<p>Situation:
9th grade- 1st semester of 11th grade I attended School "A" and did the International Baccalaureate program (IB). I got all A's and B's during that time with the exception of a C first semester freshman year and... (here it comes)... a D+ in Methods (PreCal) Junior year. I told my parents from the beginning that I needed to drop and take Studies (Statistics) but they insisted that colleges would be more impressed seeing I took the hardest classes. Now I'm paying for it. </p>
<p>Let me add that for personal (and scholastic) reasons I switched to School "B" where I'm now taking all AP classes. I'm getting good grades there but I'm afraid my D in precal is going to ruin my college application. I have no idea how to explain that grade having all A's and B's and also I have idea how to give a "legitimate" reason for switching schools. I guess this leads me to my question of what schools (preferably UCs of course) does it look like I can get into given the previous information and....</p>
<p>3.292 GPA (C) =(
4.031 GPA (W)
2200 SAT
Sports: 3 years of cross country, 2 years of track, Varsity since Sophomore. (plan to do soccer or cross country Fall senior year)
Member of Science Bowl Team
Student Tutor
(can't even think of any more off the top of my head, my ECs suck =[ , anyone recommend anything I can do over the summmer?)</p>
<p>Sorry if thats a lot of information guys, I'm really panicking I guess. And please don't make fun of my grades, I already know I screwed up lol.</p>
<p>I think you should retake the precal class during the summer, and maybe volunteer to be a coach or something for little kids at camp since you’re good at sports</p>
<p>the problem is that the precal class (called Methods) is an IB course which isn’t offered over the summer at the school. If anyone knows of a place that offers IB courses over the summer that’d be amazing!</p>
<p>Have you checked to make sure another precalc class can’t be substituted? I know kids who were advised to retake every C for the CA state sschools, this must come up all the time.</p>
<p>hmom,
As I mentioned I switched to a school with the AP program instead of what i was taking (IB). I’ll try to explain… in IB the math class is called “Methods”. It’s a 2 year course which basically covers Pre-Cal, Cal, and a little Statistics (from what I’ve heard). After switching schools, I’m now taking PreCal in which we are doing the exact same stuff my friends are doing at my old school in Methods. HOWEVER, the IB coordinator at my old school said they aren’t technically the same class therefore I can not simply retake 1st semester PRECAL and substitute it in for 1st semester Methods. VERY STUPID, VERY INCONVENIENT. I plan on going back to my old school to try to work something out but it don’t believe anything will change. I will work my ass off to make money to fly anywhere I need to in order to retake this class and get a good grade, so if anyone knows of a place that offers a summer course for IB, please share! and thank you so far for your help! CC really IS a good resource</p>
<p>I would not take the word of one teacher. I would first consult your new counselor. If no satisfaction I would call the UC’s that interest you and ask them what you can do to replace the grade that’s acceptable to them. Many kids change schools and programs, I’m betting there is a way to replace that grade.</p>
<p>Well it was the schools IB coordinator actually, not just a teacher. But you’re right, it doesn’t seem probable that I wouldn’t be able to replace my grade. Aside from looking for a summer program I had this idea, let me know what you think:</p>
<p>Take my regular schedule at the school I attend now and since I’ll be finished earlier in the day having less classes as a senior, I can drive over to my old school and take the Methods class (which at least this year has been offered during the last periods). Only problem is that college apps are due before the semester ends, so I don’t see how my grade would change unless I could somehow get it arranged with the teacher to complete the course the semester’s work/tests/final in one quarter. Not a likely possibility but I haven’t had much luck finding a summer IB class. Hopefully I can just retake a precal class and replace it =/</p>
<p>Take the advice to find an equivalent CC class and take it over the summer. Any classes taken before Fall of senior year will be included in your UC GPA and classes taken at college will be fully weighted. One semester/summer at a CC is = to one year of a HS class. Then, in your application, you can explain how you really wanted to retake that type of math class before graduating HS so you could get a better grade. This can be explained in the “Is there anything else you want us to know?” section of the UC application. This class will not appear on your HS transcript, but will likely be considered an appropriate replacement by UC Admissions. If you do not wish to re-take the class, you can just say in your application that you did not get the material at that age, but you have a clear understanding of it now and have a track record of proven success at your new school. I would try to replace it if you think you can get a B in at the CC. Good luck.</p>
