How much does a C hurt an application?

<p>Sophomore year I had a C both semesters in one class. It was an honors science course, taught by one of the toughest teachers at my private high school. I have almost straight A's otherwise (except for freshmen year when I had two B's). Overall, my GPA's still about a 4.2 (weighted) and a 3.75 (unweighted), and by the end of this year it will likely go up. I've been challenging myself with honors and AP courses throughout high school.</p>

<p>Will this hurt me when I'm applying to colleges, provided I've got decent SAT's and awesome EC's? I'm probably not applying through HYPS, but I'm applying to Georgetown and some top LAC's.</p>

<p>You’re fine. Colleges really only look at your GPA, because letter grades can be misleading sometimes. You have an excellent GPA (both unweighted and weighted), and if you’ve got a solid SAT and great EC’s, chances are they won’t even notice it. I’m applying this summer and have gotten one C freshman year in Honors geometry, but colleges will hopefully see that I’ve only gotten one C and the rest mostly A’s and some B’s in all rigorous classes. </p>

<p>Since you’re applying to Georgetown and some hard schools, you might have to compete a little bit harder, but they most likely won’t even notice that C if your GPA stacks up to everyone else’s. I would not sweat it a bit.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>