Got a B on a midterm...goodbye Ivies?

<p>A little extreme I am sure, but I got a B on one of my midterms in a class I have an A+ in for each quarter grade. All my other grades run the typical A- to A+ in all other classes. However, will this B hurt me for the more selective schools and Ivies?</p>

<p>This post is everything wrong with CC</p>

<p>It’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker, but is it part of a downward trend in your grades? If not, I’d say you’re probably safe, but remember that it’s your application as a whole that really matters.</p>

<p>^No it is not a downward trend. In fact it is a massive outlier from my other grades. I would just hate to be passed over because of one bad test.</p>

<p>^^Sadly…however, such paranoia and anxiety fuel performance, drive, and, ultimately, results.</p>

<p>Yeah but it takes the fun out of being human.</p>

<p>your life is over</p>

<p>You’re done. You might as well drop out of HS because no one ever gets into college, let alone an Ivy, with a grade less than 100.</p>

<p>^^^ fortunately, high school is but an infinitesimal poop stain on the vast white canvas that is my life. </p>

<p>^^ and ^ All sarcasm aside, I have done too much to screw up at the 11th hour.</p>

<p>And in this eleventh hour, your common sense has abandoned you it seems. What gave you the impression that only 4.0 students attend Ivy league schools? Everything you’ve posted just makes eyes roll.</p>

<p>No your right. I forgot the vast majority of athletes, minorities, and legacies who get an acceptance letter by virtue of a flawed system. Not to say all are unqualified but some are certainly less than stellar students. My mistake…</p>

<p>Wow. You really are a work of art. Not only are you an insecure grade chaser, but you casually like insulting others. </p>

<p>I hope you really really obsess more and more about your B grade.</p>

<p>Where did I insult others? By pointing out that a football player in my school got into Brown with a 1700 SAT I, 3.1 GPA and no honors or AP classes? Pointing out a fact is not an insult, just an advancement of knowledge. However is the runner ranked 8th in the class who got into Columbia for track qualified academically? Hell ya. Some are and some are not. I merely pointed out the absurdity of a school lowering its standards so that they might have a good player, or son/daughter of a prominent alumnus, etc.</p>

<p>That’s completely besides the point though. This thread is about your B+, not about whether certain people deserve to get into prestigious colleges or not. It seems like you’re just bashing them because you’re obsessively mad over a single B+ grade.</p>

<p>If your ONLY goal in life is to get into an Ivy League, please look at the bigger picture and see that plenty of successful people come out of a variety of different universities that are not Ivy Leagues. But how would a B on a midterm ruin your A+ anyways? Wouldn’t your grade stay about the same?</p>

<p>^do colleges even see mid terms?</p>

<p>Your right ahah this thread did go on a lovely stroll down tangent lane…it may be beside the point but alas it is true. And once again how am I bashing anyone? I mean seriously, pointing out that the clouds above are white and the grass below green is not “bashing” them. This started b/c T26E4 asked if I thought only 4.0 students got into Ivies. And I said no, and then I proceeded to list those non-4.0 students who DO get in Ivies. Not “bashing” in anyway. Am I annoyed at my B? Yes. Might it make a difference? Maybe. Do perfect students (grade/test-wise now) get rejected from ivies? Yes. But, regardless Id rather look my strongest.</p>

<p>Alizabeth, my grade would drop to about an A overall. But my school does not send out the overall grade in the class at the mid-year. Rather, it sends a report card basically listing my 1st quarter, 2nd quarter, and midterm grades. Its more about the look of a “senior slide” that does not exist that Im concerned about. And yes I know Ivies are not everything, my dad went to a crappy state school, really crappy, came out with a degree in Environmental Science and is now a prosperous financial planner. I know its not everything. But alas, just as clothes, general appearance, and wealth all factor into society’s view of you, as does college. Whenever a client asks him where he went to school, can he sit up proudly and say “Princeton” or even “Duke” or “UChicago”, no he says an obscure school name that causes people to wonder who this loser is exactly that is now handling their assets. I do not assume such things, he has lost snobbish clients, but clients nonetheless, b/c of an overt disliking of his education. So yes it does matter, and don’t pretend it does not.</p>

<p>To reel back from the tangent, plenty of non-hooked students get in with less than a 4.0GPA. OK?</p>

<p>But you can’t be wondering why people are annoyed at your panic post about getting a B on a midterm so your grade drops from an A+ to an A.</p>

<p>To most readers of this thread, your thinking is quite absurd.</p>

<p>One B+ wont matter, but if the personality you’re showing on this thread shows up in your college essays that will matter. I would reject someone who can’t accept that colleges want more well-rounded individuals, or someone who arrogantly suggests that they are more deserving of a place than another. </p>

<p>ECs are a major part of the application. Test scores/gpa are only one part of the process. The fact that you consider yourself more qualified than an athlete with a lower gpa is conceited and frankly narrow-minded.</p>

<p>On a side note, and to more answer your original question, I got a B last year and got accepted early into Stanford. “Less than stellar students” as you put it only considers academic qualities, not personal and extra-curricular ones. I’m not a minority, athlete, or legacy before you make judgement calls. I’m sure your gpa’s better than mine, and maybe your test scores are higher, but your attitude’s terrible and anyone who resents another’s success isn’t someone I’d want to go to school with or accept to a school.</p>

<p>O no, don’t worry, I know how to play the game. My realism and cynicism go nowhere near my essay, only the romantic inside is allowed to touch those.</p>

<p>^I am not defending nor criticizing anyone on this thread but I have to say that FinalEyes and other people on here all have good points. No, a B on a test only shows you are a human and it won’t affect you and it might seem a little obsessed to think that way. But, on the other hand, the political correctness associated with college and college admissions is one of the many reasons why college costs 20K+ a year on average to go to, millions of people apply and 30% bail after their first year, and really great students with great potential are stuck at an average place which really puts a dent in their feasible professional aspirations. All this while so many people get into debt because their college degree doesn’t get them where it used to get the previous generation because the sheer amount of people told to go to college dilutes the power of that degree. My two cents, feel free to disagree.</p>