Disaster In Freshman Year

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey guys i had a disaster in freshman year</p>

<p>You can tell from my grades</p>

<p>First semester was all good As in AP bio, AP human geo, algebra/trig, PE, spanish, and honors english</p>

<p>But second semester killed me.</p>

<p>I got:</p>

<p>A- in human geo
B in honors english
C+ in Algebra 2/trig
A in PE
B- in SPanish
B in ap BIO</p>

<p>however the reason was mainly because i had to leave out of country to Taiwan to visit my dead grandmother. I was gone for around 2-3 weeks leaving me behind. My math teacher was a ***** wouldn't let me retake tests or anything. </p>

<p>O well I am really smart though in math and sciences. Next year with a vengeance I took AP calculus BC and got a 5 along with a 5 in Euro, Physics, Chemistry. This is some very elite company I know. Very few people by Sophmore year have taken AP chemistry, physics, biology and calculus and gotten all 5s.</p>

<p>I know i am ranting on about my strength of schedule. But how can i make up my grades. Is there a way to explain out of it. By the way I am still ranked #2 out of 700 at my school. </p>

<p>Will my research in Siemens and Intel get me out of this jam? Or USAMO? or piano competitions?</p>

<p>I am looking to apply to Cal Tech , Stanford, Ivies, good UCs, and Liberal Art colleges like Harvey Mudd and amherst. I really have a passion in sciences and math, and i do not want my one bad semester to ruin my undergraduate experiences. </p>

<p>I am just looking for your opinions and my chances if I do apply.</p>

2

<p>I don't think anyone really cares about anything except your rank because schools do grades so differently that C in one school is equal to A in another.
You might explain what made such downfall in grades but I don't think it's necessary.</p>

3

<p>u sure? i think my C+ has just killled my chances to get into any private universities</p>

4

<p>I had a C+ in freshman year and I got into UCB, UCLA, UCSD and JHU (I didn't get rejected from anywhere...) do you really really think they will look at a C+ and reject you because you have one C+? Come on.</p>

5

<p>Lol, what's your intended major? I realized that I'm in the same boat as you, received bad grades (3 Bs, one C in H Geom first time in life ahahaha :)) first semester and relatively good second (one B in Com.Art :), three A's including one in AlgII) because I was absent a lot during second half of first semester.
Planning on participating in ISEF and Siemens as well, and I'm not so bad at math (self-studying linear algebra right now) :)</p>

6

<p>majoring in theoretical physics</p>

<p>options include MIT, Top-Tier Ivies, Top-Tier UCs, Top-Tier LAC</p>

7

<p>Stanford and some others don't even look at freshman grades. </p>

<p>Stop freaking out, even if they notice the C+, they'll see that you've done well since then and realize that it was an abnormality.</p>

8

<p>thanks for the encouraging news. And is it possible to explain the grades in an interview for ivies.</p>

9

<p>Yep, Princeton doesn't look at grades either. Seriously, no one looks at grades because US grading system is so <deleted_by_mr_chipset> distributed that the only reasonable criteria is rank.</deleted_by_mr_chipset></p>

<p>PS. Go physics majors! :)</p>

10

<p>Yea! And btw, great job on consider HMC. A lot of people of your caliber overlook us, and don't know what they are missing.</p>

11

<p>Don't ever explain bad grades unless explicitly asked to do so (or unless you got an F), it just draws attention to them. Focus on your strengths.</p>

<p>Also, stop being so anal.</p>