I walked into high school thinking it was going to be as easy as middle school, which I passed all advanced classes with an easy 4.0. With a week before finals, I began assessing my grades and prioritizing which classes to prepare for most, and my Pre-Calc honors class seems to be the most critical issue. As I have an 89.2 in the class, I must score 93% or higher on my final to end up with an A (90%).
Here’s what I know about the final so far:
Worth 90 points (I’m not sure how many questions yet)
NO partial credit (my current teacher never gives partial credit)
Decides 20% of my grade
Will be very hard
My current grade:
Quizzes (Weight: 90%): 88%
I really wasn’t careful in the first few quizzes, thinking they were easy, so I made a lot of careless mistakes by either not reading the question carefully or just simple calculation mistakes.
Homework (Weight: 10%): 100%
This really adds nothing to my grade (1% to the overall grade is likely).
Overall: 89.2
At my high school, there are no +/-'s on one’s transcript (if you get an A-, it shows up as an A). Likewise, a B+ will show up as a B. This is not an option for me, especially since many of my friends are high-achievers and expect the same for me. I would imagine if I don’t pass first semester with a 4.0, not only will they think lowly of me, I also want to be able to work with them in future competitions and projects, and they might be discouraged from that. I understand “one bad grade will not affect college”, but as an anxious freshman, I really don’t know what to believe. My friends and parents tell me that it is absolutely necessary to attain a 4.0 unweighted, or as close as I can get, in order to go to the top colleges. Extracurricular achievements are also important, but are irrelevant to the question. With all of that said:
Is it possible for me to get an A on the final, and if so, what is the most effective way to study and perform wel?
If the worst turns out and I end up with a B, how screwed am I? Any advice?
Honestly, if your friends will think “lowly” of you for getting a B, then you really need new friends. If you earn a B, your GPA will drop to about a 3.95, which is still really good. Stop stressing and just do extra practice problems and watch math videos and such. A ‘B’ is not the end of the world
I had a 3 B’s freshmen year, all in CP classes (Cultural Foundations and French II). At that time, I was thinking UNH would be a likely candidate. Next year, I only had 1 B+ (French III) and a 3.75 overall average between freshman and sophomore year. Not everybody does good freshman year, especially me. As of now, I would rather go to Bunker Hill Community College than UNH, as I just want to get out of the darn state.
You are very screwed and may not even get into a single college! Kidding haha, don’t worry about it. I finished Freshman year with like a 3.5 I think. Finished high school with a 3.8 overall and a 3.91 at a local CC(was going for three years). Point is you are fine even if you get more Bs.
Work hard and show an upward trend, but from a 3.9 where can you really go?
Currently attending Case Western as a freshman. Also get off this site and study for that 93%.
You are on the cusp of an A grade. The final is upon you so prepare as best you can. Getting a B is important for college within the context of what you do throughout high school. You may even be threatened with another B in the future Yet life goes on and so do you.
I have a question for you? How does knowing the number of items on a test help you prepare and earn a good grade? You learn the content as well as you can and answer the questions on the final.
Thanks for the response. I’ve already started preparing the topics that I am anticipating to be on the test. In response to your question, knowing the amount of problems on the exam will help me because it lets me know the general amount of problems I can get wrong without any consequences.
Congratulations to your son! While I know it’s not uncommon for people with bad grades in freshman year to end up in great colleges, it might not all be grades. Also, if I keep the mindset that “one B is not the end of the world”, I can’t guaruntee that I won’t be getting more B’s in high school.
Thanks for the response lol… I don’t know for sure if my friends will really think “lowly” of me, but yes, they are very competitive students. Of course, our friendship won’t be broken, but my fear is that they just won’t see me as someone who’s academically proficient. My closer friends know me closer though, so that’s reasurring.
Yes, a 3.95 is still an excellent GPA, but my primary worry now is the people around me, especially my dad and brother, both who ended up in top universities, might lose faith in me if I can’t even get an A in a freshman math class.