<p>My son applied to a competitive school for the EDII round (which school isn't competitive this year?):) Anyway, he had a horrible 9th grade but has been on an upward trend ever since, this year, as a senior he is taking his most rigorous courseload yet, and its intense. He got 2 A's, 2 B'S and 1 C. He applied EDII because he loves the school and figured he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. I feel he should write a brief but sincere letter explaining the C. Even though they will see that it is not so bad given the difficulty of his college level courses. I think he should explain the complexity and rigor of the course and also explain that he was sick for nearly a week before the marking period ended and had to miss a test, by the time he made it up he missed the marking period deadline so got a O credit for it, and it dropped his grade substantially. With his 9th grade year, he hovers at around a 3.0 gpa without it, its about a 3.5. His SAT's were 1990 and this is about the 75%percentile for the school to which he is applying. I feel he should do anything and everything to let them know how serious he takes this and it shows that he is conscientious. So to all you veterans out there, what do you think? Do you agree with me? This letter should go right out because decisions will be going out the first week of Feb. My feeling is that he has nothing to lose by sending this letter, any thoughts?</p>
<p>I am just a senior, but the letter couldn't hurt. I wrote a letter about my scores, just short and sweet, to my ED II college.
Good luck to you son!!</p>
<p>I think that an explanation for the C should come, if at all, from your son's GC, not from your son himself. A brief explanation could accompany the Mid-Year Report, if that has not already been sent. I'm not certain, however, that it's wise to try to explain the C at all. I'll let others weigh in.</p>
<p>If he made up a missed exam, and this changed his first-semester grade from the one recorded on the transcript, that's a substantive change, and it certainly seems legit to have the GC send the college that information before EDII decisions are made. Your son can probably relax, though; a single C will probably not phase an adcom at a college where 1990 is the 75th percentile.</p>
<p>I'll be the voice of dissent here...writing a letter about that C will only sound like an "excuse" for getting a C. If anyone should write a note, I would agree it should come from the GC perhaps including verification that the student had work to make up due to illness and the grade is now higher. Still...there's something in me that says..say nothing. The reality is the student was ill and missed ALL of his classes...and only got one C (yes I understand that he needed to make up a test...but you know what I mean...other class grades didn't suffer).</p>
<p>I am with wjb and thumper. I think it draws too much attention, sounds too much like whining/rationalizing (even if it isn't). The GC is the one to do this, if at all. Do you have confidence in your GC's judgement? If so, I'd let him/her advise and decide.</p>
<p>It might help us to know (of course, we've all weighed in without knowing, lol) whether the subject for the C is a "key" one for him (eg, Math/Science if he's planning a quantitative/Engineering major) or outside his likely major field.</p>
<p>Well, I've never disagreed with Thumper before ... but if the EDII school is "competitive" then IMHO the C will make deferral virtually certain. Plan accordingly.</p>
<p>You think a single C will make the deferral certain? WOW. His good friend just got into NYU with a D on her first quarter report card!! I personally do not think that a C will necessarily defer him but it sounds like everyone thinks to either not say anything at all, or if anything to ask his advisor and let her do the talking if any is to be done. I will certainly speak to her and have my son follow up as well. I trust what you all have said and recognize that there is some validity to what you have said in terms of it possibly coming across like whining, making excuses, etc....it is so not the case but I don't want it in any way to come across this way. So we will touch base with tomorrow and see what she says, unfortunatley she is newer and not terribly experienced which is one reason we didn't go to her to begin with. I came to you because I felt most of you had much more experience and would be the voice of wisdom. You have spoken and we are listening...thank you. I really hope I can come back here in a few weeks to say despite his C, he got accepted!</p>
<p>I agree with not writing the letter. If the C really needs an explanation, and I don't think it does, then let the GC take care of that. I do not think one C is the end of the world. Many kids at our school had a teacher that gave very low grades and was a terrible teacher. He has since been fired, but the grades were the grades. Our GC took care of making a note on the kids reports; the kids did not address it at all.</p>
<p>Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the meaning of "competitive school." If that means a school like Washington University then I believe having an alternate plan is prudent. WashU waitlists lots of students with considerably better stats than 1990 SAT and 3.5 GPA. I'm not saying acceptance won't happen. I'm just saying that for the overwhelming majority of applicants with similar (or better) stats it won't happen. Good luck to your S, regardless.</p>
<p>Are second-term grades available yet? A nice, neutral way for the GC to communicate the grade change would be via the mid-year report, sent out ASAP.</p>
<p>No marathonman, the midyear report is not ready and won't be for about antoher 3 weeks which will be too late.......</p>
<p>newhope..no not on the same level as wash u, but possibly the next tier down just to be specific. Fate will ultmiately determine whether or not he is mean to attend.</p>
<p>I typically do not think a student should explain a C. In this case, if the C is primarily due to having missed the test due to absence and getting a zero but the student is being allowed to make it up but it was past the marking period deadline (am not sure if student was given a chance to make up before the deadline? will grade be reajusted AFTER the make up? I'm not clear), I still don't think the student should be the one to notify the college with a letter as it comes across as an "excuse." Rather, this is the time of year when Mid Year Grade Reports are sent in by the guidance counselor. If the GC agrees that the grade is a reflection of the fact that the make up exam did not make the deadline and the grade is due to a zero that will be allowed to be made up and readjusted, then the GC should note that on the Mid Year Grade Report (which has room for comments). That's the only thing I can see doing in this case. </p>
