Getting a D in Senior year?

[viridescent]

<p>What happens if I get a D in senior year? Will my application be rescinded? Is there any chance that they will overlook it? </p>

<p>At the moment I have a D+ in Calculus, and it's only the first marking period. I heard you don't need Calculus in order to graduate high school, as long as I've completed the 3 year math requirement, and a UC representative advised I should drop it or risk getting a D on my transcript. I'm trying my best to pull it up to a C, especially since my teacher is curving the grades. I'm planning to keep this course because it's one of the few rigorous courses I have for senior year, along with IB English and Art. </p>

<p>I would like to know, if I do end up getting a D, what are my chances of getting into UC Irvine, Santa Cruz and San Diego? What about CSU's like San Francisco and San Jose? What should I do?</p>

<p>Additional Info:
- I've taken IB US History and IB English in my junior year, AP World History in my sophomore year.
- My overall unweighted GPA is 3.4
- GPA for Freshman year: 3.6, Soph. year: 3.5, Jr. Year: 2.8 (because of a C- in IB History and Pre-cal).
- I've had a D+ for first semester in Junior year for pre-cal, but I've made it up in CC with a P (hopefully that means I made up my D).
- I'm an active member in Key Club (2 years, currently the club's secretary), and Red Cross club.
- I'm also a soon to be 4 year player for badminton (3yr Varisty).
- My first SAT was a 1500, and I'm waiting for my ACT scores. I'm hoping to take SAT Subject in English and Bio, and another SAT before December.</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>UC conditions of admission typically include the condition that you not get a D in any course senior year.</p>

<p>For GPA purposes, only your 10th and 11th grade course grades count (and 12th grade for CSU if available).</p>

<p>[University</a> of California - Calculating GPA](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/index.html) does not seem to say how P (pass) grades are handled.</p>

<p>CSU admissions selectivity varies by major; see [Impaction</a> | Student Academic Support | CSU](<a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/SAS/impactioninfo.shtml]Impaction”>http://www.calstate.edu/SAS/impactioninfo.shtml) . Here are San Jose State’s thresholds for the entering freshman class of fall 2012: [SJSU</a> Admission](<a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1045.html]SJSU”>http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1045.html)</p>

[mikemac]

<p>

a UC representative advised I should drop it or risk getting a D on my transcript.

You’re kinda between a rock and a hard place. Drop it and your senior year schedule looks weak, keep it and risk getting rescinded for the D.</p>

<p>That said, I wonder if you are studying effectively for the class, especially since you got a similar grade in pre-calc. It may be that math isn’t your thing, but it may be that you just haven’t been shown how to study math. For starters, learning math is more like learning to play tennis than like learning history. You can read the chapter and it all makes sense, but until you sit down and spend the time solving problems it doesn’t really sink in. Solving problems takes time and effort; in college a student might spend 6-10 hours per week outside of class on a math or science class, and you may fall towards the upper end (heck, maybe you need even more until it starts to sink in).</p>

<p>There are plenty of free resources online about how to study math, and a nice link to start with is [How</a> to Ace Calculus](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/11/14/how-to-ace-calculus-the-art-of-doing-well-in-technical-courses/]How”>How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport) I also suggest you look into some of the free courses about calculus on iTunesU. But none of this is going to help unless you are willing to devote significant amounts of time to study and practice. For the latter, get a book called “The Calculus Problem Solver”. It is a thick book with thousands of worked examples; you turn to the chapter matching what you are studying, cover the answers, and start working. Check your answers against the book, read thru the explanation if you get it wrong, and continue. You may never enjoy calculus, but if you put in the work I am confident you can succeed in the class.</p>

[mikemac]

<p>

• I’ve had a D+ for first semester in Junior year for pre-cal, but I’ve made it up in CC with a P (hopefully that means I made up my D).

Hopefully isn’t good enough. You need to work with your counselor on this to get the right answer. One thing to bring up is the UC concept of “validation”

When a student has successfully completed advanced work (earning a grade of C or better) in an area of sequential knowledge, the student is presumed to have completed the lower-level coursework (e.g., Spanish 2, successfully completed, validates Spanish 1). Validation can occur with just a semester of a higher-level course. For freshman applicants, validation applies to courses in mathematics and languages other than English</p>

<p>see [University</a> of California - Validation](<a href=“http://universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/q-and-a/validation/index.html#3]University”>http://universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/counselors/q-and-a/validation/index.html#3)

I am not affiliated in any way with UC, so I don’t know if this covers you, or if the P in the CC class covers you. But I urge you to find out sooner rather than later!</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>Validation is only for the purpose of fulfilling the a-g course requirements; any D or F grades in 10th or 11th grade may still count toward calculating GPA. Repeated courses allow the highest grade to count, but it is not clear how a P (pass) grade is handled.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/sas/publications/documents/csu-uc-a-gcomparisonmatrix.pdf[/url]”>http://www.calstate.edu/sas/publications/documents/csu-uc-a-gcomparisonmatrix.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;