I’m completely freaking out. I made an F in my dual credit Sociology class because it was an online course and noone told me how to access assignments (I thought I had to wait to see them on the dash board and Ionly questioned it when I happened to miss 2 major exams already). So teacher was super strict (no matter how much I pleaded for extra credit or retakes) and apparently gave me an “F” for this dual credit class. So before the class my gpa was 4.1 and now I have no idea what it is.
I want to die.
My dreams of going to an Ivy are now shattered because of this one class.
All my hard work down the drain now huh?? My future college dreams are just an black hole in a space of nothingness.
“because it was an online course and noone told me how to access assignments”You didn’t email professor for help? Why were you taking an online class not in person?
Your current GPA are your dual college is 0.00. Since you got an F. It won’t affect your high school GPA but it will affect the transcripts you will need to send when applying to college
@ NASA2014: Person didn’t say it’s a college course, I’m assuming it’s a high school class.
You can write an excuse in the college applications under the “Any other information you would like us to know?” section. Frankly, your truth is a bit irresponsible so perhaps you might think of another reason. . . but they will know that this class was a one-off. Your GPA is great and you will still have good options as long as your SAT/ACT scores are good. You don’t mention what grade level but keep up your grades, do not give up or you’ll have even more regret. Ivy League admissions are not easy so don’t kick yourself. Every year, they turn down “perfect” applications simply because they don’t have enough spaces. I truly believe that in life, things happen for a reason.
Can you retake the class? You’ll still want to check if the new grade will replace the F or be averaged in to it, but at least you can say you tried to remedy the situation.
Why didn’t you withdraw after you found you missed 2 exams?
If you didn’t know how to access the assignments, why didn’t you ask the teacher for help? I feel as if you could’ve taken more initiative and be more attentive about your grade in the class. If you explain to the colleges about what happened, I’m sure they would understand.
I screwed up I know. With my other classes and extracurriculars, my time-managment was worse than usual. My dream of attending Harvard is shot now. I’m a junior in high school already; and it’s too late to retake the class. Which is also useless since the F will be on my transcript anyway.
And the worst part is I’ve taken college classes since I was 14. The content in this class was extremely easy.
I hate myself. I hate how I screwed everything up.
Sure, it was easy: you did no assignments. (And after taking other college courses, so you should have known better.)
Are you sunk for Harvard? Yes, if you don’t know what matters to them. Since you have time, start reading what H says and shows they value and look for. It’s more than perfect grades (btw, unweighted,) and taking DE since age 14.
Miles to go. Use the time wisely. Or not. Your choice.
Take a deep breath. You could have made an A+ and still had close to zero chance at getting into Harvard. Not because of you personally or your intellect. It’s the statistics and you’re a smart kid, you can do the math.
I would post @Sally_Rubenstone who is a former dean of admissions and founded a college counseling company.
Also for the rest of us. What is dual enrollment in your case. Sounds like the community college course that counts for high school credit I am familiar with but want to be sure . That’s what I am taking it to mean.
@tube37: Anyone’s chances of attending Harvard are low anyway, as they prioritize legacies, athletes, huge donors, professor’s kids.
Harvard isn’t all that. There are other colleges with high reputations and huge networks: other Ivy Leagues, Stanford, Duke, UMichigan (the public Ivy), USC. . . Your hard work is not all “down the drain”. Do not give up and don’t waste time looking in the past with regret.
Start writing your college essays in the summer prior to senior year so you aren’t scrambling with the essays during the first semester of senior year (I cannot stress this enough, you’ll need time to rewrite). Apply for Early Decision and Early Action applications (most due by Nov. 1, and you hear decisions by mid-December).
@tube37 -Have you talked to your guidance counselor at your high school about whether or not your dual-enrollment class will be part of your high school GPA? If it was an extra enrichment class, it may not be necessarily factored into your high school GPA. Even so, you would still have to report it to colleges, but you can briefly explain why you did poorly and it’s unlikely that the college admission folks will put much (or any) weight on this class if the rest of your grades are strong.
