Hey everybody, just on a sad note today. It is my first year in high school and I have been very sick this past semester. I missed over 23 days of school because of being very sick and I turned in all of my work, but yet only 4 of my 8 teacher have up’d my grades to A’s, while the rest are simply not grading my work which resulted in 4 F’s. Again, I turned in all of the work for all 8 classes. Now, the semester is over and I hate the fact that when I go to look at my grades, my “F” teachers kept putting missing/absent/plain old 0. Anyway, let met get to my questions and concerns:
1.) How can I “make-up” what is presumed to be “failure”.
2.) Will these grades show up on my transcript regardless of having to retake the class or not.
3.) If so, what are my chances of getting into my dream colleges of Stanford or Princeton.
4.) Can I take even more classes during the summer to amp up my GPA.
5.) How much do they consider GPA, how much do they consider test scores, how much do they consider my transcript?
I am very shocked and even cried my eyes before I went to bed. It is not even on my behalf. I stayed up all the way to 2 AM finishing my makeup work, I woke up at 4 to study, and I even skipped lunch to study. Forgive me if I sound a bit dramatic, I am just very stressed, concerned, and just shocked. I even passed all of the finals with 95 and above. Why does this happen to me? Please help.
I’m very sorry to hear that! Your teachers sound extremely unreasonable; have you talked to the principal about this/asked your parents to talk to them about it?
Anyway, don’t worry too much! You still have three years left to go, and you can make a huge turnaround. Stanford is known to not consider freshamn grades, but Fs will look bad nonetheless. The most you can do at this point is do your best in the upcoming years, get great test scores, and write killer essays. Stanford is EXTREMELY holistic and your essays can make a HUGE IMPACT. Maybe explain your circumstances somewhere if you can get it in.
Also don’t forget that Stanford is pretty much a crapshoot for everyone, even if they have a 4.5 or whatever. It’s nice to have goals, but please don’t get fixated on Stanford because the odds are not in your favor (or anyone else’s).
Good luck to you; I’m sure you’ll do great!
You get your parents involved. They request a meeting with your GC and teachers. They CC the principal too, so that everyone is aware. This is too much for you to handle alone and it needs to be sorted out before you get any farther into high school. If your parents can’t or won’t get involved, involve a trusted grandparent or relative. I also suggest you contact your local education authority. Look at your state’s education department website,there will be a local agency that oversees these types of issues. You are being penalized for illness and your teachers are being lazy. As soon as the break is over, emails need to be sent.
Forget about dream colleges for now. Your immediate concern is fixing these issues with your classes and grades. You don’t want your future admissions chances being compromised at any school because of this. To answer your question, grades and courses taken matter very much to top colleges, but you have to realize that you, and everyone, has a 96% chance of not getting into Stanford. Okay? Forget the names, and focus on reality, not dream schools. This is a problem, but it can be resolved, and probably in your favor. But you need to get your parents involved. If everything you have said here is true, what has happened is not right, and I promise your efforts won’t have been wasted.
Try to enjoy the holidays, and relax. You have a course of action. Getting parents involved. Emailing principal, guidance counselor, and all teachers who are not giving you fair grades, to request dates, times, meetings. Using your state’s education department website, to find out what you can. Contacting your local education authorities to get advice and learn about your rights. This will be resolved, but not unitl after the holidays. Stay calm, you have plenty of time.
I believe Stanford overlooks freshman grades. However I agree with the above it is too early to think about Stanford and the Ivy League right now. Focus on sophomore year and see if you can stay healthy and consistent in your schoolwork. If it was only one teacher being unreasonable I would complain to the school’s administration. With 4 out of 8 teachers giving failing grades it seems like there might be a little more to the story than you present here.
Stanford doesn’t even look at freshman year anyways. They literally don’t consider it.
While freshman year isn’t really that important in the big picture of things you should definitely do all that you can to get these F’s turned into A’s or B’s. Agreed that you should contact larger educational authorities.
Each school district usually has a “home school” liaison that you meet with, who reviews your work. Your work can be made up through that program.
Have your parents ASK!
As for Stanford, why are you even thinking about that school? Millions of kids apply and it is a crapshoot. You are needlessly crying over spilt milk.
Get back to basics and improve your current grades by getting some help through your parents and through your school district. Teachers sometimes have to give you a zero if you are not physically present to be involved in group discussions and activities. You miss a lot when you are ill.