So basically, it’s my first semester of SL math as a junior, and I basically bombed it. My teacher is a jerk, I have mental health issues, yada yada, so math this year…math this year was pretty hard on me. But I’m planning on getting straight A’s next semester, I have 400+ hours of community service, and will be the president of an academic club. How bad does this look to colleges though? I refuse to drop to Studs since I want to get into medical school. I also plan on taking some dual enrollment classes to bump up my GPA.
Total honesty here guys, please. I know a D/F looks absolutely horrendous to universities, but just gimme some perspective as to what to expect. Thank you.
What types of schools are you aiming for? The impact of it on admissions at Ivy League schools is going to be vastly different than that of your state schools.
You say it is at least in part due to mental health issues. Do you know if you are planning on disclosing this to colleges? That also could effect the grade’s effect on admissions, depending on the greater circumstances.
I don’t know if all schools work like this, but where I go, you’re forced to repeat a class if you fail it. Are you planning on doing that, or is there nothing you can do?
You say that you plan on getting all A’s next semester and are going to take dual enrollment classes, but I doubt it will be easy to get from a F to an A, especially factoring in your mental health. If you’re struggling now, taking on a harder workload might not be the best idea.
Oh and if you are still struggling with mental health issues, please get help whether it’s talking to a trusted adult to figure out what you need to do or seeing a mental health professional.
I’ve always planned on getting into Ivies. Up until this point, I’ve never had anything lower than a B. There’s not even a C on my transcript. And yeah, I’m going to have to explain the F to colleges. What do you mean it could effect the grade’s effect? Will it look worse/at least give a reasonable excuse as to why I got the crappy grade? And yeah, ofc, I’m finally seeing a psych right now, don’t worry 
I don’t think that’s how it is in my school. I know a senior who failed the first semester of his senior year in the same math but didn’t have to retake it. And yeah, I understand that it is difficult to go from an F to and A, buuuut I might drop to an easier math. If I got an A in that math class, I’m just worried colleges might think that I wasn’t putting in the right amount of work.
Eh it depends.
Disclosing can provide an explanation to why it happened and show that you have improved or are taking steps to improve, potentially lessing the impact, though it does come with some risks.
If you don’t mind me asking, when you say ‘mental health issue’, are you referring to a diagnosed mental illness or something else like grief, divorce, etc? You don’t have to go into specifics but there is some importance to the distinction. As much as I hate it, there is a stigma against mental illnesses in colleges because they are afraid that you will become unstable under the stress (and fear legal issues they could face that come along with that). If it is an isolated event (mental illness are unfortunately chronic) there is less of that worry, although you may still decide to exercise caution. I’m not as knowledgable in that area, so you might want to ask someone else.
There are differerent ways people handle the risk. Some go to great lengths to hide any mental health problems and only disclose if they are certain they will get rejected if they don’t. Other say ‘This is who I am and if I school doesn’t like it, I don’t want to go there anyways’. It’s certainly a disscusion to have with your guidance counsellor, family, and potentially, your therapist.
Also I forgot to ask what your UW GPA actually is. Generally the lower you GPA is from the schools 50%, the likelyhood that disclouse might be benefical increases. Also your SAT/ACT score, if you have one, might be nice info to have, as a high one can sometimes counteract a slightly lower GPA.
There’s lots of info online about this too that can be helpful. For starters, the article in U.S. News that actually the person who runs college confidential contributed to is a great read, that’s helped me understand a lot about the issue, including some of the stuff I’ve written here.
will you get into an ivy? prob not. you still will be able to go to a decent college though. I think your best option is to go to a state school for one year and then try and transfer to a better school. That way you won’t have to show them the bad grade, and for med school they only care about where you get your degree from so it won’t matter if you transfer. you should def explain any circumstances that lead to the grade, certainly mention mental health issues. it is illegal for colleges to deny you admission based on mental illness, because legally that is recognized as a disability.
@Alycur97 The general consensus is that medical schools care very little about the prestige of your undergrad, if any at all. Your GPA, MCAT, LORs, and ECs matter much more and there as plenty of good schools that have higher acceptance rates/lower requirements that can provide as good resources to obtain these. I personally wouldn’t be that concerned about it. Discrimination may be illegal, but can’t necessarily stop them since they never release the reasons why the reject people.
Technically it’s diagnosed but nothing is on paper. Like I have medication and whatnot but it’s not chronic/long lasting or anything, just a little bump in the road is all. currently my GPA is at a 3.8, not sure what it is with the F, though. I got a 2300 on the SAT. Thank you for the news article!
ok thank you for your help!
Yeah these kind of situations are very personal so I’d talk to your GC, family, and therapist about what to do.
Honestly, with the F in, your GPA is going to be below the average for Ivies. However they do ‘holistic admissions’ for reasons like this, since your obviously a bright student who just suffered an unfortunate circumstance. Really I don’t feel as though I know enough to say anything more, since I’m not super familiar with the admissions stuff on Ivies. Although, if you go on the ‘Chance Me’ thread and do a post, they might give you a better idea exactly what to except. Also the ‘Learning Disablities’ thread is great for things related to mental health.