Hello,
I just got an email from my accepted school that my senior transcript doesn’t match with what they have expected.
I dropped 2 AP classes my last semester and didn’t notify them about this.
They want me to explain why they didn’t know about this.
I’m so worried oh my god…what should I do?
Well, clearly the “bury your head in the sand and hope the college won’t notice” tack did not work. So I guess all that’s left is to respond to their email and explain both why you dropped the courses and why you did not inform them.
The Terms and Conditions of your acceptance most likely stated that any changes to your schedule need to be communicated. Colleges really hate surprises like this, so maybe they will accept your rationale. Good luck.
You have no option but to be honest. Unfortunately what you did is called deception by omission. I am sure you at some point were instructed that your schools expectation was that you complete your academics, maintain a standard and alert them to any changes. Arguably you didn’t live up to the intent of all 3.
Not sure the consequences but droppining AP courses last semester that likely predicated your acceptance is not a good thing!
Sorry love to sugar coat it but pretty awful.
On second look I notice you applied to some pretty lofty schools like Harvard. I would be extremely disappointed and surprised if there weren’t serious ramifications. If you are allowed to slide how could the hold any other student accountable for not slacking off and concealing it?
Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. In this case someone just looked.
Wow, they waited until the last minute to look into this, didn’t they? You better get back to them ASAP. Isn’t college supposed to have started, or starting any day now?
There may have been other discussions to which the OP did not share or to which s/he was not privy. I recall a student in a similar situation on this site 2 or 3 years ago and, in that case, there was more to the story than shared here. That may or may not be the case with this OP,
This is the email draft that I’ll send. Would this explanation be okay?
"…
I sincerely apologize for my miscommunication and mistake.
In order to graduate, I had to take the mandatory Career Exploration class my 2nd semester of senior year. But in order to take it, I had to drop AP French because both classes took place at the same time.
I was also required to take Economics my 2nd semester at a local college (College Name). However, I found out that I had to drop my AP Psych class to match the schedule.
I sincerely apologize for my miscommunication and mistake of not reporting this changes beforehand.
…
Sincerely,
"
That is interesting that your high school required you to take an econ course at a local college. Are you sure you didn’t just choose to do this?
^^Agreed. Assume that any excuse you give will be verified (or not) by the college.
So in essence your school required you to drop two AP classes, and no one foresaw these conflicts when you signed up for them? Is that how your guidance counselor will describe it?
I would get your HS guidance counselor to write a letter in addition to your explanation.
With our first child we were a bit naive…our older daughter asked her GC if she could drop few hard courses senior spring semester. The GC said if she did they would have to notify all colleges she applied to. D1 went to a private school, so the GCs were probably more on top of college adcoms’ requirements, but it is a big no no to change courses or even ECs without notifying adcoms.
Did you submit the transcript from the local college? Was the career exploration listed on your transcript as an added class? It seems odd that your school would not have had you drop the AP French earlier in the year, if it was known you needed this other class to graduate, and I would think the same would apply to the Econ class if it was in fact a graduation requirement. You had them send a school report suggesting a higher level rigor your senior year than you really intended to take. That may be grounds to rescind your admission, particularly since, unless you were accepted ED or EA, the change may have been made before your application was even reviewed.
If I were the college admission officer that proposed email would not help you at all.
Assuming that your HS does not require signing up for all courses, even second-semester-only classes, at the end of junior year, it’s odd that you did not know what your graduation requirements were, or that your GC did not bring the omissions to your attention sooner. I suspect that is what the college will ask as well.
I have to agree that the college will ask (or at least should) for validation of your explanations.
Agree with everyone that your email is not nearly detailed enough. I don’t think anyone will believe that your school counselor did not discover these conflicts when your schedule was being made. I also don’t believe the Econ requirement…you’d better explain why that was required because that’s not a standard requirement, at all. Yes, you need to get your school counselor in on this to help you.
Your best bet is honesty. Did you make the changes to lighten your second semester load? If so, own up. Does your school not have enough scheduling guidance, AND you didn’t do the work on your own to plan your schedule correctly? If so, own up to that. Good luck!
Actually, econ is a requirement many places.including California public high schools. Being required to take it at a local college, though, is a new one for me.