Getting a D in Calc AB. What's the best approach to this?

Applying to College
1

Long story short, I’m a junior in AP Calc AB, and it’s not going to well. In fact, I have a D.

Not the best look for admissions as I’m aware of.

I have decided I want to stay in the class, as I know I want to accept the challenge and power through it and try my chances in hopes of earning at least a C. I want to retake the class through online study, but I am wondering -

Will it really matter that much to college application committees, will they see that I retook it, and oversee the first semester grade with the new one?

2

Ask school to drop it and replace with regular calc, stat, or a math elective.

3

Will your school allow you to drop the AP? I know some High schools make students commit to taking the class for the entire year. I agree with the above post. Try to get out and take a different math class if possible. Don’t try to stick it out.

4

If you are getting a D in a class where you have a teacher you can ask questions and have them write on the blackboard to sketch out diagrams, classmates studying the exact same material, etc. then my guess is the odds of doing better when you have none of these things in an online class is slim.

Make an appt with your teacher to go over your performance. Your teacher has seen students do less well than they hope before and probably has a pretty good idea of where your weak points are and what you can do to improve. Don’t argue, don’t debate. Take the advice and do what you can to improve.

I agree that switching out is a good idea if you can, since calculus is cumulative and the ideas you are not completely grasping now form the basis of the future material.

5

Can you switch to another math class now where you have a chance of pulling a B- by the end of the year, and then take Calc AB again next year (or even a slightly less difficult math, if one is available)? Unless you are going into STEM, there isn’t much advantage to taking Calc AB junior year rather than senior.

You might also ask your counselor what colleges will see on the transcript sent out next fall. I’m not sure if every school even sends first-semester junior grades for full-year courses. Or if the college would even see that you changed classes before the end of the second quarter.

6

“I have decided I want to stay in the class, as I know I want to accept the challenge and power through it and try my chances in hopes of earning at least a C. I want to retake the class through online study, but I am wondering -”

First, it only has another month left, do you really have the option to drop? Second, your courage is commendable, but what is your way to ensure that you can improve from now on?
My D was similar in your shoes couple years ago. She had terrible two months of Calculus AB before letting me know. After that, I asked her to change her study habit from pushing the Cal AB as her last homework study among her other 4 AP classes to her first. Did all the examples of each lesson before her teacher’s class, did all her homework assignments. When her grade was not improving after that, I asked her to do odd questions, instead of her teacher’s assigned even questions… Not improving, so she got to pre-read a few chapters during her winter break. Are you willing to do that? If not, your courage is still a pipe dream in pulling your grade up.

Well, the sad story was she got a C in that first semester. She did about the same in her first month of the second semester Calc AB. The improved result only showed after that, and she got A at the end for the second semester. She did continue to take Calc BC for her senior year and got both A for both semester after learning the drill.

“Not the best look for admissions as I’m aware of.”
“Will it really matter that much to college application committees, will they see that I retook it, and oversee the first semester grade with the new one?”

Of course, the grade will affect your admission, as it did with my D. But instead of hiding it, she took it to the admission officer/committee by writing about her Calc AB’s C (as a small part of her bigger problem in her junior year high school experience), and how she learned to overcome it. At the end, she was able to get in to her first choice college (a highly selective college, I would say) anyway (it also depends on other aspects of your application, overall GPA, test scores, ECs, recommendation…). Hope this help.