my brother has a c in two of his ap classes. he started out with a’s in those classes but he got seriously depressed around december. but the rest are of his classes are a’s. so he is stressing about it alot which is not good for him because he still has depression. he is scared that it will be used against him and they will say no because of the c’s and he won’t get into any college even rutgers! so he just wanted to know, how do colleges look at c’s in ap classes? if you want more info on him, please look at another one of my threads. btw, he plans on doing mechanical engineering in college if that matters. thanks!
bump
Cs don’t look good at all, regardless of the level of course rigor.
Whether or not it hurts his chances for Rutgers, if all the rest of his grades are As, it shouldn’t hurt too much. What’s his unweighted GPA?
C’s (including in AP’s) are essentially killers for selective private colleges, not publics necessarily. However, for certain highly rated public flagships such as Berkeley, one “C” on an all-A report card can invite Augmented Review. Happened recently.
@AnEpicIndian he has around a 3.6
@epiphany what is augmented review?
2 C’s will actually hurt him by quite a bit, but he can still definitely attend a college or a university.
GPA’s the first thing colleges look at, and if you have 2 C’s in high school (doesn’t really matter if it’s AP or not), it’s an immediate red flag unless your brother’s depression was very serious (has some kind of medical excuse or something).
I suggest just to try to raise those grades to a B, it will make a world of a difference. If he can’t do anything about it, just tell him to stop stressing (so to prevent his depression from worsening) and just work hard senior year and get all A’s as many colleges do look at first-semester senior year grades and if he is excelling it shows that he was able to overcome his depression/anxiety and is therefore ready for the academic rigor of college.
@rdeng2614 well we can talk to the teacher of one ap to get it up to an 80, but his depression was so bad he started to self harm. i am the only one who knows about it
@solveforx (Love your screen name, by the way). Augmented Review is a Second Chance Look from U.C. admissions, after all applications have been submitted, allowing the student to make his case in particular areas of review (disability, talent, academic performance, etc.). That review allows him to elaborate on a specific Review category – to explain negatives and/or to provide more detail on positives. It also allows him/her to add a teacher rec and any grades received after Grade 11. It’s not a guarantee of admission, just an opportunity, but the point is that a record can be flagged for A.R. if the committee is concerned about the student’s likelihood of succeeding at U.C.
@solveforx I think you should immediately tell your school guidance counselor/principal/your parents about this situation. If he is going to harm himself, you have to tell somebody ASAP.
Grades are always secondary when it comes to health and personal well-being.
And yes, his situation (which seems very serious) will be looked upon in admissions. They serve to sort of “excuse” a student to poor grades or extracurriculars as the student has extenuating circumstances which limit his opportunities. Definitely mention it in the special circumstances section of the UC App (If you’re applying to the UC’s( and have the Guidance Counselor mention it extensively in his/her recommentdation letter.
@epiphany thanks! so with the augmented review, he can explain his low grades cause of his depression?
@rdeng2614 he told his gc about it but she didn’t take action. everyone thinks its a phase or something. he smiles and says hi to people some days, the others he doesn’t talk to anyone, not even his best friend. but everyday, he is anxious and full of anxiety on the inside. its just he has been such a jolly person his whole life that its hard to believe that he out of everyone would come down with depression. he stopped self harming though.
To an extent, yes. Depends, of course, on how “low” is low. What any college needs to see is whether the student can meet the performance standards for that college, mental health condition or none. For example, for physical health conditions, if the medical situation is being contained and treated, and since that treatment the student has shown better performance, the college may look more forgivingly upon “low” grades.
@epiphany 87 average, 88 average, and around a 90 average
Are you saying he has Cs for the semester or for a grading period within the semester? If the former, it is going to depend on the school he applies to. If the latter, the colleges may not see it. Our school only reports semester grades on a transcript so it is the semester average that colleges see.
You say you GC knows about your brother- what about your parents? Please make sure they know. Do they not wonder about the drop in grades?
@gettingschooled nope they don’t know. they don’t want to know. they don’t check his grades anymore so no i don’t think they know about the drop in grades either
There are much bigger problems here than a couple of Cs. If he is self harming he needs to see a psychologist. You must tell someone who will help him to get the help he needs.
The behavior you are describing is very scary. He needs help even if he has stopped self harming.
@PhxRising @gettingschooled our parents frown upon that
@solveforx: You’re in a position that no teenager should be in. You have to consider your brother’s safety above your parents’ wishes. If your brother were to do something serious to himself you would never forgive yourself. He’s obviously hurting and needs help before this goes farther. Group therapy is actually very effective for teens. Maybe you can scout out a program for him. I don’t see any way around telling your parents. Maybe you can think of a way to tell them that will make it less shocking or shameful. Good luck.