Freaking Out Over Mid-Year Report— Absence Due to Illness

Applying to College
1

Hi everyone,

Happy new year! I hope everyone’s enjoyed their holidays so far. Where I live, we are just starting to take our first-semester senior year finals, and I had to skip my first final (math) due to illness. Our school system does not authorize schools to offer make-up tests for first semester finals, so I am positive I will end up having no first-semester final grade for math. The usual practice for our schools is to put “justifiable absence” instead of a final grade for the first semester when a student is absent and then wait until the second-semester finals to copy and paste whatever grade the student gets on their second semester final in the transcript slot corresponding to the first-semester grade. I’ve had first-hand experience with this since I had to skip one of my first-semester finals last year and they DID put my second-semester grade twice in my transcript.

Now, I don’t know what impact this will have on my schools. I am aware that this will be visible to all my schools when my counselor sends in the midyear report, and my counselor and I really don’t know how to explain this. I am really worried. Any suggestions? I will still do my best to convince the principal to give me a chance to take a make-up exam, but I am fairly sure it won’t have any effect. Will this hurt me? Or is it fairly understandable provided that my counselor does a good job of explaining this to the colleges via a note attached to midyear report?

2

I’m sorry you’ve been so ill.

While this is new to you, rest assured that colleges have seen it before!!! They understand Strep and Mono and surgeries.

Your counselor has also dealt with this before. In her letter she can simply add a line like “A bad case of Mono kept Kate from taking her semester final exam. As per school policy, she currently has an Incomplete, and will receive a grade in January.”

3

@bjkmom Thank you so much! That is so reassuring. Just one thing, my next semester finals aren’t until June. I will not have any math “final” grade until then. Will this be a problem?

4

No, but you’ll have quarterly or semester grades, right?

5

@bjkmom Yes. My semester “class evaluation” grade average will be sent along with my mid-year report, which will be available in February.

6

@bjkmom Btw sorry for the confusion (if any) or if anything doesn’t make sense. I’m an international applicant so things are probably a lot more different in the US than they are here.

7

I’m sure that as long as your counselor makes note of that, it will be fine.

While I have no experience in international admissions, you can rest assured that the adcoms at the colleges have been through all this before.

8

Alright, thank you! @bjkmom