<p>Orange Blossom, </p>
<p>Great advice! This will definitely put the most positive spin on the situation. OP, remember, too, that schools look for rigor, so at least you were taking the most challenging classes when this happened. It's not like you were blowing off easy classes and failing. Take heart, be mature about it, and, as Orange Blossom suggested, use the experience to guide you during your Freshman year.</p>
<p>Wow, a little defensive...</p>
<p>You were attributing your poor grades to college applications and senior stress. That is an excuse. A reasonable explanation would have been your mother's death. This is not. However, that is in the past, and you need to make that clear to each college. </p>
<p>I do doubt your ability to bring a grade of an F up to an A because that requires learning all of the material you didn't learn in the first semester over again. Along with your other classes, this is an incredibly difficult task. You need to get at least one tutor (depending on his expertise), and you need to begin studying today. I have never seen anyone raise a grade by that much. </p>
<p>You were obviously over-ambitious and chose courses that you couldn't handle. Right now you need to deal with the consequences of that decision. To do that, you need to work harder on school than you've probably worked in your entire life. Let the adcoms know how hard you are working, and submit progress reports for the most relevent classes so that they can track how you are doing. Any college will be skeptical of accepting someone with such low grades for fear that he or she will not be able to handle college level work. You need to show them that they are incorrect by bringing your grades up. You can only do this with the proper assistance.</p>
<p>I was defensive because of the way you basically assumed I couldn't handle the course. Let me explain a few things. These are the grades I actually got.
Precalculus - B - I got points off for homework - had an A test average
AP Biology - B - Had a 97 test average, points off for homework
Spanish III - B - No time to study for final
AP Chemistry - D/F.. don't remember - Did the work/labs, but didn't attemt to grasp the material due to time constraints
AP Literature - C - Again, time constraints
C++ - C - First experience with programming - teacher was extremely bad, I eventually got the issue resolved with my principal. </p>
<p>As you can see, most of these grades are for trivial reasons. If I had time I would've done better. In Precalc, it's such an easy class but I didn't turn some homework in. I can get an A. AP Biology I'll turn in my work, get an A. Spanish III, I won't blow it off since it's such an easy class, and get an A. Chemistry, I'll spend a lot of time studying now that I understand it, and get atleast a B. Literature I will spend more time on, get atleast a B. C++ I will get an A now that I'm fluid with the language. </p>
<p>I'm not worried about the work next semester - I'm worried about where this first semester will land me.</p>
<p>And one final thing - should I keep the explanation of grades in my personal statement? Or a separate envelope? I applied to all my colleges online. Just to let you know, these are the colleges. </p>
<p>Ohio State University
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of Missouri - Rolla
Indiana University - Bloomington
Purdue University
St. Louis College of Pharmacy</p>
<p>Put it in the "additional information" section, if your college has one. Otherwise, you can write a separate letter. If you've already applied, then you need to send it separately, of course. If you want, you could also have your GC try to smooth things over with your schools and assure them that you can do the work. I know my school's GC has done stuff like that before. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Lacking time management skills and the dedication to complete homework thouroughly is harly a "trivial" reason for a significant drop in grades.</p>
<p>Please, if you're just going to criticize me and not post anything useful, don't post in my thread. I know my homework issue is trivial; I paid more attention to the important stuff (tests) than homework, because I felt it would be a better use of my time to do well on tests and understand the material, than complete homework "thoroughly".</p>
<p>Don't worry about Purdue, I have a strong feeling you'll get in there.</p>
<p>I know someone who has far worse stats than you do but got in</p>
<p>PM me Crazy</p>
<p>Just a note that apparently, homework <em>is</em> "important."</p>
<p>I'll stop being a pain in the ass now.</p>
<p>Pain in the ass? I just kept higher importance on test grades than homework. You're not a pain, you are right. I'd rather have an amazing test average than an average one, with perfect homework. My grades would've been lower, had I kept more importance upon homework.</p>
<p>(<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...hp?userid=26952%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...hp?userid=26952</a>) you have asked this question 4534546455 times already...Getting a new name to ask the same question won't help either</p>
<p>
[quote]
I retook my SAT again and I am definately sure this time I got 2050 ATLEAST. And yes, I predict a 4.83 for my second semester, because I know I'm capable. I just don't apply myself like I should.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Besides, what happened to your 2050+ score and your first semester 4.3 GPA?</p>
<p>Seriously dude, you are becoming more than a pest......</p>
<p>sympathy, your post contradicts the meaning of your nickname... lol</p>
<p>OP: everyone takes the SATs and other standardized tests during their high school years as well. If I were you, I would change your explanation because it shows that you cannot manage your time wisely.</p>