<p>It might seem silly to be so concerned about admission to one school, but studying physics at MIT is my dream.
It looks like I'm going to finish honours chemistry with either a B or a very low A, and I'm worried that that might kill my chances of getting into MIT. I personally feel like it should be balanced out by the fact that I'm the only freshman at my school who was allowed to take chemistry at all, and I'm the only freshman taking more than one AP class. I'm also taking 3 sophomore classes and 1 junior class (all honours) because I took honours freshman classes in grade 8. I have As in every class besides chemistry. There are reasons for my grade, though.
- I've been hospitalised twice this academic year.
- My sister died in April and my chemistry teacher in particular hasn't been at all cooperative in scheduling times to make up missed tests.
- It's my teacher's first year teaching in the United States (she'd taught for four years in Mexico) and she doesn't actually teach. She flips on a PowerPoint and never changes the slide, so we spend entire periods looking at the first slide of the sequence. She doesn't speak English very well, either.
I've got the academic recognition and the extracurriculars to get accepted, but this grade is really bothering me.
Sorry for the long post.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for the loss of your sister. </p>
<p>A drop in grades in this situation is to be expected, even in much less distressful situations like divorce. Elite colleges know this and almost certainly won’t dock you for it.<br>
It might help if your parents got involved if the teacher isn’t cooperative about scheduling make-up tests. That is ridiculous to have to deal with that.</p>
<p>In general, a low “A” is fine regardless. When you get to the classes you need a rec, you want to get a high “A” though. Being advanced won’t make up for blemishes.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>All my other grades are 95% or above, with my best being in maths. I expect next year will go much more smoothly, as I will have much more choice in my coursework considering I completed required courses this year. I always do very, very well in school, but there have been external factors in the way of that this year.</p>
<p>Just one tip–don’t mention that the teacher was bad to anyone associated with a college (either on your app or an interview.)</p>
<p>I would try to raise that “B” to an “A” if you can, if only so that you know you are prepared in the next class.</p>
<p>Thank you for the tip.
I think it <em>might</em> be possible to get an A. Even if it’s only a 90. I’m not sure. I still have the final exam Tuesday, and that’s 20% of my final grade.</p>
<p>The other girl at my school who got into MIT this year has a chronic heart condition, so she’s constantly hospitalized and unable to attend school, yet she still pursues academics and her interest in robotics (she had an internship at JPL) fervently. You could turn your condition, regardless of a drop in grades, into a positive thing by showing how you overcame such obstacles. One of the essays this past application cycle was “Describe your most significant challenge and how did you overcome it?” or something like that.</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice, karaokemachine.</p>