Consequences of an F? Chances-ish?

Applying to College
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<p>I know many of my posts are inconsistent... In stats (in chance threads) and general attitude, etc. This is an alternate account which I use to ask questions -- for myself and others -- that I'd be hesitant to ask on my own account. Just trying to eliminate any confusion here, people asking me what year I am (doesn't matter), or people scrutinizing my former posts and calling me a liar, and what not. Anyway...(:</p>

<p>So... This time it's an issue of grades. Failed Spanish 3. By... .44 of a point, too. Backstory would be that a certain guidance counselor at my school just LOVES to toss kids in classes in which they have no interest in. Other students have also mentioned being forced into taking Spanish 3 (under the threat of the guidance counselor not signing their diplomas) to the teacher. Teacher was enraged when notified of this today, and will definitely have words with the guidance counselor. Anyway, that was all superflous... Sorry, ahah. </p>

<p>So will having a failing grade on my transcript, along with other crummy grades, kill me for the followimg schools? </p>

<p>+Reed College
+Sarah Lawrence College
+Shimer College (BA to JD program)
+George Washington University
+Oxford College of Emory University (legacy)
+Tulane University
+Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Institute of Technology
+American University
+University of Georgia
+Oglethorpe University
+University of Colorado: Boulder</p>

<p>Would probably ED to Reed or Oxford@Emory if I don't get into Shimer, or can't afford to go. Maybe EA to Tulane, UGA, and GaTech if I can send in my first semester grades before decisions come out... I don't think this is feasible, though. By the way, intend to major in Political Science, and attend law school after. Already engrossed by books on legal theory, so anyone who wishes to talk me out of law should save his or her energy...=P</p>

<p>By other crummy grades, I mean a couple of Cs... Ohh, during junior and sophomore year, freshman and first semester of sophomore I had a 4.0 The odd thing is, my Cs are in the easy classes; I just can't stand to "play the game." I excel in my AP classes; I have the highest grade in my class in APUSH, and the same went for AP Gov last year, as I LIKE the material, and it's sometimes complex enough to be engaging, too. These classes also let me write essays, an opportunity which I adore. The other classes, I read or sleep in, as bad as that sounds. Just explaining what I meant by a crummy transcript... Ahah, Cs in math and Spanish, even though my math standardized test scores were the highest my teacher's even seen. =P As far as course rigor:
- I took 2 APs sophomore year: AP Euro and AP Gov.
- 2 junior year: APUSH and AP Lang.
-And will take/am taking 4 senior year: AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Psych, AP Micro/Macro. AP scores are 4s and 5s, except for AP Euro, a 3, as I messed my DBQ up hilariously...=P GPA's a 3.5 UW right now... Should be about a 3.65 when I apply to colleges.</p>

<p>My SAT is a 2120, breakdown as follows:
CR: 730
M: 630
W: 760</p>

<p>ECs are pretty terrible. A few awards, NHS, unselective summer program (course on law, here), a little bit of unofficially tutoring people and editing essays, and Boy Scouts (highest leadership position, and in scouting's national honor society, will be eagle when applying to colleges).</p>

<p>Should have 2 amazing teacher recommendations, accompanied by a terrible counselor recommendation... At my school, you don't get close to your guidance counselor, plus mine and I have almost had words a few times, and she seems to regard me as... An animal in a zoo, watching me as though I'm interesting, but beneath her. It's creepy as all get out! </p>

<p>Essays should be nice, given adequate time(: I'm an excellent writer, but have trouble writing about personal topics. </p>

<p>Ohh, I'm white, and my dad makes about 40K per year, but supports about 8 people. He's got a degree in engineering, even though he works in construction, so no first-gen hook here. Blechh... I don't see what advantage his going to college gives me when he still makes what he does, or what advantage I've had over a URM... We're poor, I mean, I've been woken up at midnight many times to go in the attic and dump out buckets of water because our leaky roof was all but made of patches and tarps. I've been told "we aren't eating tonight because dad's paycheck is late." I've had to pay for my nephew's medicine because no one else could afford it... Anyway, sorry for ranting, I just think affirmative action's truly given me the short end of the stick, and I feel sorry for others in my situation; end above rant here. </p>

