How much will this B hurt me?

Hello CC,

I am currently a sophomore in high school and need a little insight on my chemistry grade. I currently have my only non A grade as a B- in chemistry. Although it isn’t accelerated chemistry I have one of the hardest teachers in the school. I have tried to pull my grade up and have met with my teacher several times a week during my lunch, emailed him questions, and asked my peers for help who are in AP chemistry. I plan on majoring in computer science and currently have an A in AP Comp sci A. I just want to ask how much this B will hurt me as it will be nearly impossible to get an A unless I ace this quarter and the final and the next semester. I have one other option to transfer to another class that my friend is in as the teacher is much easier and getting an A would be a cinch but I don’t want to run away from a hard class as that wouldn’t look good to colleges. Thanks!

I plan on applying to UIUC engineering and am instate with good grades in math and an internship in computer science. Sorry for leaving out many details but I am on a time crunch.

One B will not kill your future college career. Perspective…

See how you projected you’d need to ace the rest of the year? Use that same forward sort of thinking to project how you’ll spend the next 2 years enhancing your position for a good CS college. Be involved in math-sci activities, including collaborative. Use your interests and talents wisely, in various ways, not just coding or typical CS things. And continue with rigor.

One B, two B’s, even three B’s will never make or break your college aspirations. Sometimes the people on this forum forget that, and I don’t blame them. Admissions is crazy these days, but no college would reject you (and definitely not UIUC) because of a B or two.

Thank you for the kind words!

My daughter had two absolutely awful math teachers, the worst teachers she had in her entire academic career. It was a ridiculous nightmare, she had C’s in those two classes. One C was a result of a tenth of a point below a B. Her gpa overall was a 3.4/4.3, she did take honors/AP classes. She was admitted to Berkeley as well as many other great schools. I second the previous poster recommendations to stay involved in great activities that showcase your interests and talents. I think those offset those few bad grades for my daughter in the end.

Also, after she graduated I wrote a letter about how awful they were to the principal because they were truly terrible. You sound like a thoughtful student. If this teacher is being too unreasonable (vs. rigorous) then perhaps after you move onto college, you, too, could share your experience with the principal.

It isn’t that the teacher is unreasonable. It’s that the learning style isn’t tailored to my abilities. I learn well through textbooks and videos not watching labs… he’s a great guy don’t get me wrong just not my type of learning style. I have asked him for extra resources so I’ll see what he has to say. I have to at least try and get extra help before I could even think about going to my guidance counselor or administrator.