However, I should also point out that online sociology isn’t the type of tough class that admission officials at places like Harvard expect to see on applicant transcripts. These admission officials are looking for rigor in a student’s curriculum and–as you noted yourself–this class wasn’t rigorous.
So as you plan your courses for your senior year, avoid easy online choices and stick to more challenging options.
This one class will not dash your dreams so don’t give up on them. But do take to heart the other advice you’ve gotten on this thread about the daunting Ivy admission odds, and make sure to create a balanced list of “Reach,” “Realistic,” and “Safe” colleges, keeping in mind that Ivies are “Reach” schools for pretty much everyone … even those students who’ve never earned a grade below A.
@privatebanker -Thanks for the promotion, but I’ve never been a dean of admissions!
@Sally_Rubenstone Hah! You’re the Dean of Admissions for College Confidential in my book.
@Privatebanker- I’m the kind of dean who plies my trade in a home office in bare feet and sweat pants … though I do consult real deans when I’m stumped. 
This is how you see your future if you don’t get into an Ivy League college?
I think you are overreacting about the significance of Ivy league, but either way if you address the F honestly they MAY overlook it
Thanks for all the advice everyone.
I had a 4.1. Now because of my dual credit at the college, I am afraid to know what it did to my high school gpa.
Although, I do know because of this college F grade, my gpa is a 2.5 at a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I’m so disappointed in myself, I can’t help it.
I feel like how is any top university going to accept me when I have an F gpa at a community college.
Worst is my high school ranking has also plummeted.
I can’t stop thinking about it. I took the hardest classes all these years…and now my high school ranking shows nothing for it. ?
You are experiencing something that is a recurring dream for many adults, including me: you realize at the end of a semester that you’ve completely missed classes and are unprepared for the final exam. It’s like you forgot there was even a class. It’s so well known there are articles about it. For example:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/radical-teaching/200909/recurring-final-exam-dream
One strategy for you in essays and interviews down the road: describe how you actually LIVED this dream so many of us adults have. And how you dealt with it.
Feel for you, awful experience. But maybe you can spin gold from it.
Don’t give up hope. IF you have all As (with maybe a B or two) and stellar everything else, then you just made them sit up and take notice because that F sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s obvious it doesn’t fit with the rest of your application (assuming the rest of your application is gorgeous and smells of roses). So no, it’s not good you have an F, but it’s also not a bad thing to make them pay attention to your application because of something that sticks out. IF you can spin this into gold, as sfSTEM puts it above, then there is hope this can work to your advantage. Make a fantastic essay out of it. Be humble. What you learnt, how you dealt with it, etc (as sfSTEM suggests). If you handle this the right way, and if your recommendations praise you up down and sideways, then you have a shot at admissions a) remembering you because your application stands out and b) letting that F go because you wrote an amazing essay about it and your teachers love you etc. I do think there are great colleges out there who will admit you and overlook this. Will the Ivies? Maybe, maybe not. You should have a solid list filled with safeties and matches in addition to reaches anyway, as Ivies are impossible to get into even with no wild and wacky Fs on the transcript. But don’t despair. Rock the rest of your application, do your best to spin that gold, and apply to a wide range of schools. In the long run, you’re going to be fine. Just learn from this.
Well, it can be a “Whoa!” moment, not a Wow. They will wonder why and look for something that explains this.
Seems simple to me. You must speak with the GC, see if and how he/she will support you through this. And come up with a reasonable way to describe, other than that you missed the fact there were assignments.
It’s not as simple as just letting the F sit there in your app, hoping the rest is so great. It’s time to take yourself out of dream mode and into some solid, savvy strategy.
Interesting wake-up call.
It’s not an Ivy essay topic. The personal statement is to show the attributes they want. This might go in Addl Info, instead- short and somehow believable.