Going from an A to a B junior year

Ironically enough, I joined College Confidential last year to ask this same question (it was literally April 25th - 3 days ago). I am in AP Lang and I am worried about my grade this semester. I was able to plead with my teacher last semester to round my B to an A, but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky this time. As of now, I have an 87.27 in the class overall. In order for us to get an A overall, we need to get at least an 89.5. I am getting increasingly scared and worried about this grade not only because it would be a B for my junior year, but because it would also be a B following an A in the class. I really want to show my best self/my most academically ready self to colleges, but I’m worried this grade will harm it. Without this B, I am on track for around a 4.25 overall. And no, I don’t have stellar ACT scores as I should have for my reaches (I have a 32, which I am very proud of actually). I just really don’t know how to save my grade, my GPA, and my hopes of getting into my dream schools such as Cornell, Tufts, Northeastern, Georgetown, etc. Please give me some advice! Thank you!

You talk about having your teacher round your grade so you can present your “most academically ready” self to colleges.

Why not actually earn the higher grade instead? Go to extra help. Put in extra time on the homework and test prep, ace the final.

@bjkmom Yeah, I’m def gonna try to excel for the remaining part of the year. We have two more assignments to do, but I’m not really sure how to ace those either. Furthermore, I’m not sure if my grade will drop or improve as she puts in more assignments. Usually, I would go to the teacher for extra help, but she is extremely busy and I’m not so sure she would be willing to help me.

Getting a B isn’t the end of your college dreams. If there isn’t any hope of raising your grade or getting it rounded up, just start focusing on improving the other aspects of your application. If this is your first B–or even your third–in all of high school, I doubt admissions officers would pay very much attention to it.

Yes, the super selective schools can take slight differences in GPAs into consideration. Most high schools only report year end grades however. Ask you GC how your transcript going to colleges will look and what unweighted gpa will be reported.

Make sure you find some colleges that you like that are not so selective. The hardest part of college search is finding schools likely to accept you that give you what you want and you like. It’s so easy to just cherry pick the top name schools. Much more difficult to sort through the thousands of lesser known ones that offer high quality education and a good quality of life for you.

You wouldn’t happen to go to one of those schools where if you got a 5 on the AP Exam, the teacher would up your grade?

Then go to another teacher for extra help-- after you’ve asked your own teacher. You might just be surprised that she can spare some time if you’re concerned enough to ask.

Good luck.

I have assignments to do but don’t know how to ace them…

  1. Do a draft EARLY. Take it to your teacher and ask for feedback.
    2)Take that feedback and update your assignment.

@ProfessorPlum168 I wish! I could ask her, but I’m worried about looking to grade-focused. I want to give off the impression that I want the A not just because it looks good but because I’ve put tireless effort into the class in each semester.

@thewhiteowl No, don’t worry about being grade focused. You are learning how do do what the teacher wants…what they expect out of assignment.s

One time i was in honor english and I kept getting Bs and B-s. What does she want, I thought? So i went to her and sat down and we went through my essay until I got it to an A-. I learned what she wanted in a 3 paragraph essay. it isn’t just what she wants, or how to get a better grade, but what the school thought was necessary to write an essay.
I learned things like she wanted the conclusion to tie the topic of the essay to other aspects of life. I would have never known that if I hadn’t sat with her.

Also, as an adult, the ability to talk to your teacher/professor/boss is a valuable skill. Use this time to practice and get used to it. The worst thing you can do if you are struggling in a class is to think you can fix it by yourself. Talk to the teacher, get a tutor, go to a writing center, form a study group, look online for videos to help, etc.

Not going to the teacher to ask how you can improve your writing is a big mistake. First you are letting the teacher know that this is important to you. Second is you are asking how to be a better writer … which is different fro how do I get an A. Finally, most teachers went into the profession because they love to teach. Most get excited when a student shows initiative.