And it’s important to call bcuz while you turned down other acceptances, you might ask about ‘un withdrawing’ but make sure the schools wouldn’t rescind for a D or there’s still lots of schools you can apply to - whether you’d like them or not. I always make big publics and Arizona is strong in physics. But there are schools of all shapes and sizes still taking apps.
You need an affordable back up where your student can be in fall as a just in case.
You might also ask about a summer repeat to ‘cure’ the deficiency. Is that an option?
I would not wait and hope - related to being rescinded.
All the tutoring and understanding are great - but they do t solve your issue.
Can Princeton be saved with a D. If so, how?
If not, what’s next?
Summer school ? Gap year ? Community College ? Other college?
A plan is needed within the next week in my opinion. And during that week if Princeton hasn’t given you clarity I’d be looking at other schools.
I’ve talked with my daughter, and she has been resistant to goinging to college if she gets recinded(and no other top school would take her if she gets recinded)
I am just going to pile on to @CCName1’s post above. Princeton does not want to rescind your daughter. My mother taught at a New England boarding school for over 30 years. She had one student in all those years have an acceptance rescinded, and it happened to be at Princeton. It was an extreme case of senioritis where the student stopped turning in his work and went from a straight A student to having all Cs and Ds.
As just about everyone on this thread has said, get your daughter another tutor immediately.She needs to have tutoring as often as feasible for the rest of the school year I second checking out Wyzant. Getting that semester grade up to a C is easily within reach. As I understand it, half of her semester grade is a D+. Even if she gets solid Cs on the next two, she will be comfortably in the C range for her semester. It would be highly unlikely that would result in anything other than Princeton asking for an explanation. Absolutely have her contact admissions and discuss her situation. Wishing you and your daughter the best. I can’t imagine how stressful this must be.
She must feel so upset and frustrated at this point. Helping her learn to advocate and have difficult conversations may give her back some sense of control. Her teacher may reassure her in some way, perhaps through a plan to improve her performance that feels achievable to her. The call with Princeton may take away some of the uncertainty, even if not all of the information is positive. She gains back some control of the situation by eliminating the “what ifs.”
She has half the grades for the semester to go. As @Greatpyrmom said, getting to a C is achievable, especially if she can work on her weaknesses and regain some confidence.
If “top school or bust” is what she wants, what would she do if “top school” becomes unattainable due to rescission?
Starting at community college is not the end of the world. I know plenty of people who graduated from flagship-level universities after starting at community college, including one who eventually got a PhD from a top-5-in-major school.
If she hasn’t done so already, your D should definitely speak to the teacher and let them know the consequences. I am not advocating special treatment by any means, but I cannot imagine ANY teacher not understanding the potential implications.
She can then ask for help from the teacher and other resources the teacher may recommend, and further ask the teacher if there is any possibility of credits by doing additional work etc.
I trust everything will work out. The key here is for your D (but not you as a parent) to advocate for herself directly with her teacher. In my experience, all teachers in such a predicament would do what they can reasonably do to help the student. If you, as a parent, did the advocacy, it might actually backfire.
I wish your D the very best and that she enjoys Princeton next fall and thereafter!
Well if she’s studying physics, Arizona is tops. Maybe not in her mind. Look at the rank I sent you - #10. And huge merit aid. And they’ll have top level students and faculty. And huge funding/research.
It’s easy to fall off if she gets rescinded. She’s a kid but hopefully she’ll re gather a few days later.
Whether she attends a school or not, you need to plan ASAP. She may say this now but change her mind two weeks later. But then it will be too late. The impact at first to the mind will be too much so you have to help her plan - for whatever it is.
All that said let’s hope none of this is needed.
Lots of schools out there but threw out U of A due to its physics ratings. Strong in Astronomy especially.
Btw every week I see a chat on here - I had to go to my 2nd or 10th choice. Thank goodness. Four years later I couldn’t see myself anywhere else.
Her mindset today may change when reality hits and friends are leaving for college. Make sure she is prepared.
I didn’t see where this student was asking for recommendations for additional colleges to apply to. They specifically are asking how this grade in calculus could potentially affect the acceptance to Princeton.
