<p>Oh my gosh, I am very very disappointed in myself that I'm getting a D+ (68.3%) in Advanced Biology. My teacher will drop the worst test, but I doubt that will increase it much, so I seriously have to get at least a 80% on my next test to bring it up to C level. I'm so worried that I might end up with this because no matter how much I study, I always bomb the test. The class is just extremely challenging and it is hard for me to adjust. And the worst part about this is that it is an optional class; I took it to challenge myself since I thought I would go into the Biology field, but I am very wrong about that. I have all A's in my other classes; it's just this D+ that is scaring me really bad. </p>
<p>I applied to places like UW-Seattle, UW-Madison, Penn State, and Indiana. I was wondering, IF I do end up getting that D+, would it seriously jeopordize my entire chances? Would it be a good idea to write to the schools and explain why I got that grade? My reason: I tried challenging myself and it was a lot harder than I expected. Good learning experience, though. Please, what should I do if I do end up with this?</p>
<p>If you get a D (assuming its for the semester about to end) then you need to send an email to all the schools where you’ve applied notifying them of this. Many colleges require you to notify them if your schedule changes or you get any grade lower than a C. And by notifying them promptly you do a few things that work in your favor. You show maturity, and you let them know in time to work out some alternative should this be important to your admission. One thing I can guarantee you: there will be far fewer options left if you freeze and do nothing, waiting until they find out the middle of this summer when they get your final HS transcripts.</p>
<p>Getting a grade less than a C can be a big deal at many colleges, at others they might let you slide. For the UC system your admission can be revoked. Not sure what impact it will have at the schools you mentioned.</p>
<p>I would leave out the explanation; viewed thru different eyes, for example, what you suggested above can be read to be saying you can’t do well in hard classes. Not the image that helps your chances of admission! An effective explanation says “this is what went wrong, this is what I’m doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again”. In case the schools do contact you about this you might want to talk over an effective excuse/explanation with your counselor.</p>
<p>For now stick with saying you want to provide this update in case it has an impact on your admission and that you’d like to hear from the adcoms if they think there is any action you need to take to balance its impact (summer school, take a class at a CC, etc).</p>
<p>Thanks for the response, mike. I’ll definitely leave out the explanation. Should I just say something like this,“I got a D+ (or C-) in this class at the end of my first semester. I will make sure this will not happen again for next semester?” I was thinking about dropping this class for next semester and taking another science type class at my community college since I’m a Running Start student. But then again, this is an optional class but I feel like I need to redeem myself. Oh my gosh, I’m so worried. Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>You don’t need to get this out in the next 24 hours, so you have time to set up a meeting with your counselor and go over what your email should say. </p>
<p>Off the cuff, I’d suggest saying something along the lines of many colleges request updates if you change your senior schedule or get a grade lower than a C. That unfortunately the latter applies to you. And that if this has an impact on your admission is there any way they can suggest to mitigate the effect.</p>