<p>Hey everyone. I'm a current sophomore in a very competitive public high school where all the kids talk about is grades. It seems that getting a B is an extreme offense both to the students and parents (mine included). </p>
<p>I was wondering, my grades are pretty good. 1st semester, I got 5 A's and one B+ (0.07% from an A...that hurt.) This semester I should have all A's but there's a slight chance that I'll get one B again. I'm curious, do one or two B's matter all that much when talking about schools like UCBerkely, UCLA, UCSD, UMich, etc? These are all schools I'd like to go to (for engineering). I'm just a bit worried because of how much stress is put on getting straight A's at my school. I'd appreciate anyone's outlook on this topic. Thanks.</p>
<p>Any grade that is not perfect will lower your chances, and that cannot be debated. By the way, top universities don’t want humans. They want freaks.</p>
<p>nwgolfer321- What do you mean they only see final grades? What if my school doesn’t do final grades, just quarter grades? Will they average them or something?</p>
<p>You keep saying this, but what is a URM anyway and how did this happen?
To the OP, for the schools you’re going for, you’ll be fine. For HYPSM even it would be fine, with good SAT’s/ACT to show that you are a smart kid but just messed up once, and other A’s or A+ to balance it out.</p>
<p>Under-Represented Minority (ie. black, hispanic, native-american, poverty stricken race or believed to be less than stellar race… whatever), he was black, but he had good EC’s and worked a ton</p>
<p>I am/was pretty sure that every school gives its students final grades. At my school they use each of your four quarter grades in a class, add the final and average them. This can change depending on the weight of your final. </p>
<p>You should talk to your guidance councilor. I have seen my transcripts - I am a junior but I needed them for classes at a local CC - and all they had were my final grades, ACT score, class rank, etc.</p>
<p>Most schools report only semester rather than quarter grades. It seems almost quaint these days to say this, but a B or a B+ means good/very good work–quite an accomplishment, especially in an honors or AP course (and these courses are often weighted anyway, so that B sort of “counts” as an A). </p>
<p>I think that the relentless quest for perfection in the transcript comes at the expense of a focus on genuine learning. When did B’s start to mean “badly done” or “something’s lacking here”? It sounds to me like the OP has done highly commendable work.</p>
<p>I might have 2 B+ this semester after getting all As and two A- for the past 2.5 years. Knowing my school, this will probably push me out of the top 2%, though I’ll probably still be in the top 10%.</p>
<p>LOL thanks guys for all the replies…but no need for the sarcasm. My school’s environment is heavily “get perfect grades or you’re screwed” and this thread was more of a reassurance of how crazy the school is rather than what the people at my school believed.</p>
At least it shows that you’re human! lol.</p>