<p>As far as the friend who had a D in her first quarter report card but got into NYU ED....that means nothing because for ED, a Mid Year Grade Report is not used (which comes out in Jan) and so no fall grades would have been known from first quarter by the college. Not a good comparison here. Your son's first semester grades will be known by virture of the Mid Year Grade Report which I assume is being sent in now that grades are in and colleges want these and the admissions decisions are not yet rendered. </p>
<p>I have no idea the college you are talking about. However, if it is very selective, his GPA may be a problem. An upward trend is a good thing. Still his GPA is a 3.0 which is low for most selective schools. I do not have enough information to go on and so I'm just putting out that possibility.</p>
<p>EDIT: PLEASE NOTE THAT I WROTE THIS POST EARLIER THIS MORNING AND WAS INTERRUPTED BY A CALL FROM A CLIENT. I am now reading subsequent posts and you are saying the mid year grade report will not go out until AFTER decisions are rendered? If that is the case, then how do they ever even see the C? Not sure I follow.</p>
<p>He has a C for first quarter grades which is what she has to send in and available now. She is not going to wait for midyear because it will be not be ready for 3 weeks and it's too late at that point. So.....they will get the first quarter grades which without the C is actually not bad, at this point whatever is meant to be, will be! Thanks for your well intended input, I appreciate it.</p>
<p>So, was your son allowed to make up the test? And if so, did the teacher adjust the grade since he had a zero for the test due to absence? How does that work? Where does he get credit to replace that zero? So, this sounds like it was a couple of months ago and not for this past quarter. Thus, in some fashion, there has been some resolution regarding that test, yes? Then, you say the GC has to send in first quarter grades. If your son received a zero on a test due to absence and IF the teacher allowed him to make it up but it missed the deadline but he then received a grade, can't the GC make a note of this on the grade report she must file with the college.....noting that he no longer has the zero but has made up the test? (ACTUALLY, I am surprised he got a zero instead of an incomplete, but I don't have the full picture of how/where his make up test was figured into his grades). So, rather than your son sending in an explanation about the missed and made up test that didn't make it to the grade report, can't the GC note this? Perhaps I don't yet have the full picture of what was done with the make up test and if it replaced the zero or just what.</p>
<p>He was able to eventually make up the test which counted for the next quarter, which ends in two weeks from now. So yes he got a 0 for the test which is how he handles it. So.......the bottom line is that he did not get credit for that test in the first quarter but did for the second, which obviuosly will be much better. At least a B+. He asked his GC to write something to this effect, this morning so will find out if she did or not tomorrow. I hope she did otherwise I feel it is letting it go unexplained, and there really is a good solid explanation. At this point we will wait to see what happens with the GC and take it from there. Thanks!</p>
<p>I think it is worth the GC explaining that the absence resulted in zero credit for an exam that got figured into the first quarter average but that he made up the test but it got figured into the second quarter. Thus, his grade for the first quarter reflects a zero averaged in and he got an "X" on that exam. I would not add any of the other explanations you made in your first post about the rigor of the course, yadda yadda. Explaining how the exam grade wasn't figured into the first quarter and how the zero due to absence changed the average is worth mentioning by the GC, but not by your son. The grade on his test should be mentioned. Also, a C is not so terrible if it is your only one. I think a bigger issue may be the 3.0 GPA. The upward trend is positive though. I do not know the college or enough about your son and am only commenting on the bit you shared.</p>
<p>The schools that I applied to needed a form to be forwarded along with the mid-year reports. Many of them asked if I had any comments to send along with my report card. Does this particular school require a form? If so, I don't see what the huge problem would be with him explaining what happened. I see how it could be construed as him whining and complaining while trying to justify a "bad" grade, but if he does it correctly then it could be a good chance for him to just explain what happened.</p>
<p>If there's no form for him, I'd agree with having the GC add a note about his grade. Or, is there a space on his report card for teacher comments? That could be another option. If you're really strapped for time, try e-mailing a local representative from the college. Your son probably has a business card with an e-mail address on it from who ever visited his high school. </p>
<p>For what it's worth, I explained a poor grade via my form to one school and got in. I also contacted a local admissions representative for advice about another academic topic and was accepted to that school also.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great advice, his advisor I just found out is as of today is away until next Monday for a family wedding abroad!! BAD TIMING. So....now the dilemma is does he sit tight or do something on his own? He wants to email the admissions rep who he has had some contact with to ask her opinion and therefore is kind of in a subtle way letting her know what the story is and she will either come back and say yes just write a small blurb or no its not necessary. This way though,someone on that end at least knows what the situation is. I think this sounds like a pretty good idea, any thoughts?
I agree that the one C should not hurt him terribly and again though he won't mention it, they will see what a tough work load he has and that he has taken the most challenging courses so far of his high school career. So that kind of speaks for itself, what do you think?</p>
<p>If the GC is away, who is sending in the grade report? Wasn't that about to be sent in? </p>
<p>(again, normally I would not explain a C, but if this was due to absence and then the make up test did not readjust the grade......though I think the grade should have been readjusted or originally been an incomplete.....it would have made sense for the GC or even the original teacher to make a note when the grade report was....will be?...sent in)</p>