Hello, I am a rising senior and I currently have an unweighted of gpa 3.6
Junior year i took my first aps, including ap chem
I ended up getting a C- first semester and a C+ second semester. These are my first C’s in my life and I am really ashamed of myself for trying my hardest in ap chem but not enough to get at least a B-. I feel extremely terrible about disappointing myself and my parents and now I have really crushed my confidence in applying to colleges.
The colleges I want to apply to as a California native are Virginia Tech, Cal Poly SLO, UIUC, BU, WPI, Rutgers, RPU,Case Western etc. and I plan to major in architectural engineering or civil engineering
thanks for those taking the time to read it, i have always been extremely wary of my grades but I really feel like i have hit rock bottom with having two C’s in the same class for both semesters and any advice or good thoughts could really help me :((
What can your family afford to pay, and willing to pay for college?
If money is no object, start looking at schools, private , public OOS, any type of school that is more generous about accepting Students with a GPA at your range and lower. What are your test score?
You want to get several school on your list that can cover your lowest grades and will likely accept you. Being from CA, you have a wealth of Cal State schools to tap. Add a few OOS choices too.
Once that’s covered, go right on ahead with your list as you have it.
That is a great unweighted GPA! Don’t be ashamed. AP classes are very difficult and raising your grade from a C- to a C+ demonstrates that you are at least working hard to raise your grade. Colleges also look at first quarter/semester grades of your senior year. What’s done is done, move forward and think positively! You may feel like you have hit rock bottom but you have not IMHO. Focus now on improving your grades senior year. Also contemplate what you could have done differently so you can perhaps avoid this situation sr. year. Did you allow enough time for studying in this class? If you did not understand something, did you get help from the teacher to clarify what you did not understand? Do you have access to a tutor who could provide you with some extra help if the teacher is not available after class or at another time? Are you procrastinating? Are there other things going on in your life preventing you from focusing on the studying (i.e., family or friendship stressors). If so, address this with a professional such as your pediatrician/medical professional or counselor at school. Change your study habits if procrastination is an issue. If you are having difficulty focusing, or attention issues, see your pediatrician to address this issue as well. Is your social life taking the front seat and your studies the back? If so, re-align your priorities. Look closely at the courses you have chosen for next year and work with your guidance counselor in choosing the classes that will help you raise your GPA most effectively. Remember your brain is still developing in this adolescent stage, so treat it kindly (avoid vaping and use of other (illegal) chemicals that may interfere with your brain’s ability to perform) and get plenty of rest! Aim for at least 8-9 hours per night with 10 being the goal. Fuel your body wisely. Eat healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables and lean protein, and avoid diets high in sugar and fast foods! Remember to relax and surround yourself with people who are positive forces in your life. Finally, never give up and have faith in yourself. As Dory would say, “just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’!”
My budget for college is very broad and would be able to afford 40-50k a year that is why im looking at out of state colleges 
Thanks for the encouraging message I very much appreciate it all of ur words and dorys quote lol. Ap chem was my first ap and also the hardest class offered at my school because of the teacher’s extremely hard curriculum but i am glad i was able to hit my limit on the difficulty of my classes. This message made my day. Thanks for the positivity and outlook.
Run the Net Price Calculator at each of your colleges. You would need financial aid to attend your private options (BU, WPI, RPI, Case), as they are out of your budget range.
You took a hard class and it didn’t play to your strengths. Not the end of the world, especially if you learned something about yourself and how you learn. Now it’s just about putting one foot in front of the other and doing well going forward.
You probably know this and don’t want to hear it, but life is going to present you with a lot of moments that are outside your comfort zone. Developing a means of learning from them (ideally) and powering through them (realistically) will make your life much more enjoyable. Congratulations on managing this one.
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You need to do things differently in the future…here are ideas:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2026961-what-to-do-when-you-arent-doing-well-in-a-hs-class-p1.html -
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.”
First off, do not get overly concerned over this for the reasons people have already posted. It would be good to have some context though - what your grades in other classes, and your uw gpa in just 10 and 11 as that’s what UCs and CSUs will use. Also since you’re going into architectural or civil engr, math and physics courses will be more important. So the issue you may want to address in the addl info section, is why you took AP instead of college prep or honors if that was available. Did you not know it was being going to be tough early on and couldn’t drop to the regular version? Were you recommended not to take the AP and did anyway? The more selective colleges are going to question more the judgement than the grade, I think. In some schools here in bay area, if you override teacher recommendation and enroll in AP, you can’t drop back.
I already took regular chem in 10th and honors chem is not an option at our school. And most juniors take ap chem and I did well in regular chem. Our school limits the amount of aps as students can only take their first aps junior year. So i decided to take two out of the three avaliable, the ones allowed for juniors is apush apchem and apenglang. and apush is not one of my interests so I choose apchem and apenglang. Our school has reqs for taking the class and I met all of them but since it is the hardest ap at my school I was no prepared for the rigor of it. And you can not change your schedule at my school.