<p>I really want to go to James Madison University and my SAT scores and GPA are in their ranges which gives me a shot at getting in (1800/3.72). I'm in all AP and Honors classes and I do a lot of good EC's and community service hours. I've been told I'm a perfect candidate for the school and that I've got a great chance at getting in.</p>
<p>But something bothers me.</p>
<p>My junior year grades were awful. I got 3 C pluses and a D plus (1/2 point to a C) and even though they were in tough classes and other than that I have had all A's and B's through high school.</p>
<p>My problem is I had Honors Chemistry and Trig. Both courses require A LOT of math and I just don't understand math. I can study for hours on end and even get tutored and come test day I'll still fail any test that involves math. I just don't ever understand complicated concepts enough to apply them on my own. Anyway, I spent all year trying to keep my head above the water in Chem and Trig that I slipped in Spanish and History (usually two very strong subjects for me).</p>
<p>The C pluses in Honors Spanish 3, Honors Chemistry, and AP U.S. History were horrible enough but then I got a D plus in Trig (when I had a C plus/ B all year) because I failed my final exam.</p>
<p>I tried to retake these courses over the summer, but it was too late to sign up and I knew that trying to take extra classes this year on top of my 4 AP and 3 Honors classes would be next to impossible. I'm doing really well this year. I have all A's and I just don't want to be held back from my dream school because I had a tough year.</p>
<p>I spent all summer writing this essay about my love for writing (since that's my major), but I was in a meeting with a college rep for another school today who said to use the Personal Statement to describe any bad years gradewise. </p>
<p>So should I do that? Or would I have a better shot at getting in with my original essay?</p>
<p>Stick with your original essay. You don’t want the adcom’s major take-away from your application to be that you are a student who did poorly in junior year when the academic demands were stepped up - and might be at risk of failing out in college. (I’m impressed by the way that your GPA is still 3.72 - you must have had a 4.0 freshman and sophomore year?)</p>
<p>There is a place at the end of the application to add comments about exceptional circumstances. What probably should have happened last year is you should have dropped from honor chem, and possibly AP hist and honors Spanish as well, to regular chem, history and Spanish - as soon as you realized that you couldn’t handle the math. The obvious question in the adcom’s mind is likely to be, why didn’t you do that? And if you get in over your head in college, why should I expect you to do better next time? You might want to address that explicitly in that area of the application. Your GC should probably be ready to respond to that issue as well.</p>
<p>I’m thinking the 3.72 is weighted since Fresh/Soph were As and Bs.</p>
<p>stick with original essay imo</p>
<p>First, use your earlier essay, the essay is the place to discuss your individuality and positive aspects, not negatives.</p>
<p>Second, while you can address your grades in the Additional Information, I would recommend that you don’t. The reasons you give for your grades: not understanding math and spending too much time on some classes to the detriment of others, are not valid reasons for asking for special consideration IMO. Lots of students have academic weaknesses, one is expected to find ways to deal with them (eg. tutor, less rigorous classes, etc.). What I would consider subjects to bring up to explain lower than usual grades are things that your GC could also address, like illness or certain family issues.</p>
<p>I could’ve taken regular level courses. But dropping from taking all advanced to courses to regular courses did not appeal to me at all. I know people in regular level classes. They watch Disney movies in Spanish and then discuss it or the World History classes who literally watched Mulan for the China Unit, Anastasia for Russia, etc. And all my friends in those classes got A’s but if I get an A want to learn something. Maybe I didn’t get straight A’s but I feel considerably more prepared for college than a lot of my friends. Besides I’ve got straight A’s in even harder courses right now because I bit off more than I could chew junior year and through that I learned what I need to do to succeed and I’m doing it. So I’m glad I didn’t drop my hard courses. Plus I have B’s not C’s or D’s for my semester grades. It was really exams (finals) that massacred my grades…my teachers’ rule of thumb was that you get one letter grade below what your normal average in the class would be. And I usually had B’s in Spanish and History so C pluses was about right. Chemistry I didn’t have to take a final for which is probably why I got a C plus instead of a D. And then, as I said, my Trig final brought me from a B average to a D plus. I got like a 20 on it. So did everyone in my class, but my teacher said that we couldn’t retake it. I’m sure that looked ad on her. It’s no secret around town that my school has the weakest math department :P</p>
<p>But I see what you’re saying. I’ll just use the essay that highlights my assets, not my faults. I’m glad, I worked 3 months to get that essay right. It’d be depressing not to use it haha :)</p>
<p>^Hope you understand that I didn’t mean to criticize, I’m just trying to give an adcoms POV that it’s very difficult to evaluate a student’s academic reasons for lower than usual grades vs. outside circumstances that are generally out of their control.</p>
<p>Anyway, your essay about writing sounds a lot more interesting!</p>