<p>Looks like there are a few ways to deal with it, but that you must deal with it before applying (though your high SAT score should do it):</p>
<p>Repeating Courses: UC & CSU policy states that courses in which a student has earned a D or F grade cannot be used to satisfy the Subject Requirement. If a student has earned a D or F grade in a required subject, the deficiency may be satisfied in one of three ways: (1) by repetition, (2) by completion of advanced work (in specified subject areas only) or (3) by examination scores. If the exact course in which a D/F grade was originally earned is repeated and a grade of C or higher is earned, the original D/F grade will NOT be included in the GPA calculation and the new grade will be used. Additional policies related to repeating courses are listed below:</p>
<p>great advice, just a little confused on some areas.</p>
<p>“(1) by repetition, (2) by completion of advanced work (in specified subject areas only) or (3) by examination scores.”</p>
<p>For number 2, what is considered “advanced work”. IB Methods (or Precal, whatever) is an advanced class and IB in general is considered to be more rigorous a program than AP. Besides the fact that methods and Pre-Cal (pre AP) are “technically different” I remember being told that I couldn’t take a summer Pre-Cal course because it was less advanced than what I had taken. (for example, you can’t fail AP US History and replace the grade with a regular US History class). Seems odd though because I’d assume Precal offered at CCs is probably harder than HS level. At least for the big colleges, my math teacher urges students to take CALC in HS because if they don’t they’ll have to take it in college which I heard is a LOT harder. </p>
<p>Bessie- I could be totally wrong but I think you’re assuming I won’t be able to substitute this grade in my official HS transcript? only since you say I’d include whatever summer class I take in the “Anything else you’d like us to know” section. Great idea though</p>
<p>You have a good GPA (although, I do not really understand how you have a C given you have all “A’s and B’s” except two courses? And is a 3.3 really a C??" )</p>
<p>I think honesty is the best policy. You know why you got a D+. You also know why you switched schools. Tell readmissions this. If you retake your methods (or pre-calc) class, you are still going to have to explain why you got a better grade. (Maybe you will not have to explain, but an adcom might wonder why).</p>
<p>Re-taking shows you can do it. Explaining- details why you did not in the first place!!</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I understood what you were asking but I did make a mistake in my description. Turns out I got 2 Cs 1st semester Freshman year. The D+ was earned Junior year. When I said “all A’s and B’s” I wasn’t being “literal”- I was trying to explain how It’d look bad on my application having all A’s and B’s from 2nd semester 9th grade until Junior year with a sudden D+. I understand honesty is the best policy but here’s a little more info on the situation. I underestimated how hard the math class would be and regretfully prioritized my other classes (which had much more work) over math. Tested rarely in math and homework not due till the day of the tests, i was already too far behind when I realized math wasn’t as easy as I thought it’d be. I started to catch up and studied a lot more but the semester final destroyed my grade- focusing on the stuff we worked on earlier in the semester rather than what I had made an effort to learn in the later part. If I retook the course over the summer I’d do great, not having other classes to worry about. If i explain this to adcom though they’re just going to think “Kid was lazy and didn’t want to do all his work, gets a D, and switches to an easier school”. WOW does that make me look horrible. I really wasn’t being lazy though lol, after running 7 miles a day its hard to stay awake at night doing homework >.<</p>
<p>I have got all A, A+'s except for 2 B+'s in Math-IBSL and Physics-IBSL until my Junior yr. Total GPA 4.13
My senior year fall semester, I have got 2 A’s and 2 B’s with one D- on HOTA (IB HL course) Total GPA - 3.86
I got accepted to UCSD.
What is the ‘acceptable reason’ I should give in my ‘Reporting changes’ to UCSD for my one bad grade so they don’t rescind the admission offer.</p>