This is not final yet, but I might be receiving a B+ in History and I think part of the reason for this is because I am sad about my parents getting a divorce, causing me to lose focus on this subject. I don’t wanna feel like I’m making an excuse. Can any of y’all help me out?
I wouldn’t say a B+ is losing focus but if you feel the divorce is or has had an impact on your academic performance then I would raise it - if necessary. If that is the only subject that you dropped a little, then I wouldn’t bring it up. I’m recently divorced and my son who is starting college this Fall never raised his personal life in his college applications. He actually over performed in HS. ??
@spqr70nj I don’t know how to describe it, if I feel I want to.
@domt73 - I’m very sorry about your parents’ divorce.
I think maybe just referring to it briefly is a good idea. I don’t think my son ever mentioned divorce in his applications. We’ve been split since he was little, but it still greatly affects his life in countless ways. It’s hard to say what to do, though. I don’t think most people who haven’t been through it understand.
@Trixy34 @spqr70nj I gotten Straight A’s freshman year and I don’t them thinking I was slacking in a class. I just want to explain why it is like that.
@domt73 If you have the option to write about anything you want in support of your application then you can state in a few sentences that despite the hardship it has been on you, you have been able to focus and maintain good grades. Is this the only class you received a B+? Was it for one marking period or overall final grade? What are your other grades like? I really don’t think you need to point it out if you are achieving in school overall.
As a follow up, my son wrote a few sentences in support of a scholarship application (which he recently received). He expressed how ‘despite the hardships on the family and with his beginning his academics in HS, he was able to successfully maintain and overcome…’. He turned it around and demonstrated how he didn’t let it affect his grades. He’s predominately an A student but received a B+\B here and there. Ended up getting accepted to all but one school for engineering.
I have A’s in all my other classes, but, for history, I feel I should explain about it because I gotten an A last year in World Cultures but U.S. History, I have a B+ and I want to try to explain about my parents divorce.
What year are you now? Sophomore?
Yes @spqr70nj
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it @domt73. You have two more years to kick butt in school. Show them the positive of you being able to be focused. The admission committees hear this type of stuff all the time. If there were several classes in one or two marking periods then yes, it had a severe impact on you. Dropping half a letter grade in the overall scheme of things is not a lot. But if you do write something - show the positive side so it doesn’t come off as a ‘whoa whoa is me’. That would change the whole intent of the problem. Plus freshmen year is a transition year. Committees want to see steady improvement year after year.
I would suggest you don’t try to make what will come off as an excuse for one B+ sophomore year.
@spqr70nj I have the B+ sophomore year
Still think it’s okay - not to worry about it.
Do you think it would matter for top schools?
Nope. Focus on maintaining your great grades now and killing the SAT and/or ACT. When you apply to colleges in two years and if they have a supplemental question on overcoming hardships (some ask), then you can address it then. Otherwise, I have faith you will continue to excel and the B+ will be meaningless to your overall success in HS.
Where should I explain about it if I want to talk about it.
@domt73, don’t worry right now about writing your applications. You will have better context about things when you are a senior and actually applying. A B+ sophomore year will not matter. I’m sorry about the divorce- I know it’s hard.
Trust these posters. Writing how you slumped to a B can make adcoms wonder about your perspective. And you don’t want them thinking any stress in college will do you in.
You need the next 18 months to learn what matters and pull your act together. Miles to go.