Have you known anyone who...

<p>This is my Junior year. I'm taking 4 weighted classes, and I just lost my chance at being a valedictorian (our school usually has around 20, haha) because of a C, and not a B (and it's in Honours Pre-calculus).</p>

<p>I'm sure a lot of you will tell me to explain or give an excuse when I apply, but to be honest, I really don't know what happened. </p>

<p>It's my only non-A so far though, but I still need to know how much my chances will be affected (and yes, I know that the answer is probably "a lot," but I'm not aiming for any of the Ivies. Just top UC's and schools around there). </p>

<p>Have you guys known anyone who had the same thing on their transcript? Were they able to go to their dream school? What were the other aspects of their application that were SPECTACULAR, and which made up for it?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>One C among so many A's shouldn't be THAT big of a deal for the UCs. They probably look at GPA more than they look at the individual classes. Also, because it's an honors class, it's obvious that it's more difficult than its regular counterpart. What high school do you go to, if you don't mind me asking?</p>

<p>Haha, thanks for responding so quickly. Hope that's the case!</p>

<p>I go to Mission San Jose High. I bet you go there too, huh. So many people from there use this forum it's creepy.</p>

<p>LOL yes i do, which is why i asked. because yeah the ~20 valedictorians thingy sounded familiar. so many people in my class lost their valedictorianship first semester senior year :( we're gonna have quite a bit less than 20, i think.</p>

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but I'm not aiming for any of the Ivies. Just top UC's and schools around there

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<p>"Just" top UCs? I think you're underestimating the difficulty of getting into the top UCs. In fact, the standards that the top UCs (specifically, Berkeley and UCLA) have regarding GPA is easily comparable to Ivies and the like. (If you look at the averages, they're nearly identical -- according to Berkeley's CDS, the average UW GPA is a 3.9 and the average W GPA is a 4.3. That's the same as Stanford's, from its CDS.)</p>

<p>A C will hurt. However, it does not mean you don't have a chance. Even if you have all As otherwise, there's no denying that a C won't stick out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately for you, there are also plenty of applicants who have straight As, or nearly all As and a B or two. If I were you, I'd explain it on the app. You can make up for it by writing really awesome essays. Other than that, good luck.</p>

<p>Wow, so many of my friends go to MSJ. But then again, I live in the area.</p>

<p>Yes, you're right; I didn't mean to belittle their standards or anything. I used the phrase as an example of the goals I'd set (and to prevent irrelevant responses, since a lot of people feel that a C will pull me out of the Ivy-ish track completely). Thanks for your input! I'll keep that in mind (:</p>

<p>i got into uchicago, my dream school, with a C amongst a few Bs and mostly As. so no, it won't kill you.</p>