<p>Well, this started out as a question about the implications of an F, but pretty ended up as a chance thread. I'll post it in the chance thread section, too. So, will my terrible grades (namely that F), being white, and my lack of ECs get me rejected at these schools?</p>

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<p>Um…did you retake the course you failed?</p>

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<p>Well, it’s only one semester of it, and the class is a year long, so as of yet, I haven’t. Do you think it’s better to retake it, or not? I REALLY dislike Spanish, so…</p>

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<p>I think what will hurt you most in admissions is your attitude. You’ve got an excuse for everything, and not a good one. You appear to feel entitled not to do well when you do not like the material and you don’t care to stay on your counselor’s good side understanding she can help you a lot or hurt you a lot in this process.</p>

<p>Grow up, stop feeling sorry for yourself and stop failing classes. Then maybe you’ll get into some of these.</p>

<p>Your list, however, is not a good one for someone with high financial need. The vast majority don’t meet need. I’d look to add schools that meet 100% of need.</p>

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<p>Agree with Waverly. It is time to take responsibility for the consequences of your actions. Why blame your Spanish 3 grade on your GC?
At this point, the urgent issue is that you need to withdraw from Spanish for next semester, and plan on retaking last semester somehow. Your local CC may be an option in the summer. You need to take every class seriously next semester, even the easy ones.</p>

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<p>I agree with siliconvalleymom and Waverly. And Spanish 3? Your GC was *right *about that, if you were planning to apply to the colleges you’ve named. You’d really be digging a hole for yourself to apply to some of those institutions with only Spanish 1 and 2.</p>

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<p>Since Shimer’s admissions are qualitative – based heavily on your essay, interview and recommendations, rather than GPA or SAT – the F alone is unlikely to be an issue. That said, there is a quantitative element in the [BA</a> to JD requirements](<a href=“http://www.shimer.edu/academicprograms/ba-to-jd-program.cfm]BA”>http://www.shimer.edu/academicprograms/ba-to-jd-program.cfm), but from the information you’ve given, it seems like you’ll still exceed the minimum without much trouble. (Of course, you also have to be approved by the admissions committee at Kent; I have absolutely no idea what sort of extra, unwritten requirements they might have, but I’m sure the friendly folks at Shimer admissions could give you some guidance.) </p>

<p>Waverly’s point above, however, is well-taken. It’s fine to feel the way you do about your Spanish 3 grade, but when it comes to talking to actual admissions people, make sure you’re able to explain it in a way that doesn’t sound like you’re avoiding responsibility.</p>

<p>On the money front, you should definitely look into [Shimer’s</a> Montaigne scholarship competition](<a href=“http://shimer.edu/montaigne]Shimer’s”>http://shimer.edu/montaigne), if you haven’t already. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Ok, so here’s the thing.</p>

<p>An “F” doesn’t mean that you’re destined to failure and menial labor for the rest or your life (not that I have anything against honest work!!!). To the extent that you don’t want to study Spanish as a major (and I assume you don’t) by itself, it’s not a killer.</p>

<p>However, it is a negative on your transcript, and there is no getting around this. The fact that you have other classes where you have not done well compounds this somewhat. However, it’s all part of a picture. Your GPA is what it is. Your SATs are what they are, and look to be very good for the schools to which you’re applying.</p>

<p>Now as to your ECs. They are not terrible. Being an Eagle Scout takes a lot of time and perserverence. This is what many colleges are looking for. One major activity with a demonstrated accomplishment is probably better than 5 or 6 clubs where you had some minor involvement. It’s the old “Depth vs Breadth” debate. Add to this, that you’ve apparantly been working to help support your family …</p>

