Summer melt is due to many reasons, as you suggest. Don’t worry about your multiple housing deposits.
Unfortunately, now that NACAC ethics have no teeth due to the DOJ lawsuit a few years ago, some colleges are behaving poorly and pressuring students for commitments before May 1 (to take one example), including the situation where one of your S’s school requires a refundable admissions deposit in order to put down a housing deposit. If a student was accepted to two or more colleges that have that requirement, there’s nothing the student can do but comply. Sure they can ask the schools for an exception, but the honus is not on the student to make things more ‘ethical’.
He doesn’t have to accept any until May 1, so just hold tight and hope the grade improves.
CCs are open enrollment. BUT again the HS GC and/or your S will have spoken to admissions around May 1 if he still has a D, so he should have a good idea if he will be rescinded at either school. When does his semester end?
You might want to reach out to both schools to see if they are willing to extend their SIR deadline until his grade has been finalized. Since ME is not impacted at CSUN, they may be more willing to work with you.
Oh, I didn’t think of that. Yes, if his grade is still questionable by May 1, then we will reach out to Northridge and see if they will give us an extension… like you said, they may be more willing to work with us. We are still waiting to hear back from UC Riverside which is actually his top choice over Fullerton (but I hear UCs are more theoretical and CSU is more hands-on … so I like CSU for his learning style).
The D will be an issue for UCR if he is accepted. The UC’s specifically state:
If you failed to earn a C or better in a course after you submit your application, you should notify all the campuses you applied to except for UC Berkeley.
If you receive an offer of admission, be sure to confirm with the campus admission office that they are aware of any deficient grades or schedule changes.
I’m assuming he’s going to a get a C. He’s working hard at it, and you are getting him all the help he needs.
But if he does get a D, are you sure that his offers will be rescinded? Or are you worried it might happen? I know, it’s not easy and it’s painful to worry, but I wonder if this is something where maybe the schools won’t do it. Or only one school will do it, and he can commit to the other. Even if Fullerton rescinds, Northridge would have to do the same, and allow no leeway, for him to need to turn to the community college plan. Again, I hope the teacher knows this context–that he is possibly going to lose his college acceptances–when working with him.
Plenty of stories on CC where some Cal States have rescinded an acceptance over a D or F grade. The difference is that CSU Fullerton is an impacted campus for ME while CSU Northridge is not impacted for ME. CSUN can offer more leeway. impaction means there are more qualified applicants than spots available.
Pulling for OP’s son to get that C grade but should research possible options. Many of these issues are handled on a case by case basis so there is no blanket policy throughout the CSU system.
From CSUF website: Cal State Fullerton may conditionally admit first-time freshman applicants based on their academic preparation through the junior year of high school and planned coursework for the senior year. The campus will monitor the final terms of study to ensure that admitted students complete their secondary school studies satisfactorily, including the required college preparatory subjects, and graduate from high school. Students are required to submit an official transcript after graduation to certify that all coursework has been satisfactorily completed. Official high school transcripts must be received prior to the deadline set by the university. In no case may documentation of high school graduation be received any later than the census date for a student’s first term of CSU enrollment. A campus may rescind admission decisions, cancel financial aid awards, withdraw housing contracts and cancel any university registration for students who are found to be ineligible after the final transcript has been evaluated.
This makes me think about how so many colleges are still accepting applications all the way through summer. It’s nice to know they are out there! @Bbsa I don’t know if it’s applicable to your situation, but it’s still possible to apply to more schools, if you are thinking about hedging his bets. That’s one way to do it. There are surely those out there that will accept a single D.
I did see a post here where a student got rescinded at a CSU because of a D in English (which is a hard requirement), but not I haven’t seen any rescinded for other non-required classes. Is there an easy way for me to find those posts? Thanks so much for sharing.
I have been on CC since 2013 so I have seen many posts over the years. There is really not a good way to search but you can try using the Magnifying glass on the upper right and type in a keyword to search.
I believe 2 years back there was a student that got a D in history class Senior year but CSU Channel Islands was OK with that D since they are not an impacted campus.
Yes For the Cal states, English is a hard requirement and I know of a couple of students that were rescinded for a D/F in English. Like I stated, it is on a case by case basis so having a competitive GPA and doing well in all his a-g classes with exception of AP Physics so far, would be in your son’s favor.
Being proactive by reaching out to the schools might be the best move at this point and see if it will be an issue.
I really feel for your son. And, it is wonderful you are trying to seek answers and help him. I remember my dd17 worrying about this as well over HL IB Physics. She canceled one of the admitted student events at a top school so she could attend a study session. I remember that AO telling her not to worry, she was in, and no matter the grade she could still attend so she should go to the admitted event and not worry about the study session. (She didn’t go to the event and attended the study session) Anyway, you do have time and I really think with all this early planning it will work out for your son.
Now, my DD is applying to law schools. She has been accepted to several. But, for kicks we’ve been watching UMichigan’s Law Dean info videos. The video isn’t about undergrad admissions but I do think it has helpful advice. Dean Z has one on ‘double deposits’. It’s short and it is coming from a dean of a law school. The gist is if you have all the information possible from the colleges in question you should make a decision. But, if you do not, you should ask the college for that information, and ask for an extension (from the college you are waiting on information from) until you receive enough information to make a decision. Search Dean Z A2Z 33: Double Deposits Michigan I am not sure if I am allowed to post a link
Thanks for sharing your daughter’s story. My husband and I met with our son’s AP Physics teacher yesterday and she felt that he still has a good chance of pulling his grade up to a C. I’m hoping that she will be more helpful to him when he asks for guidance, now that she knows how much college-anxiety this is causing our household. We also hired a tutor who used to teach AP Physics…my son says he explains things very well. But at the same time, my husband and I have come to realize that if he can’t pull off a C with all this help, then maybe community college would be better for him after all… maybe he’s just not ready for the big leagues. Let’s see.
My kid is not into science, so I don’t know the details, but that’s what I was thinking too. I think there are schools that would be happy to have this student and where he would do great. This is one grade in a particularly tough class.
Same boat. I was thinking about having my son accept his top choice and his safety as a backup for a similar reason. If the 2 schools aren’t part of the same system, how would they ever know? (I also know some kids who did that for Fall 2020 and were very glad to go to their backup in person when UCs and CSUs decided to be virtual that entire school year. They didn’t want to ruin their freshman year stuck at home. Can’t say I blame them).
Your S’s HS GC may report him to both schools if they find out, and of course they will only send his final transcript to one of those schools (and all schools require the final transcript to officially matriculate). Meaning he wouldn’t be able to move forward on things such as housing, course registration, etc at the school where he enrolled but didn’t send a final transcript.
We are still waiting to hear back from UC Riverside which is actually his top choice over Fullerton (but I hear UCs are more theoretical and CSU is more hands-on … so I like CSU for his learning style).
He’s working hard at it, and you are getting him all the help he needs.