, I have no interest in going into the field of science.
Thank You!
I’m in a near identical situation as you - I just finished Pre-Calc this semester with a 78, my first C. It really sucks, but as my guidance counselor told me, one lackluster grade, especially in a subject that isn’t related to what you plan to pursue in college, won’t be a big deal. As long as the rest of your application is solid, you should be alright.
The best thing to do now is to aim for the highest grade possible next semester. Talk with your Chem teacher on what you struggled with. If you manage to get a significantly higher grade, it will show colleges your tenacity.
I don’t know anything about California schools, so I can’t help you there, but based on what on what you wrote here, you seem like a competitive candidate for plenty of colleges.
Dont worry about it. I got a C in English because I bombed my final. I wrote that it was a mistake and I learned from it on my UC application. That was my only C, and the rest of my grades were straight A’s in 12 AP classes. So even though I got a C I still had a UC GPA of about 4.35. And I got into most of the UC’s (not berkeley and la tho lol)
just keep you gpa up 
One C isn’t going to kill you. A full year of C’s on the other hand will. Drop to normal Chem if it’s too much. Besides that if you keep your Chem grade up you should be good to go.