<p>From what you have said – your list looks reasonable from an academic point of view. There is a spectrum of schools from a selectivity standpoint. There are a few reaches here, but that’s ok, and unless there’s something unusual that you haven’t pointed out, you’ll probably receive several admissions despite the blemishes. However, as Waverly points out, they may not be the best for you because of your financial aid requirements. Given your circumstance, you’ll really have to research this. Normally I’d say you need a session with the GC, but you indicate that you may have burned that relationship.</p>

<p>Now – free advice (since free advice is worth what you pay for it, do with it what you will). Accept responsibility for your actions. I don’t know you, but you seem bright. I suspect if you busted your butt, you’d have passed spanish. From what you say, if you’d applied yourself some of your Cs would have been Bs and As. You come across as someone who is very bright but has not fully applied himself. BTW, there are thousands of other very bright students who haven’t fully applied themselves – they generally get into good colleges (though perhaps not as prestigious as they would have had they worked to their full potential).</p>

<p>However, if your application is riddled with excuses you will come across as a WHINEY very bright student who hasn’t applied himself. This almost certainly will not work in your favor. Develop a strategy – there’s no one right answer – maybe say “If I had applied myself I’d have done better”, maybe let them speak for themselves (not what I’d do, but I don’t know), maybe something in the middle – how you don’t have an aptitude in these areas, and learned that you really needed to apply yourself more. I don’t know what the best way is, but I’m pretty sure that blaming the GC isn’t it.</p>

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<p>I didn’t mean to come off as entitled… I’ve made my own choices and realize they have consequences, I was merely trying to determine what those consequences are.</p>

<p>I’m not blaming my Spanish grade on my guidance counselor, merely stating that I just didn’t try because I didn’t even want to be in that class – it was the product of her abusing her power. She has no idea what kind of colleges I want to apply to, so she didn’t force me to take Spanish 3 based on that… She has no idea what kind of colleges I want to apply to because we ONLY see our counselors when we pick our classes. The reason I’m in Spanish 3 is because at our school, since ~50% of students aren’t college-bound, they want you to have a “pathway” which could help you gain other employment… So mine was the “foreign language pathway.” BUT, pathways are NOT required, it was FORCED on me; this counselor’s notorious for forcing pathways and (mainly engineering) classes on students, and only letting the tippy top students (top 8 or so, the kind that obsess over class rank) out of taking a “pathway.” Total abuse of authority, on her part, because I wasn’t required to take Spanish 3, and she had no idea if it was in my best interest or not because she spends the whole time telling me to take AP Psych without the pre-req as a sophomore, but won’t let me do the same thing as a junior. She’s terrible at her job… When you go to pick your classes, teachers always ask who your counselor is. When a student states they have my counselor, they always get a sympathetic glance and a “god bless you,” and often you’ll hear a teacher say “you’d better know what classes you want, otherwise she’ll pick for you!”</p>

<p>My Spanish teacher seemed pretty bothered when she heard this; apparently someone else told her the same thing happened to him or her, now that she has confirmation of this from me, she’s angry. So yeah… More pieces of the puzzle for y’all. </p>

<p>I didn’t plan to explain any of my grades, except for maybe one grade from my sophomore year – I was hospitalized (for a day) for a somewhat embarassing condition which had caused me to miss about a week of school before I went to the hospital. This was finals week, and I missed a final, a test, and a quiz, all in one class, and had to take them all in one day, the last day of the semester, when I returned to school. I think that’s a legitimate excuse, but even so, I still don’t think I’ll try to explain that. So no, I don’t really plan to make excuses when filling out college applications…</p>

<p>No one’s really answered my original question (except in relation to Shimer, which I really appreciate) though I realize all posts were published with good intentions. Thanks everyone, in advance, too(:</p>

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<p>And thank you Zephyr, very helpful post(: You too, visviva.</p>