<p>yes, I got a 71 in AP English
Long story short.. Read the wrong book for my final and therefore I got a 0 (I had 3 95's for my six week avgs, and thats the only way i passed the semester)</p>
<p>Any advice?</p>
<p>Make sure that is known in your app!! Best if that grade is a marked difference from past English grades of yours, as well, and your other grades this quarter/trimester are as high as usual. If this is a stark exception and you can explain it reasonably, it should be alright ;)</p>
<p>Unless there is some psychological factor going on here, like a parent dying, or a mental health issue that you're struggling to overcome, I think a 71 (which Harvard would consider a C-) will be incredibly hard for the admissions committee to overlook.</p>
<p>Alright
So should I include a letter with my MidYear Report explaining what happend?</p>
<p>Or is it futile?</p>
<p>I think if you're going to send a letter, your reason for a C- has to be more substantial than forgetting to read the right book and failing the final. They might see this is neglectful and irresponsible; and that might hurt you more than a C-.</p>
<p>Hmm, never thought of it that way</p>
<p>Im in such a bind... I have no idea what to do</p>
<p>!</p>
<p>Then the right response could be to take it up with higher-ups at the school. Especially if they realize you're a strong student and if they know and like you, they might be more willing to cut you some slack with the grade....</p>
<p>Hmm, the higher ups at my school?
The GC?</p>
<p>I think I'll speak with him, definetly.. I'll ask him what he thinks I should do..</p>
<p>As far as my english teacher goes.. I asked if I could take it a day late, and she said no and slapped me with a test!
Sucks that I tested on the book for 1 1/2 hours and I still got a 0.. I should've just stayed home</p>
<p>I'm curious -- what book was assigned? And which did you read?</p>
<p>lol..
Well I was supposed to read The Things they Carried.</p>
<p>And I somehow thought I was reading another book on the book list - A Lesson before Dying.. And THEN I got confused and mistook A lesson before dying as the band - As I lay Dying..So I ended up reading As I lay Dying.. </p>
<p>yeh.... I was pretty confused during finals week</p>
<p>Hmmm . . . yeah, don't tell Harvard that.</p>
<p>So just let it go?</p>
<p>Eh...</p>
<p>i dunno. My biggest screw up ever (well kinda my fault, kinda not) was in my frosh year english class. in my class, we had this major project about to kill a mockingbird, and i did it completely and perfectly. so i turned it in expecting an a. turns out i forgot my name, and my teacher put it up on the wall. of course there was a lot of junk on the walls so it was darn near impossible to see. i didnt realize that she didnt have a grade in till after the quarter. i got a C- for the quarter. that coupled with an A from the first quarter somehow netted me a B- instead of the A that I would have gotten. Oh %$#!. well life goes on. maybe that ties in with my rising gpa and will somehow help me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well I was supposed to read The Things they Carried.
[/quote]
That's a good book. You should definitely read it.</p>
<p>Anyway, I think you or your GC needs to give some explanation. Otherwise, the adcoms are going to be left wondering about that grade, and the lack of a reason will most likely make them reject you.</p>
<p>Well, this is a catch-22 situation because the adcom won't find the lack of a reason very pleasing, but I doubt they'd view the actual reason too favorably, either.</p>
<p>But if they just see the 71, they'll most likely assume it's reflective of a whole semester of slacking. One big screw-up is a lot better than early senioritis!</p>
<p>So there might be no way for this not to hurt you somewhat, but at least minimize the damage, I think.</p>
<p>If you can't get anything worked out with your GC or the teacher, and the D sticks to your record, then you are probably screwed. Harvard won't buy the "bad luck" excuse, and even if they do, the doubt in their mind will be enough to pass you over for another, less uncertain applicant.</p>
<p>I guess the message is that you need to take care of this on the school level before it ever gets to Harvard; try and talk to your counselor and teacher together and explain the situation, maybe ask to retake, etc.</p>
<p>Yeh, It'll definetly hurt me when discussing GPA and class Rank</p>
<p>But I think if I'm a fairly strong candidate with a valid reason (although completly retarded it may be) as to why I made a C- As my semester Avg for AP English..... well then I think it wont break me..</p>
<p>We'll see I suppose.. I just dont want them to think I slacked off the entire year, rather this grade was caused by one expensive mistake.</p>