I have a 4.0 gpa and a 1600 SAT score, however I failed two pass fail classes. They were lab classes designed to accompany my science classes by providing enough state mandated lab hours so I could take the regents at the end of the year(ny state mandated test). I took them separate years, I failed them both the 1st the semester and passed them both the second semesters.
How would colleges view this?My grades in the actual science classes themselves were high. Should I add a comment to my transcript trying to explain things?
Talk with your guidance counselor about this. You don’t need to discuss it, but your counselor might want to include a comment in the counselor’s letter.
What is the reason you failed these classes? From what it sounds like (a pass-fail lab hour class accompanying another class) they don’t seem to be very rigorous courses. A fail will of course look bad, and it will look even worse if the class isn’t even that rigorous (I don’t know your school though, so maybe these courses are actually very rigorous?). If you failed because of an extenuating circumstance you experienced (such as major illness, homelessness, family legal troubles, etc) then you should definitely explain it. Just don’t say something like “I failed because I slacked off and missed too many classes” and I think you should be okay. Keep in mind failed courses will definitely negatively impact your application despite your strong test score. However, if you have a 4.0 gpa then it looks like these classes are not calculated towards that, so it shouldn’t be make-or-break.