Falling grades !

<p>Well, it looks like this semester has treated me very poorly....I'm on the block schedule, with two aps, one honors course, teacher intern for spanish 4, and leadership class elective...but unfortunately I may be getting anywhere from 1 to 3 B's.....The B's would be in AP US history, Honors english, and AP Calculus (for junior year)</p>

<p>So far my GPA for 10-12 is 4.59 weighted, 3.94 unweighted</p>

<p>However, say if the worst of all possibilities occurred, that could drop sharply to a 4.45 weighted and a 3.83-ish unweighted GPA...</p>

<p>Also, my rank as of now is 2 out of 512....if I got 3 B's...they would drop my rank probably to about 5-8 out of 512 (my school is tough...)</p>

<p>There are many reasons as to why this is happening this semester (private matters along with unfair teachers), but say if I improve next semester and get all A's in three aps and an honors course next semester (like I managed to do both semesters in my sophomore, with just one B+ and the rest A's), could I stil have a chance at getting into these schools?:
Top 4 choices:
Stanford
MIT
Wharton
Wash. U</p>

<p>Matches/Slight Reaches:
UCLA
UC San Diego
USC</p>

<p>Safeties:
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine</p>

<p>My Ec's are fine, SAT is about 2100 (expected), and everything else is up to par...but since your transcript is the first thing they see, I would like to know if the three B's would kill my chances...</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>You're making an issue out of nothing.</p>

<p>Even the colleges you mention don't expect perfection ... you shouldn't expect it of yourself. If you obsess about it, you will not change anything, but you WILL make yourself miserable. The best advice I can give is to continue to challenge yourself academically (don't avoid/drop classes just because you might get a B) and do the very best you can. Even kids with 4.0 gpa's and 2400 SAT's have been rejected at schools, so realize that the grades are not everything.</p>

<p>Well, it's nice to know that I shouldn't be worrying as much...but in any case, I'm still going to take a bunch of AP courses and try my hardest...and I will continually take hard courses (my schedule is considered an MRA at the school (Most Rigorous Available), which is saying something for my school, since it's one of the most competitive public schools in California). </p>

<p>BTW, including freshman year, it's 4.32 GPA and 3.97 unweighted...but...there aren't any APs or honors freshman year, and I heard most colleges just glance at it, if they even look at it.</p>

<p>I guess I'll just take the losses and move on then.</p>

<p>if your school is one of the most competitive...that doesnt seem like a very rigorous schedule....</p>

<p>but i dont use block scheduling...so maybe it is??</p>

<p>it is amazing the paranoia out there....jeesh</p>

<p>and that isn't a "sharp"drop </p>

<p>eat a cookie</p>

<p>Well, including both blocks, I'll have taken 2 semesters of hon english, 2 semesters of ap us history, 4 semesters of ap calculus, 2 semesters of ap art history....and a couple electives...</p>

<p>Yeah, plus this semester was supposed to be easy for me, too....sheesh...</p>

<p>Last year for me was harder, too...</p>

<p>Also, most AP classes give A's to the top 5-15% percent at the most....the rest get B's, C's, D's....and these are top students too, but the ap classes are just really tough (almost everyone gets 5's and 4's on the ap exams, NO ONE fails them)</p>

<p>sounds like someone wants an ego boost... not cool.</p>

<p>lol mrcrazy, I wish...</p>

<p>I guess I should stop hangin around those uber-competitive 4.6 students...gets to my head sometimes...</p>

<p>You think I'm crazy....</p>

<p>One girl today tells me, if I don't get an A in Ap calculus, my rank will drop from 1 to 2.....</p>

<p>I guess I shouldn't talk though</p>

<p>Frankly, I think the best thing that happened to my daughter was getting a B last year. It took so much pressure off her! She was expecting too much of herself. She has since come to understand that a grade is just a grade ... it's not the measure of who she is. Good thing, too, because this year is tough (8 classes: 5 AP's, 2 honors). She has things in perspective & it really helps. She still cares, still works hard, still excels ... but she doesn't put too much pressure on herself, and that has led to us being able to live with a much nicer person!</p>

<p>^^ That was perfectly said. Compare to most people on here, I am sooo low. Never gotten a C, but I have gotten my share of B's. But I think I am a good person, and although I am going to my local state U, i think it is the perfect school for me and I will eventually be successful...regardless of my high school grades.</p>

<p>OP, if you call that "Failing Grades," then what am I suppose to be? I have 2 Cs on AP classes (unless "something" happens and after my finals I get them up to B's, but forget that) and clearly nothing to brag about or to be happy of.. and vexed at the same moment. Your academic-side so far looks solid, so don't talk bad on them grades. PLEASE, don't make me feel like a total retard. </p>

<p>Again, those grades are TOP-NOTCH. What more can you expect?</p>

<p>You need to go outside more...play more video games, talk to people you never knew, and most importantly, talk to people who are "academically" inferior to you...</p>

<p>
[quote]
Also, my rank as of now is 2 out of 512....if I got 3 B's...they would drop my rank probably to about 5-8 out of 512 (my school is tough...)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>...</p>

<p>I think the Bs might hurt you at your reach schools since they are so competitive.</p>

<p>Maybe, maybe not. I know people with perfect grades who were turned down from Stanford & MIT (still can't figure out why). I also know people who got into both schools with B's. I also know someone turned away from WashU for a single B ... in 9th grade intro to art, yet. Yet another girl, same class, got in with at least one B, and the rejected candidate had a much more impressive record overall. There is no rhyme or reason to any of it, which is why: a) there is no point to worrying about it, and b) anyone applying to those schools (repeat, ANYONE) should be prepared for the fact that they might not be accepted. So do your best, have other options (good ones ... ones you could live with), and enjoy your life.</p>

<p>By the way, here is a good one ... D's friend's parents were so upset that she was getting a B in AP Bio that they forced her to do nothing but study AND told her that if she didn't pull it up to an A, they would make her drop the class ... JUST SO SHE CAN BE NAMED A VALEDICTORIAN. Since that & a buck won't even buy you a coffee, what's the point?</p>

<p>My guess is that it depends on the rest of the application - if they see something in it that they really like, the B's won't matter. If not, they likely will make your reaches a bit reachier. My son's midyear grades included a couple of B's that may have put him on the waitlist at a couple of LAC's, but he was admitted to his first-choice Uni and received an unexpectedly generous merit scholarship at his second-choice Uni. </p>

<p>Best of luck with admissions. This is a tough time of year for everyone. You have a solid list, and should have many options in the spring.</p>

<p>Sweet! Managed to pull out an A in calculus...not sure about the other two though</p>

<p>In any case, I DO plan on relaxing over this weekend...although my time of relaxing may be a little strange, I suppose (i.e. working with xsi to finish up some props for a map for a half-life 2 mod, finishing my website for my online mmorpg retailing business, etc....), but I do enjoy them WAY more than the arbitraryness (not a word, but it fits in context anyway ;p)) of high school grades...</p>

<p>And THAT is what life is about!!!!!</p>

<p>I got into to a top 20 LAC with grades that definitely showed a serious drop off, 4.0 9th, 3.86 10th, 3.00 11th. It's about more than grades, I had no real explination for this grade drop, however, I did have very good ECs. I sort of wonder if as long as you stay in the top 10% if a year that is signifcantly lower than the others really hurts that much. Just my opinion, but the fact that you have shown that you are capable of top quality work will cause them to ignore your one bad semester if you can produce similar results again. I beleive that a college would rather have a student with a gpa like mine rather than someone who got a 3.62(my cummulative gpa) every year.</p>