Hey guys,
I had a really bad sophomore year (3.1 unweighted). I didn’t even take super rigorous classes but I actually got stuck with the hardest teacher in the school for every subject except history. Is there anyway to talk about that or is hard teachers something to forget about on college apps? Nothing is really standardized at our school so the teacher you get basically determines the grade…
It will look very bad to colleges if on your app you blame your teachers for your low grades. Instead, focus on doing better now, and look for colleges that accept people with that GPA (i.e. don’t apply to all tippy top schools).
If this is true, you don’t deserve your As either. If it’s false, you’re blaming other people for your (perceived) bad performance. Don’t try to explain your grades; just try to do better in the future. A lot of colleges would look favorably on an upward trend in your junior year. And when you apply to colleges, seek out recommendation letters from the teachers who know you the best, not necessarily the ones who gave you the highest grades.
Sure. For every college where you don’t want to be admitted, use one of the essays to complain about how bad your teachers were. As most adults understand, “a bad workman always blames his tools”. So go ahead, double down, and tell colleges that in addition to not doing well in some classes you refuse to accept responsibility. Can’t see how they’ll pass up a kid like that!
The latter.
There are ways to have your GC talk about reasons for bad grades like health issues or serious family issues for a period of time during your high school years. But “hard teachers” is not going to garner you any sympathy in the admissions process.