Hey everyone!
I took Calculus 2 at a university this year, and I’m pretty sure I got a B in the course. I’m planning on applying to the top 20 colleges as a CS major and was wondering if this would hurt my chances, especially since CS is a subject with a lot of math involved. I read how getting worse grades junior year will look bad on your application, and I’m really worried as my high school grades decreased over time. It’s my first B ever, and I’m super stressed. Help a sister out 
Thanks everyone!
As long as your overall UW GPA is 3.8+/4.0, you’re still in range. Realize, however, that plenty of high stats kids get rejected. If you don’t get in, it probably won’t be because of the one B.
If this is your first B how have your high school grades declined over time?
I would think that all A’s before and A’s with one B now is a decline, no?
Yes, in an absolute sense, 20 A’s and one B would fall below 21 A’s, all else being equal. In a relative sense, the difference is extremely small and might move you down one or two positions (or none) among 20,000 applicants. Proof-reading your essays one extra time would probably make a bigger difference.
And the course is over, the grade is set, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Focus on what you can control, which is what’s in front of you.
@wannabeacoolkid “I took Calculus 2 at a university this year” Will it appear on your HS transcript?
@tdy123 yea the high school I go to is like an “early-college,” so my high school classes are college classes
Thank you so much everyone!
Mantra for the HS student:
Do not think 'Every point I get off of a homework or test is a point away from going to Harvard."
Think: “I need to do my best, and there will be a college that is right for me when I graduate.”
Do not think “If I don’t go to an Ivy League School/Top20, I am doomed forever.”
Think: “No matter where I go, I can bloom where I am planted. I can get involved and shine.”
Do not think: “My life is over…the kid in my math class is taking 20 APs and I am taking 5. I will never succeed.”
Think: “I need to challenge myself, but only to the point where I can still do well.”
Don’t sweat. Even the Harvard mba doesn’t have it perfect. Half of the class of 1986 has been fired from a job!
See below. Do the best you can and enjoy your life.
“What he discovered, after all, may not be all that surprising. A relatively recent survey of Harvard MBAs during their 25th reunion showed that 38% believed their personal lives were harder than expected, while 30% thought their professional careers have been harder. Some 47% of the Class of 1986 said they had been involuntarily dismissed from a job, while 13% said they have been fired twice and 4% reported having lost a job three times in their 25 years since graduation “
I know of someone whose only B in high school was in one semester of Calculus, and she had a tough time choosing between two of the colleges that accepted her in her stem major: Harvard and Cal Tech.
Schools don’t want perfect kids. Make sure your essays are interesting and unique and don’t worry about the grades at this point. Also hopefully your act /sat is good. Many get rejected to the T20. Start looking also at 20-50 for some safeties. Again they look at the whole package. Grades is just one part of it.
Not to nit pick. But if you start thinking of any of the top 50 r1 schools as a safety outside of your state flagship its a mistake. Lots of solid targets. But safeties, no. And nothing is a safety if you can’t afford it.
For safeties. Look at schools you clearly can afford, have your program and a location etc you like well enough. Then look at schools with higher than 50 percent admit rates and you are at the upper band for oos and unhooked type applicants.
Like the others said, one B isn’t going to make a difference. But as @Knowsstuff said, get some safeties lined up because even with straight As and great test scores, getting into the top 20 schools is a crapshoot. Good luck!