<p>I like to think I'm an okay student, but last year (junior year of hs) I got a D as a final grade in pre-calculus. I'm terrible at math and didn't put enough effort into learning the material, I won't make excuses. Other than that, I received 5 A's (two of which were AP classes) and one B (also for an AP class). I'm not entirely sure what my GPA is but I believe it to be around a 3.2 unweighted. </p>
<p>My question is, have I significantly lowered my chances of getting into a good college by earning that D grade? I'm not looking to apply to any Ivy Leagues or anything but most of the colleges I have interest in (such as Northwestern, for example) are fairly selective.</p>
<p>A good college? No, you haven’t damaged your chances there. Northwestern (and colleges of that selectivity), yes. Look at the Common Data Set, section C, to see what kind of stats NU accepts.</p>
<p>Ruined your chances of going to a good college? No, there are a lot of good colleges.
Lowered your chances of going to Northwestern? Potentially. </p>
<p>Can you take it again and maintain a B+ by the mid-year? No point in taking calculus with a D in pre-calc.</p>
<p>My high school only offers AP calculus courses so I’m going to take honors statistics instead. I don’t have any options to retake the class so Im just hoping to maintain a B at least first quarter and go from there.</p>
<p>Do either of you have any suggestions for colleges of lower selectivity than Northwestern that are still good schools? I’ve been looking at Kenyon.</p>
<p>3.2 isn’t cumulative, it’s only my gpa for junior year. I’m not entirely sure what my average gpa is for the past three years of high school, it’s been mostly As and Bs so I’m thinking around a 3.4? </p>
<p>The college selection app was super helpful, thanks for mentioning that!</p>
<p>origamifrogs, it is what it is. All you can do is go from here and do the best you can. Do the best you can and let the chips fall where they may. Northwestern is tough to get in. So you give it your best shot. No matter what, you will get into a good school.</p>
<p>Northwestern is pretty much considered on par with the non-HYP Ivies anyway, and in all honesty I would say the ‘D’ is definitely a deal breaker. It is a very selective school which rejects even Valedictorians/4.0s on a regular basis.</p>
<p>But just for colleges in general, you could just retake the class and get an ‘A’ in it this time. A lot of high schools will let you factor in only the higher grade into your GPA anyway.</p>