Hey everyone. I posted here earlier but situations have changed since then, so I would like to post again.
So, I had straight A/A-'s in my freshmen and sophomore years but in this junior year, I’m expecting to get a C+ in AP Chemistry due to an extremely hard teacher blah blah. However, I’m also expecting a 5 in the Chem AP and an 800 in Chem SAT2. Counselor will also explain why(hard teacher, demanding schedule, one bad grade, etc…)
I want to major in Computer Engineering or Computer Science. How much would this 1 C+ affect my chances of the given schools considering that all the other aspects of the portfolio are above average/superb? Thanks in advance!
More information about me:
-My weighted GPA would be around 4.29-4.30 and my unweighted GPA would be around 3.82 by the end of my junior year (Northern VA).
-Over 400 hours of volunteer work in 3 years directing a mini computer coding lab for tweens
-All 5s in APCS, World History, Micro, Macro. Expecting 5s on APUSH, French, Chem.
-Already started on my college essays and perfecting them as I go, I’m sure they’ll all be stellar
-3 internships at different companies overseas, one of which I am working for right now
-Have an online paid programming job and tutoring in Chem and Physics since the beginning of junior year
-Part of multiple scientific clubs, leaders in 3 of them, FHS, NHS…
-Two research projects on robotics/artificial intelligence
-4 languages, diversity, cultured, blah blah
-Hooks: First Gen, Research
-More things I can give if requested… Thanks for all of your help CC!
It probably would hurt a lot. Schools like that focus in on outlier grades. If you are doing bad in science classes, it probably won’t help your cause. Also, if your counselor includes that in your rec, it will probably make you seem like a student who cannot handle rigor. Your teachers aren’t going to magically get nicer and more lenient in college. The pressure will only increase and your teachers will only become harder
Thanks for this advice. It sucks because the same AP Chem class next to us has a different teacher and a much much higher average than that of our class with our difficult teacher. I’d wish colleges recognized your specific teacher’s difficulty. I will try my best to ameliorate this situation; I believe I have great community service based ecs and I think this will be great for Stanford.
I thought colleges ignored or tried to understand extreme outliers for the better, is this not true then? Thanks!
I agree that it could make a difference, to the worse. The problem with the most selective schools is that their Admissions process is really a misnomer. They are LOOKING for ANY reason to cull the crowd because there are so many similar applicants, all outstanding. Now if you had something truly outstanding that the school wanted, were a top recruited athlete, a national something, and the school was hot to get you, something like that would not likely affect the decision. But why would they not cut you when there are so many “yous” in the pool with no Cs, maybe no Bs on their transcripts with all other things about equal?
Your guidance counselor will have to present a compelling story, and hard teacher / demanding schedule really shouldn’t be part of it.
A better explanation would show that the class average was in fact a C, or that despite your C+, you actually had the second highest grade in the class. This would indicate that your teacher had unreasonably high expectations.
Or maybe there were so few graded assignments that the one bad grade you mentioned really spoiled your average – assuming you had a darned good reason for turning in bad work (illness, death in the family, etc.).
I see. Along with my counselor’s explanation and mine, my GPA is still high, around 4.3 weighted and 3.82 unweighted. I mean, not super high, but high enough to get past the college threshold I believe. Would this not help me? Sorry if I’m trying to find exceptions in this, I just would like to know what I can do.
Nothing wrong with that GPA. There’s not much you can do except trust your guidance counselor to provide a brief, compelling explanation. If you think it’s necessary to provide one of your own, I suggest having your GC or a trusted English teacher review it to make sure the tone is appropriate.
Agree with @WasatchWriter . Personally, I would let the GC cover it, and you can write about other things.
Talked to GC today, she let me know that she will cover it and make sure that this one C+ won’t affect me nearly as much as it can. What I would like to know is, do I have any real chance for colleges like Stanford(my dream school)/MIT/Ivy League and Carnegie Mellon in particular for CS? GC says that this can be shown as one unlucky blimp of a grade and with all my other ecs, recs and test scores(which are pretty good), I still have some, if not less, of a chance. Again, thanks all!
@ProspectsOne This is the only case where you would send in an official score report during application. Let your GC mention it in your rec and send the score report to show that, although you did poorly in the class, you know the material. I did this with calc BC. My school is nationally known and our BC curriculum is pretty rigorous; due to other circumstances I ended up with a B- in the class but a 5 on the exam. During college interviews, they were very impressed by this and asked me to send the score report to verify.
PS (TJHSST? PM me if so because I have specific advice)
Thanks @guineagirl96 ! I just would like to know, now, what my chances are for Carnegie Mellon and Cornell for CS. Assuming I get pretty good grades next year, with what I think are superb ecs and essays, what should I realistically expect from CMU? What about Stanford/MIT/Ivys? Thanks a lot again!
