D in AP Calculus

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am currently a junior with a 61.6% in AP Calculus AB and I am continuing to struggle throughout the class. I have about 3 weeks left of school, and there is one final left before the semester ends. Although there is one test that was not entered yet, I doubt that there will be any chance of me getting a C in the class. This will be my first D ever and I'm freaking out about it. I tried getting a tutor to help me but honestly, he just made things more confusing for me. I just don't get the concepts. So this leads to my question, how bad will this D look to colleges ? Are you able to retake AP classes in the summer to make up for it ? Any advice would help. Thanks in advanced. </p>

<p>By the way, my current classes are:
Mandarin A
AP Art History A
AP Calculus AB D
American Literature A
AP Physics C
U.S. History B</p>

2

<p>D is a big no no to every school</p>

3

<p>How does your school’s grading system work? If it is a quarter system, then if you get a D this quarter but an A on the exam you might be able to land a C for the semester, and that C will be the one on your transcript instead of the D.
If this will be your final grade and the D is really going to be on your transcript, then it will hurt you :frowning: however, you can rectify the situation by doing better next semester, I know it is easier said than done but if you think this semester was just a slip up and that you are capable of more, then you should stick with it and aim for a B for the rest of the year. Improvement in the subject will help you, obviously it would have been better to start from a B and increase to an A, but even a “little” increase over the year will help your case. Maybe get your counselor or your calc teacher to write a note for your college apps explaining how hard you have been working, or dedicate a little part of your essays about your struggles in the subject.</p>

4

<p>You’re wrecked if you get a D. C minimum if you still want a chance.</p>

5

<p>A D, while not good, will not kill you. What colleges are you looking into? It depends on the school but showing improvement and maybe having a note about how hard you worked (great idea, @sillyface‌ ) can help make up for it! </p>

6

<p>Getting a D essentially makes ivies impossible and it makes the next two tiers of schools much more difficult. Whether or not you have the ability to retake the class might be up to your school, hard for me to say – doing this is probably the best way out of your situation. All that being said, however, there are still plenty of nice schools that would accept you, especially if your field has nothing to do with mathematics and you have strong extracurriculars relevant to the field you’re planning on entering.</p>

7

<p>A D in any class even an AP is bad I’m sorry to say. Although it may be a little better with all your other APs but the colleges won’t really care and most likely blame you for taking on too much than you can handle. Like @sillyface said just try and improve if you can. I don’t believe any APs are offered in the summer unless maybe if you do something outside of school but nothing I have heard of. I just don’t know how you would go about improving your grade the only thing I can tell you is try your hardest on your final in the class and that will be your last clutch for trying and getting a higher grade in the class. Good luck!</p>

<p>PS. I don’t know if this will help or just shine more light on your grade but explaining to the colleges what went wrong and why you got a D may help. Sometimes it does other times no effect and other times it could even hurt you it’s really what you want to do obviously and whether or not you are willing to take the risk.</p>

8

<p>Thank you all so much for your input. After recalculating my grade, it is possible to get my grade up to a C IF AND ONLY IF I ace my final. With that being said, I will do anything i can to work on getting that A. I’ll be sure to let you guys now how I end up doing c: but once again, thank you for all for your input. I’ve been stressing A LOT lately and all your suggestions and tips really helped !</p>

9

<p>When students ask about schedules, everyone tells them to take the AP class. No one tells them the associated caveat: as long as you’re sure that you can get a B or better. Before registering for an AP class, talk with your teacher and make sure you’re ready. NO one’s impressed with a C in an AP class, and a D is a big no-no, no matter what.
Calculus in junior year is too early for most students (remember, the norm is Precalc senior year and no college except for HarveyMudd and CalTech require calc for admission, although you do need to have taken it to be competitive for top 25 universities/LACs if your school offers it, which typically means senior year.)
Your course of action depends on the type of college you’re aiming for:

  • if a top 25: see if you can withdraw after the C or even before that (with nothing appearing on transcript?) but I’m afraid it’s too late for that; in any case, since you don’t get the concepts, it means you should spend your second semester in a precalc honors class or reviewing until you absolutely master everything, then retake Calc senior year. Your goal is to get an A(A+, aim for 95-100) in the precalc honors part if you take it as a class, or if you take it online or with a tutor, to complete all exercises correctly by the end of the year. Anything lower than a B is a dealbreaker at that level of competition.
  • if a top 100: you have a bit more leeway but your goal should still be to either get a B in that class or plan to take it next year while this year you focus on mastering the concepts. A C in AP Calc won’t be a deal breaker but it may jeopardize your admission depending on the rest of your application.
  • if a directional/not very selective university: as long as you keep a C, you’re fine.
    In all cases, you cannot have a D for the year.</p>