<p>S was thrilled to receive his acceptance to Ann Arbor recently. Here's the rub:</p>
<p>Previously an almost straight-A student, he is now getting a possible C or I hope not a D in first semester of senior year. It is in a Science class he is taking at a local prestigious university (top 20). </p>
<p>His struggles are actually more like college-freshman-itis: didn't realize how far ahead he would have to work to keep up with the class; didn't realize how demanding the grading would be; didn't know he should go to office hours to avoid digging himself into a hole. To top it all off, he won't really know his grade until the final curve - they take everyone's total score for the course and plug it into a skewed bell to assign letter grades. A 60 could be an A or an F, depending on how it compares to others. And the TAs are not real quick to hand back those graded assignments or give you the median, either!</p>
<p>He is worried about getting rescinded and frankly, so am I. Do we tell our sad story to admissions now, wait until grades come out, wait until the end of the year?</p>
<p>Don't send in the transcript. Unless this is part of high school curriculum, just make sure U-M doesn't hear about it. My younger sister was a straight A student, took two classes over the summer, didn't do too hot, so she just didn't send the transcripts.</p>
<p>My counselor told our class that three kids last year from our school dropped to C's in senior year, and Michigan sent them a letter in the summer asking them to explain with a doctor's, teacher's, or counselor's note. They somehow explained it away and go there now. I think this is the same as being rescinded but there may be a difference.</p>
<p>I'm sure that if it becomes a problem, Michigan will understand that it is a college course and will probably be more forgiving than if it were a regular HS class. If they ask you to explain it, tell them the reasons you stated. You could turn it around and show how it was a good learning experience that will help him avoid common freshman mistakes when he's at Michigan.</p>
<p>Either way I really don't think it will be an issue at all.</p>
<p>I'm having a similar problem. I have all A's in school this year but I'm taking a calculus 3 class at a local university and I'm not doing too hot. Like your son, I won't know my final grade until the end of the semester due to the bell curve. Anyway, this class doesn't go on my high school transcript, nor is it part of my official schedule, it's simply transferrable credit. If I do poorly in this class will U-M hear about it, and will I have to worry about getting rescinded?</p>
<p>mgs13, Michigan won't find out if you don't want to send in the transcript. Honestly I am not a fan of accepting AP credit for courses like Calc I, II, etc. I think you're much better off taking the class at Michigan and rocking it.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for your advice. This class does count for high school, so it will be on the transcript. We'll just have to figure out what to do when the grade comes in. He is studying like never before, now = /.</p>