<p>California high schools finished their school year over a month ago and all records are kept electronically. I can not understand why it is taking so long for USCD to get your son’s final transcript. A delay this long with so much at stake is beyond comprehension.</p>
<p>Our San Diego County high school didn’t graduate until June 16th, so there could be some laggards.</p>
<p>This seems so unfair. You’d be 100% safe at all the other state u’s but JUST THE UC’s are this mean…you could get like an F at state U’s and they won’t even blink but the UC’s want to ruin everything…:(</p>
<p>^^Wait a minute, UCSD hasn’t done anything wrong here. They are following their rules. This isn’t “unfair” of the UCs so much as it is bureaucratic or rule-driven. They are interested in maintaining high academic standards. The UCs have six campuses ranked in the USNews top 50, including UCSD. They didn’t get that way by not blinking an eye at kids with Fs. No other state school system has more than one campus in the top 50.</p>
<p>But that said, I think the specific kid in this thread has a decent chance of staying in. It sounds like the meeting with the school officials went well. And we are talking about a D here and not an F. So my gut feel here is that his admission will stand.</p>
<p>I hope your gut feeling is right! 
He is a good student and I can assure you that if we had any indication of him failing the test we would have gotten him tutoring etc but he had never flunked a test in his life so we didn’t worry. He had a C, which is not the gold standard in our home but I thought, well this is hard for him so maybe a C is good enough. In hindsight he should have gotten tutoring when the grade dipped to a C. Remember he got a B fall semester. It’s not the UC’s fault in any way-I just hope they have a little wiggle room in their standards to account for strong students that have a blip in their screen.</p>
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<p>That’s what I’m thinking will happen. He must have had a pretty strong overall record to get into UCSD in the first place. And meeting with them face to face and taking responsibility will only help them choose to exercise enforcement discretion.</p>
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They definitely do which is why your S wasn’t rescinded outright. I think at this point it probably comes down to two things - examining your S’s record in more detail and logistics - i.e. how many spots they have available, how many are vying for those spots, and how your S’s stats compare to those others. </p>
<p>I hope you hear from them this week.</p>
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I think the main problem is they are taking so long. If they are going to be rescinding kids, they should have some sort of plan in place to give them an evaluation quickly so they can make other plans. They don’t need to wait for the transcript - they can give a preliminary evaluation.</p>
<p>Schools, like other bureacracies (and I work for a bureacracy) often take too long to do things.</p>
<p>So, let’s see:</p>
<p>– You want to emphasize the numeric grade, showing how close it was to being a C.
– You want to emphasize the grade going into the final exam, showing that it was a C and that the D is a result of one test, not a prolonged or consistent D effort.
– You want to emphasize that this is an advanced course outside his intended field of study.
– You want to emphasize that he took risks and challenges and that if they always turn out for the best, they’re not really risks, are they?
– You should have the AP Exam results by July 15…so, hopefully, that will be something you can use in your favor.
– You will have the summer program, hopefully with a recommendation or letter from that instructor about performance to date that can be used.
– If you haven’t burned bridges with his HS instructor (as I might have done!), what sort of letter might s/he be willing to submit on behalf of your son? (Just because s/he’s a stickler for numbers doesn’t mean the s/he’s totally soulless.)