Well I’m suggesting a Plan B as I first broached and others have concurred with. This is the type of situation that needs an alternative path. Otherwise there’s just an opportunity to be empathetic and say get tutoring.
In my opinion, the OP needs all ideas that might help resolve this situation if it turns out sour. A substitute, top rated program is one of several plausible ideas.
Deep breaths and hang in there!! You have gotten a lot of good advice. I would focus more on your daughter and what might be underlying this academic challenge for such an apparently gifted student.
She will undoubtedly face similar challenges as her academic career evolves over time. This is a great opportunity to support her and allow her to prove resilient.
Get her help asap and try to make sure there isn’t something else behind a straight A student having such an isolated tough time.
Also I would avoid discussions about alternative lesser rated schools (sounds like that was your intent) to avoid further undermining her confidence and sense of self worth during such a transformational time. Last thing you or your family need is people telling you that school XYZ is just as good as Princeton when clearly that is not her perception. Stay strong she needs you and will get through it.
OP- we are talking about Calculus BC for a strong math student, not figuring out how to do brain surgery in a helicopter while the enemy is firing long range missiles at you.
I know PLENTY of “not as smart as your daughter” kids who pulled out C’s and B’s in Calc BC with some elbow grease and a teacher or tutor or friend or friend of friend or community college math tutor or unemployed IBM executive with time on their hands. Just change the channel- whatever she is doing is not working, so try something else. If the teacher explains things in a way that isn’t clicking with your D, there are plenty of other people in your orbit who can explain it differently. And for now the goal is NOT to go from a D to an A+ “this is the top student in the school” (which could be your D’s problem- she’s not used to “not getting” something, so she’s set the bar very, very high). She just needs a C which is absolutely achievable in the weeks left of the semester, which could turn into a low B with the right person to explain the concepts to her and then she can do a “plug and chug” to get the right answer.
So take the issue of getting rescinded off the table- clearly causing her no end of anxiety- and just focus on helping her find a better tutor, with the goal of her gaining a better understanding of the material. period.
No need to catastrophize, start her at community college, send her off to god knows where. Just fire the tutor, find someone else with different methods (preferably NOT someone used to teaching gifted math students).
This is a kid who is good in math- has demonstrated that she’s great in math- and she’s struggling over some concepts over the last few quizzes.
Plan B? No. Better tutor. Quickly. Take the anxiety over getting rescinded and channel it into learning some “plug and chug” strategies for getting some B’s on the next two quizzes. Problem solved. The energy to find MORE colleges could be put to use passing calculus.
Your “alternative plans” will chew up time AND energy, which is better put towards passing calculus, no? Two quizzes, that’s it.
Didn’t read the zillion of responses but lots of kids grades take a dip last semester of senior year - can she just drop this class or switch to pass fail? Even if not officially permitted maybe have a counselor write a note about anxiety or other mental health stress this is imposing to have the school permit a drop or switch to pass fail.
Would her teacher be willing to give her a past year’s test before exam #3 as practice? The teacher could make the practice exam available to the entire class.
My kid has had a number of classes in their first year as an engineering major provide a practice exam (something they never had in hs) and it has greatly helped my kid with understanding exactly what will be tested and giving them time to solve problems they might not have expected.
The OP asked for advice on their kid’s specific situation. There does not need to be an argument about what the OP alternative plans should be. If the OP wants that advice, they will ask for that advice.
I also request that people not use this thread in order to reiterate their favorite advice, whether it is relevant or not. Nor is this th eplace to pick up old arguments.
Please go back to helping the OP with advice on how to avoid having her kid’s admission to Princeton rescinded.
Schools like UVA said in their IG live that if accepted and agree to enroll- any consideration of dropping a class needs to be discussed with the admissions office first. So any huge change like this- need to discuss with AO or it could lead to rescinded offer.
I think documenting everything she has done action plans that she has taken to improve will be helpful when discussing with Princeton so they understand her grades did not drop due to senioritis.
I would say most highly rejectives require permission for an admitted student to change/drop a class second semester. At least that’s my experience, and sometimes they say nope. Even a school like UIUC (no slouch of course) requires permission.