Hi. I am a rising senior and I was wondering how damaging is a C in Honors Physics if I am considering an engineering major. I’ve done fairly well in my math classes and had an A the first semester, just had some difficulties the second semester. Is there a way to compensate for this? I am looking at some difficult engineering programs such as Purdue, but my gpa is still decent at a 3.8 UW and 4.5 W. Thanks for the advice!
@momofboiler1 your thoughts?
1 semester grade isn’t going to tank your application but Purdue engineering does want to see strong grades in STEM classes. Will you be taking AP physics as a senior?
Can you explain what went wrong?
It takes a lot of A’s to balance one C and end up with a 3.8 overall. You must be doing something well.
Don’t worry about it. Just look forward. One C is not the end of the world, and the reality is that you would still be able to find a perfectly good engineering program with several C’s, and wind up with the same career after college. Just keep on going the way you have been, and you’ll be fine.
Physics is the foundation for all natural sciences (and engineering). Regardless of how a C in physics may (or may not) affect college admissions to an engineering program, you need to critically self-assess. Why did you get a C? Was it because you didn’t turn in your homework, or because you thought the final was going to be too easy so you didn’t prepare? Or was it because you had issues understanding all the concepts despite your best effort, or had issues applying those concepts to actually solve problems?
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Lots of students seem to not do great in Honors physics then do great in AP physics. Think they are just better in Calc. But you need the foundation. Talk to your teacher and get some study guides for the summer. Use Kahn academy and see if you can learn some of the concepts this summer better. Talk to your teacher for AP physics and see if you can get the syllabus early. Look it up anyway in Kahn Academy or the like. Go to your teacher for help day 1. Tell them (if not the same teacher) what happened and what your goals are. Teachers actually love helping students that want to help themselves.
Also have safety engineering schools since getting into any one school is hard. Cast a wide net anyway. But usually one grade won’t deter schools from accepting you.
If your goal is to become an engineer you will be fine. Many many fine schools out there.
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Very few people are perfect, but it doesn’t stop many from great achievements in life, with perseverance and hard work.
Albert Einstein failed the entry requirements of the Zurich Polytechnic Institute in Switzerland, and had to take the prep year to be ready in Math & Physics… nobody on the Nobel Prize committee held that against him.
You can consider taking calculus based physics. My son got a B in AP Physics as a freshman. Since it was not calc based, it would not count towards engineering. But it was still a blow to him.
He took dual enrollment calc based Physics 1 and 2 as a senior and got 2 As. If you can show that you can do well in a more advanced class, then you should be fine. Apply to a bunch of engineering schools with varying rates of admission. Try not to stress too much about a particular school or name. As long as the school is ABET accredited, you should be fine.
Try to find a nurturing environment so that you have the support you need to make it through engineering. To me, that is far more important.
I did well freshman and sophomore year with near perfect grades, but with course rigor, ECs, and other issues second sem kind of made an impact.
I am guessing here a bit…
But there is one thing that I have seen a few times. There is a lot of pressure in the US on students to do more. More ECs, more APs, more rigorous classes, more leadership positions, and so on. I do not personally think that this is healthy.
A lot of us at some point in our lives hit a point where suddenly it is not easy any more. This was a relatively common experience for students at MIT, where I got my bachelor’s. Some students there breezed through high school, and then hit a wall either in freshman year, or sophomore year, or with the upper year classes. Many of us have to learn study skills and time management in a hurry under pressure. Most of us got through this okay, but with some stress and some impact on grades.
One consequence is that it is not that unusual for a student to have one bad semester, or perhaps one bad class during one semester. A grade of “C” may have happened (even to me at some point as an undergraduate student).
Then we learn from this. We start managing our time more carefully. We start putting in a stronger effort, including on weekends in many cases.
I think that if you come back from this with solid grades it should be fine.
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Depends on the engineering major. In Silicon Valley, for Software Engineers, we are looking at Masters Graduates for the majority of hiring. So what undergrad you did your BS in is irrelevant. So I wouldn’t stress a C in high school. Double EE majors, that could be an issue for a particular school. But again, most of us are hiring Masters EE graduates, so we don’t have to train them for years to be a useful worker. Embedded Systems has a way of weeding out those who won’t cut it in Silicon Valley.
My observation in computing is that MA/MS is mainly those who started their US careers on work visas, while those with US citizenship or permanent residency beforehand more commonly went to work with BA/BS.
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