So I’m currently a sophomore and I’ve made alright grades, but I’m most likely going to finish with a 79 in my Honors Chemistry class. This is because I had a family situation that affected me during the first part of the school year; it affected all of my other classes. Even with that, all of my other grades are either high B’s or A’s. I take a lot of Honors/AP and I score high on the exams, but I’m still worried about the C. My resume is very strong and is continuing to grow and I made a 32 on the ACT (as a sophomore). My college choices are along the lines of UC Berkeley and Columbia (My dad went to UC Berkeley and my aunt went to Columbia). I’m planning to major in either English/Social Sciences or Buisness. I have no intention of heading in a field near chemistry but how bad will it make my transcript look?
Columbia seems like a long shot but as long as you have good extracurricular and emphasize how much you want to go you should be fine. Also if you tell the admissions that it was because of a family situation they will understand, but you will need to be more specific than just a “family situation” while telling them. Just get great ECs, great tests scores, and explain to them why your grade was low and they will understand.