Diluting the effects of poor grades on GPA, and future courses' influence on previous grades -

Applying to College
1

My question:

I currently am on track to get a B in my Honors Algebra 2 class of my sophomore year. While I don’t consider myself to be particularly adept at math, I feel as if the reasons I am earning a B are not math related - I’m getting used to the rigor of my new school and adjusting to a new teacher - and I believe I could earn a higher grade in subsequent math classes. So here’s my question. Consider the following: I get a B in Honors Algebra 2, and then the following year I earn A’s in Honors Precalc. Would this A in Honors Precalc give admissions officers a better outlook on my math stance (because math builds, I must have had an understanding of HA2 to get an A in a more difficult course, right?)

Additionally:

In order to decrease the effect of this B on my GPA, is it a wise idea to take additional social sciences and english AP classes (subjects I excel in) to compensate for that B? Like take two social sciences or histories next year. (My school calculates GPA by adding .2 per honors/AP class, not by having 5 points for an A and averaging). So ideally, I would take AP Government and AP Comparative Government (semester classes) in addition to APUSH next year, to dilute the grade.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

2

Will you do well on the AP courses?

3

Yes. For the sake of this theoretical and in general, I would do well in AP social sciences and English classes, also maybe AP Enviro and AP Bio.

4

IMO, if you want to pull up the grade, the obvious approach is to take courses that carry more weight, and do well in them, but the question is whether you can realistically achieve the As with a heavy course load and I think only you can tell.
Are you a sophomore now? If you get B in the class, will you be allowed to take Honor Precalc? It is still early in the school year, how do you know that you cannot get an overall of an A?

5

First of all, a B is not a poor grade in a rigorous class. You clearly have high aspirations for college but sometimes its (HYP) not meant to be. Schools do look at patterns of improvement and a stellar SAT and SAT 2 could mitigate it but it will clearly remain part of your GPA.

6

^^ sorry, I did not see where the OP mentioned HYP…