<p>I know anything below an A in a math or science course will raise doubts at Caltech, but I may have a slightly different circumstance . I've received A+'s in all my high school math courses through junior year, and I exhausted my school's offerings through Calculus BC. So, as a senior, I decided to take a college course in Multivariable Calculus. I am one of only two people in many years to take this course. It probably wasn't a good idea to take this along with my brutal school schedule, but I love math so I decided to do it anyway. I didn't have much time to prepare for the tests, and now I am looking at a B+/A- in that course. My high school GPA would still be a 4.0 UW, but I guess I'd have a college GPA of 3.0. Also, I'd have a glowing rec from my high school calculus teacher. Now, considering my other math stats are good (800 IIC, 5 in Calculus BC, 111.5 AMC, 3 AIME :( ), how much will it hurt me? Should I include a note with my app about the course if I do end up with the dreaded B+?</p>
<p>I should also mention that I could have taken AP Statistics for an easy A, but I chose to challenge myself with multivariable calculus. Does this count for anything?</p>
<p>Hmm... you're competing with people who took a hard schedule and got A's in multivar. However, a B+ type grade in a college course is less bad than a similar grade in a high school course. I don't think it'll hurt badly. As I mentioned in the other thread, people get in all the time with some B+'s, just as long as the rest of the application really sells us on your passion to make the most of your time at Caltech.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot Ben! Hopefully I'll ace the final and not have to deal with this problem.</p>
<p>I found multivariable to be a lot more straightforward than high school math classes. There were no silly projects or models to turn in. The only things we had to do were problem sets, three tests, and learn how to use Maple/Mathematica...</p>
<p>Yes, that's true. Its not that the math is terribly hard, its just that its hard for me to find the time to work on the class on top of all my other classes. Plus, the grade is entirely based on three tests, and I kind of screwed myself over with some careless errors on the first two tests. That's why I feel stressed out for this last one. It would be horrible if after three years of hard work, this grade would cost me a chance at Caltech.</p>