<p>I'm new to College Confidential. I'm looking at everyone's grades and qualifications and I feel completely under-qualified, to say the least.
Last semester, I got awful grades...I got two A's in my easiest classes, but in my last four classes I did poorly: 3 B's and 1 C.</p>
<p>During finals week, my dog Mishka passed away in a hit-and-run accident...I am certain that this is part of the reason why I did so poorly on the finals to the point where my grades dropped significantly.
I know to most people, a pet dying doesn't seem like that big of a deal...however Mishka was honestly the greatest thing that had ever happened to me, as sad as that might sound to some of you. I probably would have skipped school if it weren't for the fact that we had finals. I was crying during the finals.
Colleges probably don't see that as a very big deal, however. :x I shouldn't have let it get in the way of my grades but I honestly couldn't help it.</p>
<p>First off, I’m sorry for the loss of your dog, I’ve lost a couple that I was really close to and I understand how it feels :/</p>
<p>Remember that grades aren’t everything colleges look at these days. They’re looking for candidates with good ECs, SATs, essays, recs, etc. Even if you aren’t impressed with your grades, colleges will still find something about you that they love (and a couple of Cs won’t keep you out of many schools).</p>
<p>Don’t forget there is an additional information section of the commonapp. I would suggest writing a brief summary of Mishka’s passing and how it affected your grades. Best of luck</p>
<p>Trust me, its definitely not the end of the world. I had a lot of personal problems during my early Junior year and as a result, ended up failing Calculus for the semester because I had stopped trying for a while, despite knowing how important Junior year is. Did I give up? Of course not. I kept the class and now I’m managing an 88.5% so far. </p>
<p>We all go through hardships, and mistakes. Colleges know that. If anything, you’ll look better to some colleges if you overlook this little hiccup and try to strive forward with your school work.</p>