– I suspect that he will sound motivated…and appreciative of the opportunity you hope they extend to him…which may be one thing they’re looking for when reviewing the grades. I am guessing, but I think they want people who use senior year as a springboard into college (and this is actually quite a springboard, if lessons are being learned!) and they are much more free about rescinding when it comes to students who have sort of “checked out,” as it were, and slacked off. In other words, you want to point out that S will hit the ground running when he matriculates and he’s not trying to reignite with a cold engine, after a post-acceptance free fall and beach parties, etc. </p>
<p>What have I missed? You (well, actually, your S) should keep your talking points and to-do list on hand and review them so that you’re prepared for the big meeting and put your best foot forward.</p>
<p>I feel confident it will work out, but I wish your waiting wasn’t so prolonged. I hope S appreciates the gray hairs you’re getting over this and that that attitude comes through when the big meeting takes place.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I hate to say this, because I believe that a student should feel free to challenge himself, but, assuming we’re not dealing with a case of senioritis, defense in the senior year (and certainly the last semester) has got to be considered when it comes to the UCs. </p>
<p>If you are taking a class that isn’t required for your a-g requirements and you’re getting a C in it–it may be prudent to drop the class rather than risk a D.</p>
<p>No senioritis was involved here. More of a case of overbookeditis! And yea if we would have had any idea the C was going to go south to a D adjustments would have been made. But----we didn’t --so here we are and I assume we’ll hear in the next week as soon as his transcript has been evaluated. We have come to learn there are many others in our spot too so I hope in the end we can post something helpful to other students-primarily=DON’T GET A “D” !!! :)</p>
<p>Dropping the class is not a guaranteed good option as the admission contract states, complete senior coursework as planned… On another UC board, I recently read that the student was revoked for dropping an AP class. I guess they are hammering down on this because if you just drop it looks like you took the class just to boost up your application. Four or five kids dropped down to regular Statistics from my son’s AP Calc class and six or so dropped down from AP Econ to regular Econ. This shocked me since the hs guidance counselor didn’t advise against it. I’ll be eager to hear how the UC and CSU (SDSU has become quite aggressive in cutting kids) kids end up. It seems as if you can’t have any kind of screw up your senior year. Sadly, with the enrollment cuts, I think they’re using the provisions to make their targeted enrollment. I say sadly because I know there are students who got in a UC with a D earlier in their academic careers; they made it up in summer school. Seniors just don’t get that chance.</p>
<p>3down, I honestly think that in better times, this would be overlooked for your son. He is certainly a person who can handle the college load and would add a lot to the campus life there. I really hope those administrators see the light. It’s not like he was skipping classes, doing senior pranks, etc.</p>
<p>I think you are right otc2010. If it wasn’t a budget cut year I think we would be in a better position but here we are. Dropping the class would have to be explained too and I don’t know how that is being looked at either. I’m sure its hard to be an admission’s officer and make these miserable decisions.</p>
<p>Isn’t dropping a class equivalent to an “F” in a college’s eyes?</p>
<p>I still find this kind of unfair because you could get an “F” earlier in your HS career and still get into a UC but if you do it senior year they show you no mercy…</p>
<p>I do hope that our California HS guidance counselors start dispensing more accurate information. It seems that this year, at our HS at least, they stuck with the same methodology as the last few years or so. It’s a whole new ballgame now and they should advise students to play it just a bit safer, i.e. don’t overly challenge yourself your senior year. There are quite a few threads of kids loading up on APs and then getting a D in one of them. With the current California situation there’s a whole new definition for overkill.</p>
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<p>I have never met a kid with an F as a final grade in high school who got into a UC. The only way it’s more permissible to get an F in an earlier year is that you have more time to take the class over and make it right. In the last semester of your senior year you are running out of time to correct the bad grade.</p>
<p>^Yes, but material is harder in 12th grade, and summer school should still be a viable opportunity. The UC’s should at least allow summer school as a provisional acceptance.</p>
<p>^^Why would that be more fair? A kid with “provisional acceptance” (because he got an F he hasn’t made up yet) is still taking up a slot in the freshman class that could be offered to dozens and probably hundreds of kids who were fully qualified, and didn’t get any Fs, but got rejected or waitlisted in the first place. Think about being “fair” to them. Is it “fair” to give the slot to the kid with an F over a waitlisted kid?</p>
<p>I have a lot of sympathy for the kid in this story. I really hope his admission stands. And I agree that the long wait for a decision is frustrating and painful. But in no way is this somehow UCSD’s fault nor are they being unfair. The OP agrees, and the kid in question has accepted responsibility. And both are doing what they can to make it work out. Why the need to somehow shift the blame to the UCs?</p>
<p>I agree. He could have played it safe and taken college prep physics but he usually is good in AP level classes-not this time.</p>
<p>I’m just saying an F shouldn’t be an automatic rescind. I think that they should at least take extenuating circumstances into mind. Granted I think 90% of the time F=Rescind. Higher than an F though, and I think it’s time to really start thinking about it.</p>