Hi! I’ve already submitted my application for UC Berkeley, and I just saw on their admissions page that you can’t have any grades lower than a C when applying. I did take 4 laboratory sciences/earth sciences in total in high school (physics, chem, bio, enviro) and I got higher than a C in all of them with the exception of AP chem. I’m planning on majoring in political science, and that C- is from my sophomore year of high school, and I’ve long since then improved my grades in the sciences. Does the C- disqualify me totally? It doesn’t even have anything to do with my major.
No it does not disqualify you.
For admissions, the UCs do not consider + or - so the C- will be considered a “C”. For GPA calculations it’s a 2.0.
I’m not exactly sure what you read, but students apply with lower than C grades in classes and are not disqualified. There maybe other hurdles like meeting the a-g requirements and overall GPA minimums.
Having a C certainly won’t help, but it doesn’t disqualify you by any means. My kid had a C his first semester of PreCalc in 10th grade (with some family circumstances) and got in.
I havent read any rules about C’s but what you possibly are referring to is that in your 12th grade, for the top tier UCs, you should have a minimum of 3.0 unweighted GPA and no more than 1 C. This is there in part to make sure seniors don’t slack off in their final year and/or semester.
My initial reaction would be the same - that this isn’t disqualifying, but you say it’s on their admission page.
Can you provide the exact wording, and/or a link?
Here is the minimum requirements as posted on the UCB admission page:
Please post the link where you found the C grade reference.
Hey guys, here’s the link: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/freshman-requirements/
This is what it says specifically in terms of admissions requirements:
- Earn a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better (3.4 if you're a nonresident) in these courses with no grade lower than a C.
The UC’s do not use +/- so a C- is a C. The statement means no D’s or F’s in the a-g course requirements.
Actually, it will be counted as a 3.0 GPA. All APs/IB are weighted. However, when you get a D, it is no longer treated as weighted.
Also, a D or F grade disqualifies that semester of the course from counting toward a-g requirements (unless repeated for a C or higher grade, or validated with higher level courses in foreign language and some math courses).