<p>I am a sophomore in hs right now and my math and sci grades have been good. ive been getting a's in precalc and stat, and a+'s in chem and an a in bio last year. but my problem is my english and history grades. im a b+ student in english and b student in world history.</p>
<p>do these grades really hurt my chances of getting into caltech?</p>
<p>i got a 710 on bio sat2s last year. but i think i did better on chem and math 2. i should get an 800 on both. and i also took the ap chem test.</p>
<p>The bio sat2 isn't wonderful, but will by no means kill you. keep up the good work, ap chem in sophomore year is good. </p>
<p>I asked Ben Golub (a Caltech student and admissions board officer) the same question about humanities B's (though being a freshman, I dont' have any <em>knocks on wood</em>. He said that they don't hurt you much. Their biggest impact will be if they hurt your class rank. Worse than top 5% he said will hurt your a little or more ap depending on how much worse.</p>
<p>I'd give 10:1 odds that Ben shows up within 72 hours to answer your question. He's like the questoin answering stalker/guardian angel of people like us with Caltech quesitons. Also, if you PM him, he's very helpful.</p>
<p>ok thanks for the info</p>
<p>Sorry if I appear to be hijacking this thread in advance.</p>
<p>About class rank: my school doesn't rank, but they do send a graph listing percentages of students who achieve a certain GPA. Now, these GPAs are unweighted, and I take higher level courses than most people, so naturally my GPA will be a bit lower (but not too much). And also, my school rounds GPA tremendously. All these things considered, my school and my GPA give the impression that I'm in the 3rd decile.</p>
<p>So my question is: will schools like Caltech even look at this "rank" and if so, how much will it hurt me?</p>
<p>definite ben golub question. my guess would be it'll be looked at and considered in teh context that, as you said, you took AP physics C type stuff where others had 123 astronomy.</p>
<p>Yes, people will look at this rank, and yes, it won't look that good. 3rd decile seems worrisome unless it's at an absolutely great school. So if you can, get your counselor and/or teachers to explain in the counselor letter what is going on so that we have an accurate picture.</p>
<p>This is a good NE prep school. So will it not have any effect? I was hoping that colleges would just ignore it.</p>
<p>nope, sorry, most won't ignore it, so you should be proactive in dealing with it. grades aren't very helpful on their own, what's important is how you stack up. if this happens fairly frequently at your school, then people will know. but it would still be helpful to include anything you can by way of explanation/context about what this decile ranking means.</p>
<p>Snaps. Had we made a bet, I'd be getting 110% of it back. Not that much money, with a bet of zero sheckels, but it's always nice to feel right. Even if no one argues with you. Shutting up.</p>
<p>Hmm...I have a similar question. I have 2 A-'s in all of high school (AP Chem and AP Calc BC - yeah, I know, not the best classes to get A-'s in for Caltech). At any rate, my class rank is, consequently, about a 35-40 (out of 820ish). My school doesn't weigh and we've got a TON of kids who take all the basic courses and no APs/Enriched => about 20 valedictorians and hurts the rest of us. I know I'm in the top 5%, but the actual number still doesn't look good (a class rank of 35 just doesn't look nice). Would this scenario hurt me much, especially if I get a 5 on both the Calc BC and Chem AP tests? Then again, if I'm being overly paranoid feel free to slap me.</p>
<p>No, this is more or less okay... top 5% is good and we admit kids like this a lot. I wouldn't worry much about it, esp. if your AP scores are good.</p>
<p>If my transcript shows courses like Multivariable Calculus and advanced science courses (several past AP) and top grades in these, will that be enough to offset the ranking suggested by the charts my school sends?</p>
<p>That is good, but it should be supplemented by some indication of the context (i.e. that these grades are not third decile in any meaningful way.) Just have a chat with your college counselor at the start of next year (clearly your school has an excellent one) and discuss how your counselor letter can provide some indication of how your grades and performance stack up in comparison to other students who take the most challenging courseload. This kind of note will substitute for the rank, which is, in this case, inaccurate.</p>
<p>OK. Thanks for all the help Ben!</p>