S has finally decided on his school and he thought he would make sure there would be no issues in August when final transcripts come out. He got a D in the first semester of AP Calc BC which is the reason for concern. When he called the large state flagship he is planning to commit to they told him they would investigate and get back to him about it on Friday. He still hasn’t heard back.
Should we be worried? He will have 6 math credits (due to two Comp Sci classes) total so even if he failed this class he has enough to graduate. All other classes have been maintained at the similar grade levels to junior year and the Calc BC grade has gone up a bit. Another more selective school had advised him to stay the course regardless of grade (he had considered dropping down to AP Calc AB) as they preferred to see that he challenged himself. We did not think that the largest college (CLA) in one of the largest state schools could have an issue if this one did not.
Feeling a bit stressed with not having a firm answer yet. Do we need to start thinking about a plan B school? He has other good options but he had such a hard time finally narrowing it down to this one that it’s disappointing to be in this situation now.
Yes, people do get rescinded. Every year our HS sends out to seniors about five or six rescind letters (with names/colleges blocked out) to put a bit of fear into everyone so they don’t slack off too much. That said, generally schools only get the final grade on the transcript (check with your guidance office) so if the year end grade is a C then it should be fine (assuming the other classes have held steady). In the meantime, he should do everything possible to bring up the final grade (ex. see teacher, tutor, help from a friend etc.).
I would get a tutor to help him understand it better and get the grade up. You really want to avoid a D if you can. The more selective the school is, the more likely they are to rescind a student for a D. They are also more likely to care if he is an engineering or computer science major. I would try hard to avoid the risk.
That’s just it. This is a large state school - not that selective so I think it’s ridiculous. The very selective private school wanted to see him complete the harder course regardless of grade - even an F. I wish he would have picked that school but he didn’t - I guess it’s still an option. This school isn’t looking that much at rigor. It’s also for the college of liberal arts - not the most selective program either.
Was the first semester D grade reported to each college as soon as the report card came out?
If not, then a college may not like seeing a summer time senioritis surprise on the final transcript.
Even if it was, getting a D in the second semester would risk rescission. He needs to find out from the colleges which ones will rescind and which will not. Otherwise, he may have no college choices other than community college.
I believe 1st semester grades have been sent to most of his colleges. He started calling his final choices last week (yes, I know it’s late - I told him to do it earlier) to confirm they know and what could potentially happen. I am still surprised that one grade can wreak this much havoc. His stats are much higher than the average student at this university yet the average student can stay average and retain their spot and he could get kicked out over one grade? But this is the fact of large universities - not much of a holistic process. I felt the smaller privates were a better fit form him and they get and support the whole learning over grades thing but he seems set on a big 10 university experience.
Very few schools would want to see D or F on a student’s transcript, not matter how rigorous a course. If a student is getting D/F on a course, clearly he is not learning the material.
My hunch is that large public schools set rules (like no Ds or Fs) and don’t waiver from them. Private schools are better about taking circumstances into account. My DS’s AP calc BC curriculum is all finished and they are now just taking practice AP tests, so there might not be time to make up any grade (I think the AP exam is on approx 5/5?). But your DS’s HS might have a different timeline. He should find out what he needs to score to get a C in the class, then ask the HS teacher for extra credit, and maybe have a tutor to prep for the extra credit. But he should not just do this all blindly…he needs to definitely know what his final grade or second semester grade will be given the range of possible scores on whatever graded material is left.
Or Maybe the public college will let him make up the AP calc BC in summer school.
If it looks like it will be no go, then he should change his decision (SIR) to one of his private schools which will allow the D grade and will not rescind acceptance. At least he will still get to go to college!!
@oldfort - S is learning it but at a slower pace - a D or a F is based only on a very small number of tests - it’s very hard to pull up after a poor score or two.
@YoHoYoHo - S is also going to take a practice AP tomorrow. They have been really prepping them - goal is for everyone to get 5’s (this is a public high school so quite a few students) - that is why the teacher is so tough on them through the whole semester. Still, others are doing better, so S is having trouble with the material. He could have dropped down but wanted to be exposed to it now so when re-taking it in college he would have a better grasp.
The rep did say they normally allow one low grade - and that’s the only one he would have. The first choice private costs much more - if it was his first choice, I would have less problem with that. The second choice private is closer in cost to the state university (large scholarship) but being #3 on the list, he is less than enthused.
Our private college counselor is trying to get in touch with the admission rep to get a better feel of where he stands - we will decide at that point if we need to change schools - hopefully that will be soon as we are running out of time!
OP- If the rep said they normally allow one low grade then he may be in trouble. He already has one low grade the D from last semester. I doubt that when the rep said that they meant 2 semesters of a low grade.
A C grade should be ok, as long as the overall senior year academic performance is in line with or not too far below previous academic performance. Did any of the colleges have specific conditions on senior year academic performance that he would have to meet?
@ucbalumnus - nothing specific - just that it should be consistent with his prior grades. And they are except for this one class. I was trying to hold off e-mailing the teacher as S wanted to handle it himself but I’m just too anxious so I did ask him for his assessment of what grade he thought S would likely end with. Unfortunately his first quarter was even worse than first semester and he as a B now in this quarter - we are hoping it will average to a C. for the semester.