Hi everyone,
First off I am a sophomore in high school. The one thing I thought could never ever happen just happened. I got a D+ in my second semester of my honors precalculus class. Last semester I got a B- in the class. Other than this I am a straight A student (and definitely will be throughout junior and senior year). I play cello, run varsity track, volunteer at a hospital, have a job, and own a small t-shirt brand. Will colleges be willing to overlook this or am I completely screwed? I really wanted to get into UCLA.
UCs have unique rules on things. I think the question is what is your overall final grade? That might be more important.
Also, why did you take Pre-calc as a Sophomore? Usually itis a junior class for those on the honors track.
Why did you get a D+? Were you sick? Family issues? Were you doing poorly the whole semester? DId you start getting help/tutor/going to office hours? If not why not?
Keep in mind that ECs are good, but Academics are always more important for colleges.
Very common for advanced students to take pre-Calc as a sophomore.
The answer depends a lot more on your test scores, remaining course rigor, and ECs and essays. A little bit perhaps if there are circumstances for your drop in grade and to some extent whether you declare for a major that depends on math a lot. I would say that if you get straight As the rest of the way, you’ll have a good upward trend and still end up with a UC capped GPA around 4.20, which will put you in the running for a UCLA for most majors. Getting a 1580 on your SAT for example would go a long way to getting in.
FWIW my kid had a C his first semester in precalc as a sophomore and still got into Berkeley CS. He did have circumstances for this, but a D is not the end of the world. Can you retake the class again at CC over the summer? That might help, not sure. Maybe if you got a great grade in CC you could convince the teacher to change the grade to a C? I’m assuming you go to a public school in California - teachers change grades all the time after the fact.
ProfessorPlum168 gives good advice. I would also re-take second semester of pre-calc. Re-take the semester in a way that is pre-approved by your high school, so that your HS will put the new second semester pre-calc grade on your transcript, in addition to the original grade, which will still appear. Make sure its also taken through a program that is A-G approved by the UCs (the UCs have a list online) and the title of the course matches up with your earlier pre-calc course (or re-take second semester pre-calc as a junior at your HS)-- talk to your counselor about options now.
I know in my school, going to summer school can “override” a C,D, or F. Is it an option for you to enroll? Also, retaking it at a CC sounds like a great idea. You can show the colleges that u actually improved and grasped the material. I took a CC class over the summer to get out of history and they were able to use it in my GPA, so it was also a good GPA boost. (Plus since you are already slightly familiar with the material, it’ll probably be easier the second time around)
Go to summer school. The UCs will want that D retaken and turned into a C. Next year don’t take AP calculus unless you’ve mastered the content to A level.
You have to move really fast though. Many CCs have already started for summer. A lot will start either next week or the week after. You will probably need to apply to the CC and take a placement test for math, and that takes time.
Fwiw, at my son’s hs, taking pre-calc/trig as a sophomore would make one TWO years advanced in math. So op should know he/she can still have an outstanding math career.
For UC’s, the class has to be taken at the exact same school and have the exact same title in order to be considered for grade repair.
At most high schools, taking precalculus as a junior and calculus as a senior is the advanced honors track, precalculus as a senior is the honors track, and other types of math is the regular track. No college expects Precalculus as a sophomore.
Retake Pre-Calculus Junior year at your HS so you can replace the D with the repeat grade in your UC GPA calculation You will still have report both course grades on your UC application but you will still be on track to take AP Calculus Senior year and in a good position for the UC’s.
Don’t lose sight of the bigger story here.
You are starting to slip as a student and just declaring “I am a straight A student (and definitely will be throughout junior and senior year)” does not fix it. Words are easy, and point of fact you obviously saw your a B- 1st semester and instead of turning it around to get back to your A standard you did not pass the class 2nd semester. Ought to give you pause about that plan for A’s the remaining time in school if you keep doing what you’ve been doing…
What I think happened here is two-fold. First you may have been taking a class that was over your head. It is somewhat unusual to take pre-calc as a sophomore. Jumping ahead doesn’t really impress adcoms, and the risk is you take on more than you’re ready for and end up creating a permanent blot on your academic record.
Second, and more important, I think you need to take a long look at how you study. In just about all your classes up thru 10th grade a bit of memorization is enough to get good grades, and decent verbal skills let you cruise thru any essay questions on tests. As you get into harder math and science classes this won’t work as well. If you’re doing things like reading the chapter a few times before a test and looking over your homework then you’re not doing it right. You need to be doing things like self-testing and distributed practice, explained in a book that you ought to read this summer called “Make it Stick”.
You shouldn’t make judgements based on one class.
My kid had a C and a B in pre-Calc Honors and a couple of Bs in Calc BC and got nothing less than a 800 and 36 in his math test scores. He had notoriously hard teachers that taught they classes at a “Berkeley level”, complete with grade deflation, presumably because they were Berkeley grads. People who get As in those classes are the ones who spend thousands of dollars on tutors and classes.
Being heartbroken over a grade and worrying that it might ruin your chances for a college with an extremely low acceptance rate indicates a larger problem. You need a realistic list of schools to apply to. Get excited about schools you have a real shot at, and do not focus on one school. This is a sure way to guarantee disappointment in a couple of years time.
I agree with @Lindagaf I’d recommend that you give up the idea of a dream school. The people I see who get hurt by the college admission process are the ones who focus on one or two really competitive schools and then don’t get in Instead when the time comes (junior year) work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excited to attend. There are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
Hate to say it, but you’re probably not gonna get into UCLA. You’re barely a sophomore, if you got a D in precalculus then you’re probably not gonna get straight A’s from now on.