The first semester of this year (my sophomore year), I earned a B in English II Honors (88.888%) and AP Human Geography (90.25%). I just can’t get over it. I worked very hard for these B’s though, but I have worked so much less for some of the A’s that I have received in my life. This past semester, I had straight A’s, but I just can’t get it out of my head that I had two B’s last semester.
Every day I find myself making calculations on what I would have needed to get an A, and I just can’t get over it. My parents keep telling me to let it go and accept the B’s, but I just can’t. As soon as I got these B’s, I knew my Ivy League chances were next to none.
I’m not depressed or anything, I’m actually enjoying life. But these B’s are stuck on my record forever and I just can’t stand it. My weighted GPA is 4.5625, and my unweighted GPA is 3.875, but I would have much rather had a weighted GPA of 4.75 and an unweighted GPA of 4.0.
I’m on summer vacation now and will be a junior next year. I feel like I am wasting time off, I just find summer vacation boring. I’m anxious to get back into school in August and turn things around with straight A’s.
Does anyone have any tips for helping me get these B’s out of my mind? For some people, a B is a very good grade, and I understand - people actually COMPLIMINTED my report card with the two B’s on it, and I couldn’t stand it to be honest. I guess I’m a perfectionist, and I will never be happy unless I get an A.
College will be tougher, and you’ll see B’s as good grades. A lot of people at my school think the same thing as you, but just write good college essays, focus on extracurriculars, distinguish yourself from the 10000000s of people who have all A’s. At least it shows you care, but you could still get into Ivy League schools. Do you play a sport? Science fair? If not, there are so many great colleges other than the Ivy League schools. So many Ivy League alumni end up in the same place as people who went to not as prestigious colleges. Think about it this way–you stressing about these 2 B’s will not change anything, but the time you spend stressing about it could better be used to start your essays or be put into increasing your other accomplishments. There are so many people with good grades, and colleges know difficulties range from school to school.
Hope this helps! As cliche as it sounds, 10 years from now, you will look at high school and be like man, that was easy, what was I worrying about. Now I got mortgage, taxes, and other problems.
First semester is a lot harder Bc you don’t know what to expect from the teachers, so basically don’t slack on the first tests, no matter how easy you think the classes are. Basically, if the tests are weighted 50% or higher in a class, you need to go all out.
And it’s also important to note that just because you have good grades throughout most of the semester, you shouldn’t slack off. I had a solid 94 in AP Gov going into December of my freshman year, and then I got destroyed. I probably could have avoided it by changing my study plan, but idk, it all happened so quickly that I wasn’t sure how I managed to drop to a B.
If it still bothers you you can ask to retake the classes (though I don’t think that’ll work).
Although we strive to be perfect, its something very rarely obtainable.
Your two B’s will not make much of a difference. Colleges look at your entire record. Consider what information you will be sending to schools You will have a bunch of scores from all kinds of tests. You will have grades from about 24 or so courses. You will have letters of rec from 2 teacher and a guidance counselor. You’ll submit one or more essays. They will have information about the activities you have participated in and the achievements you have. So 2 grades will not make a bit of difference. They are looking at the total picture. They want to know what kind of student you are and what kind of person you are.
Being a perfectionist is a red flag for freaking out over relatively unimportant things. There are hundreds of good schools. Get over the idea that grades are what school is all about. Commit yourself to being the very best student you can be. That is not the same as focusing on getting the very best grades you can. I’ve known lousy students who were straight A students. They were lousy students because they had no interest in anything. They were driven only to get good grades which they succeed at. But they had no intellectual curiosity. They had no interest in the topics they were learning about. They never put any ideas into use in any way. They were vapid. They had no direction beyond getting A’s and beating out the competition. They never read anything (why would I do that-its not assigned). Don’t be one of those.
Be a student. Focus on learning. Focus on understanding where the learning will lead you. No school wants students focused on grades and nothing else. And when straight A students who are perfectionists and who focused primarily on grades end up in competitive colleges, the very ones they spent their entire childhood carving themselves for, they are more likely than their non-perfectionist peers to get depressed and to not view their life as meaningful. One such valedictorian from Westchester took the quick way off a roof a couple of years back. The message is to get off the grade grubbing grade focused obsession and start being a real student. Find out how you can extend what you learn into other areas and other activities, Get involved. Forget grades and focus on the topics and the material. If you do, you’ll stop obsessing over each grade and you will ultimately be a better candidate for any school.
Let this man do what he wants. If he really hates Bs that much, then he won’t get another one for the rest of high school. Leave it up to his drive and motivation…
I know I’m never getting another B in high school. Why? Because I’m not letting myself get another B.