Lol I have a similar question. Looking
At a similar slate of schools, getting a B- (small chance at a C+ hopefully not) in ap Lang comp. Except for precalc (B+) in 8th grade and possibly an A- this year for Spanish, I’ve had straight A’s. Will take around 10AP’s by end of this year (another 6ish next year), will 8-105’s (unsure on physics c eandm and Lang comp), 5800’s 1770 on satII’s, 2300+ sat, paid summer internship at best local research opportunity, usajmo qualifier. Do I still have a chance? Should I get my guidance counselor to explain that the B- came with an exceptionally difficult teacher (she said A students should expect to get around an 85 in the class if they turn in high caliber work)? Just like OP, the other teacher for this course gives out A’s to 75% of the class. I don’t know a single person in the class with an A, my friend whose work she uses as exemplar work is getting A-'s. I can’t help but feel that this class is killing my chances at a good college.
It all depends upon the other kids that are also applying to the schools IF there are many of them, too many of them that have a profile like yours and the schools are having a hellacious time culling them to the number they can accept, yes, you will be bumped, unless you have something so great that they decide to overlook the C. Like if you are also an athletic recruit. Otherwise, the C or anything else gives the Admissions folks an easy way to eliminate a student from consideration. Frankly, i think this would likely eliminate you from the very top schools. They have too many kids with perfect records or with say one A-, B+. or B that are as qualified as you and you’ll be the first to go in such a situation.
This isn’t going to help either of you, and I’ll probably get yelled at for saying this, but this is the problem with American education. I teach AP - I’m fair, consistent, and inflate grades to a reasonable degree. I’m not mean or harsh, but I am aware what an A should look like.
There are simply very few students who can take APs of sufficient rigor to master the content in 7 or 8 subjects at once and receive all As. (I know you believe you will get a 5 in the exam, but unless you are one of the 5 students with a perfect score this year in AP Chem, that 5 does not necessarily translate to an A in a selective school.,)
The C should be a wake-up call. No college wants to hear your GC whine about “hard teachers” because the college is going to think, “Hey, we have hard teachers here. This kid isn’t going to make it.” Instead, take the class again for mastery and demonstrate that you can hit the wall and bounce back. Just my .02. JMMV. 
Two of my friends, who were just graduated, got into Stanford this year. Neither of them were straight-A students. I know for a fact that one of them got a B- in APUSH. Both of them were very good in math, though, and have already completed several years of math and comp sci at the college level, participated in Ross and other programs, etc.
If you get a 5 on your AP Chem test, you probably stand a chance. Stanford will also probably like seeing your involvement with research.
Good luck!
I had a similar issue first semester senior year. I was slated to (and did receive) a C in AP Calculus but had all A’s in honors math classes beforehand and 800’s on both the SAT Math and Math II tests. Honestly, I don’t know how it affected me, or whether anything canceled out, but I imagine it tipped me into the ‘reject’ pile for a couple of schools I thought myself borderline for.
That C is unfortunately going to be a blemish on your transcript, but drawing attention to it will only make things worse imo. Let your counselor explain it if she wants, and focus on the good things in your application. I have friends who received a C or two their junior year and got into selective schools anyway. I would apply ED to CMU or Cornell if you really want to go…unless you’re sure your 7th semester grades will rock, I think the early decision advantage will be greater. Best of luck!
I’m an incoming freshman at cornell and I had a C in Multivariable calc my senior year first semester but I still got in (I had a perfect GPA through that semester however). In all honesty, AP Chem isn’t that hard. Get a self study book online or via amazon and just study for the tests through that (if your teacher is really that bad) or go to youtube and watch videos. Going into it and thinking you’ll get a C isn’t really Ivy League material in any case. Focus on doing the best you can
@tips1660 they already took the class… they expected a C based on how they were doing in the class. This teacher also wasn’t bad persay, but really difficult… AP Chem difficulty varies from school to school and at our school, it is very difficult, especially depending on what teacher you get.
Oh alright, OPs post was confusingly worded (expect written in June kinda threw me off). Yeah, AP Chem as a test is hard (I dont know many who got a 5) but irregardless AP Scores dont’ matter in terms of admissions. OP is probably fine as long as the rest of the grades are fine, 1 C never killed anyone
@Sakacar3 I completely agree! I see all these students with 6 APs and all A’s and in my mind, I’m thinking, either they are all stellar students, or their students are not teaching AP courses properly. There was a thread on this a while back. It was made by @KiaraInNYC but she was banned. Check it out though