I am a Junior in High school and my first semester, I took AP Bio (I don’t know why).
I had a D first semester in that class so the next semester, I transferred out to AP Environmental science and I’m doing much better in that class.
All my grades are coming out really nicely because I’m more used to the stress and pressure that you get in Junior year and I seem to have an A for most of my classes.
But that D really bugs me because I feel like it would completely destroy my chances of getting into the UC that I am wishing for.
I really want to go to either UC Irvine or UC San Diego (I am going to apply to UCLA and UC Berkeley too but I know it’s hopeless) but I feel like this D in AP Bio will really screw me up.
people told me it’s a good idea to make up for your grade at my local Community college but Biology is a big weakness for me and I don’t have the confidence to do well in it, let alone the cost for the class and the time I have to give up.
I already have to attend summer classes for pharmacy over the summer to get my hours for the license, and I got into a scholarship which sends me to another country during the same period of the biology summer class so either way I really can’t do it.
The thing is my SAT score isn’t that great either, because I am not a really strong math person. I took it two weeks ago and so the results should be coming out in mid-June but honestly, I don’t think I did a good job. (I think I did terrible).
Because I don’t have a solid advantage for anything right now, this D in bio is really bugging me and I don’t know what to do. My GPA with the D wasn’t that bad because I still had like a 3.5-3.6 weighed (unweighed is terrible) but I feel like the UCs I want expect high gpas…
Should I make up this D or what should I do…?
The D will remain on your transcript and be used in the UC GPA calculation unless you repeat the class. I would repeat class at a CC or on-line, if not then your UC application will have this blemish and impact your chances at an acceptance.
It may well affect your chances at some UCs…but probably not as much as you fear. A single low grade in an otherwise solid record - and yours sounds quite good - is not much of a red flag. Admissions understands that a grade is a snapshot of many factors, and may include a term in which you suffered a trauma or illness, or had conflict with a particular teacher, or simply a poorly written textbook that got foisted off on you.
That you transferred to a related class, and are doing well, suggests you have no problem grasping the material, per se. The class may just have been a mismatch, for any number of reasons.
Relax. I don’t think you should retake tge course unless it strongly interests you, and you feel you missed out some material you want to know.
“I really want to go to UC Irvine or UC San Diego”
[QUOTE=""]
D during junior year
Assuming average SAT score
3.5/3.6 weighted.
[/QUOTE]
You’re probably looking at UCSC/UCR.
Okinage34,
Admissions packets are assessed holistically. A poor showing in a single class, during the most stressful year of high school, is not going to make or break anyone’s application.
Nor are admissions a lottery. They are an attempt - often flawed, yes, but sincere - to assess whether a school is going to be a good fit for the prospective student. I would be more interested, for instance, in the OP’s statement that he or she is “not a really strong math person” in comparison to suggested majors.
Plenty of people with GPAs in the 3.5 range get into every UC. I would be more likely to approve such an application, for instance, than I would be to approve the packet of someone who wrote “lol” about another applicant’s distress.