I Got a D in AP Calc! :( What happens?

[thongo]

<p>so i got a D+ in ap calculus and was wondering if that destroyed my chance of getting into UCR,UCI,& UCSB. ive taken 4years of math already without apcalculus and 1st semester of senior year i bombed my final and dropped to a D+.. my freshman and senior year i got around 3.0-3.2 and 3.88 my sopho and junior year. average sat 15xx. but i was in few clubs and played on the basketball team 4 years. (which is a reason why i did so bad in apcalc). so did that D+ kill my chances or what should i do?</p>

[cherrios]

<p>Don’t worry about it. Admissions offices look at your application holistically. One bad grade won’t ruin your chances. Prove that you are a bright, motivated student by highlighting your many successes. Make sure to emphasize your extracurriculars and sports involvement.</p>

[DunninLA]

<p>your question is very campus specific.</p>

<p>For Berkeley and UCLA, the odds are that D+ leads to rescission.</p>

<p>For the mid tier UCs that you mention, possibly not. However, after you receive your admittance decision in March, immediately speak with admissions and ask what you can do to preserve your admittance. It is better to let them know in late March than to wait until they receive your final transcript in July and send you a rescission letter (actually they just block your access to registration…).</p>

[mikemac]

<p>It can be a serious problem. Furthermore you need to let the UC campuses know now about the grade.

If you change schools, add or drop a course, or fail to earn a C or better in a course after you submit your application, you must notify — in writing — the admissions offices at the campuses to which you applied.
[University</a> of California - After you apply](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/after-you-apply/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/after-you-apply/index.html)

However adcoms respect the maturity of applicants that face up to issues. By contacting them now there is time to see if there are ways to correct any problems; for that matter, maybe after they look over your entire record you’ll find out you’re still ok.

By staying in communication with the admissions office, students can find out early if there’s a chance to appeal a decision, or how they can take another path to UC. “Sometimes we can recommend a remedy, like repeating the course or taking an extra course,” Fauroat says.</p>

<p>Admissions officers are well aware that a personal or family crisis can legitimately take a student’s attention away from studies, and they sympathize. But admissions offices still must maintain UC standards of academic excellence.</p>

<p>“We try to work with them,” McCawley says. “If I didn’t have to cancel one student, I’d be a happy admissions officer.”
[UC</a> Notes - February 2007 - headline](<a href=“Admissions | University of California”>Admissions | University of California)

</p>

[thongo]

<p>thanks guys. so is it better for me to wait and see if i get in, then talk to them, or should do it now?. its also an AP class so do they give some slack? and a reason was because i was on the varsity basketball team at school so it took a lot of time and such. so would that be an excuse? thanks guys please reply back :D</p>

[mikemac]

<p>

so is it better for me to wait and see if i get in, then talk to them, or should do it now?

Tough call, and I doubt many people outside the admission offices know the best answer. </p>

<p>On the one hand if you tell them now, then you’ll find out what schools will still offer you admission (with or without strings). There’s no guarantee once decisions are out that if you then let the schools know right away they’ll get back to you before the time to commit to one is up; hopefully they do, but we have no way of knowing (if you’re lucky, someone in a similar predicament from years past will post about how quick it took them to respond; but since this is an anonymous board, you’ll never really know if its true).</p>

<p>On the other hand if you do nothing until decisions are out then the D+ won’t affect your admission chances. We have no way of knowing if they’ll cut you a bit more slack once you’ve been admitted, as opposed to just rejecting you if you tell them now. So thats a worry on the other side of the coin.</p>

<p>As for “a reason was because i was on the varsity basketball team at school so it took a lot of time”, this is why its often not a good idea when students ask on the forum “should I write a letter to explain …”. This explanation does you more harm than saying nothing. Essentially you’re saying if you get busy your schoolwork sags. Not going to warm the heart of an adcom. A more useful approach is to explain what went wrong and why it isn’t going to happen again. You’ve learned to budget time better, monitor your committments better, focus less on non-academic pursuits, whatever.</p>

<p>So as far as when to tell them, decision making under uncertainty is part of the burden of the adult world. Welcome!</p>

[bluebayou]

<p>yeah, b’ball is the absolute wrong excuse. THINK about it…you are in your fourth year of HS, and presumably have been playing for a few years. Thus, the time commitment for athletics should not have been a surprise to you.</p>

<p>I’m assuming that you should drop Calc second semester? If so, you are supposed to notify each campus of any schedule change, and this is a biggie – not like dropping health (which they don’t care about). Check out your local juco to see if you can retake. Then you could put that in the mea culpa letter.</p>