Got a D for first semester AP Calculus AB during my senior year. What are my options?

State Forums
1

I want to make sure that, if I’m accepted to the UCs I’ve applied to, my admissions aren’t rescinded. Should I immediately email the schools and explain the situation, then promise to try harder for second semester? Or should I drop the class from my transcript? I’m taking:
AP Calculus AB - D

AP Government/Econ - A (my school combined the two classes)

AP English Lit - A

Computer Graphic Design - A

Newspaper - A

AP Physics - B

Calculus is the only terrible grade I have, so I’m extremely worried about it…

2

Talk to your guidance counselor, as soon as possible. Most likely you will need to call the campus admissions office and work it out with them.

3

Okay, so my HS did the quarter system rather than semester but I got a 79 in AB Calc the first quarter because of one really dismal test (thankfully I’d already applied to all my schools, lol). Luckily, it did NOT break me. I wouldn’t worry so much about being rescinded yet, I’d worry more about getting that calc grade up. I had to work reeeeeeally hard in calc for the rest of the year (staying after once a week, and I had first period free every day which I sacrificed for the rest of the year to come in early for one-on-one help), but I was able to finish with a 90 in the class and a 4 on the AP exam.

While a D on the semester report card isn’t pretty, I doubt a school would rescind you for one bad grade. In my experiences, rescinding a student is extremely rare and happens only if there are multiple D’s/F’s on the final transcript. You only have one D, which I’m assuming you could up to at least a B- by the end of the year with some hard work. I do not have personal experience with the UC system, so that might vary a little, but don’t stress out too badly, sometimes bad grades just happen to good people.

I would definitely talk to your counselor about what to do regarding the situation/whether it’s appropriate to e-mail and explain the grade. I would not recommend dropping the course, though; it’s one of the most rigorous on your schedule and schools might be upset if you change your level of rigor. I know several kids from my HS who signed up for really hard classes senior year (especially spring semester), applied EA, and dropped those courses once they were admitted to their school. I can’t imagine colleges like that very much, it’s a pretty shady move.

4

The UCs typically issue conditions of admission that include having no D or F grades in previously-reported in-progress course work.

If you get a D, or drop the course, you should report it to the colleges you applied to as soon as possible.

5

Agree with ucb^^^. The UC’s don’t accept D’s. You need to talk to your counselor and ask how to approach the UC’s.