Just a bit of background information about myself: I am an Asian male, junior, with all As. I am looking to go to HYPSM or a school of similar caliber.
My current issue is that I will very likely get an A- in AP Environmental Science if I do not drop the class; I have talked to the teacher and studied for hours but cannot see myself getting an A. However, if I do drop the class, it will be marked on my transcript. I have already taken sufficiently many science classes to graduate, but I am stuck in a predicament where I can either lose my perfect GPA (which is not hard to achieve in my school) or drop APES, one of the easiest APs. I am wondering which option would be more detrimental to my admissions prospects.
lmao, this is why cc gets its reputation. You have everything to lose from dropping APES. Honestly, a perfect GPA does not matter. You really think one A- will hurt your chances? lmao
I have one daughter who like you was also a straight A student. I think it was in her junior year of high school that she got a B+ (the only one that she had ever gotten in her life). To her I said something like “this is okay, you are still doing very well” and we went out and got ice cream at a very good local spot.
Inside I was thrilled. She finally got the opportunity to understand that you do not need to be perfect in life. No one should expect to be perfect.
She got into every university she applied to.
You do not need to be perfect either. An A- is fine. Whether you get into Harvard or Stanford or MIT will not be based on whether you once got a minus sign on your report card.
Relax. Take this opportunity to learn something about environmental science. Admissions staff will be fine with knowing that you are human too, and you are capable of continuing to put in a strong effort and working hard even when you are not at the very top of the class.
You are doing very well. Next year when you are applying to schools make sure that you include some safeties which are a good match for you.
If you want a school with a strong reputation which is a safety even with an A- on your record and with a great environmental sciences program then somewhere like McGill or Toronto would be possibilities, and depending upon your state your in-state public schools will probably also include a strong safety.