<p>Agree with the above to a large degree. In his favor the course has nothing to do with his intended major, so that might be a bit of mitigation. But to his detriment, to the extent anyone asks the reason he got the D+ and the 0 on the term paper comes out, it was clearly just his own fault, not the conflict with the teacher, although no doubt that curbed his motivation. What really makes it worse is that I think, based on that relatively small amount of information given, his chances at those schools are iffy anyway. Not saying they were bad before the D+, but they were anything but a slam dunk. That magnifies the effect of the grade, it would seem to me.</p>
<p>Maybe it would help if he sat with the guidance counselor, who is going to have to write something to the schools he applies to anyway. If the GC is any good, they should be able to help him strategize how to handle the issue. Maybe tackle it upfront with the schools and kind of get it off the table, helping them to focus on his math and science grades. It may not be enough to get him through in the end, but at least it is worth a try.</p>
<p>The other thing that would help would be to have a particularly outstanding first semester senior year.</p>