I’m currently a sophomore and unfortunately I’m not good at math. Most of the time, I can hold a solid B or B+, but I have at least an A- in every other subject. I plan on applying to more selective schools such as George Washington University, Boston University, New York University, etc. when the time comes, but I’m really worried that having so many Bs in math will pull my GPA down. Are Bs in math enough to bring my GPA down enough to keep my from more selective colleges?
If you’re planning to major in a math-centric subject, it might cause a problem. If not, then not so much. Math is considered a core class and will probably not be taken out of a GPA calculation at colleges.
Do you know what your unweighted GPA is? Your cumulative UW GPA is what colleges will be looking at.
Math is one of the academic subjects and if you have an A or A- in every subject then a B in math will drop your GPA. You should be able to figure out your GPA using an online GPA calculator, an Excel spreadsheet, or paper/pencil. I’d recommend you speak with your guidance counselor in the fall to get a sense of how your GPA and course rigor to date would place you in terms of gaining admission to any schools on your list. When you get standardized test scores that will add an other piece to the academic qualification part of your application. If your HS has Naviaince that will be a good tool to use down the road.
You should consider getting a tutor to prepare you for the math portion of the ACT or SAT. But otherwise, consistent Bs in math aren’t bad.
Right now, my unweighted GPA is around a 3.7 or 3.8.
Your unweighted GPA is pretty solid. But yeah, if youre not going into a math field then it shouldn’t be that big a deal. I have a friend going to GW this fall and she was never too hot at math and science, but she’s going into poly sci so its not big deal. Don’t stress
B or B+ in math is okay as long as you’re not looking to major in stem. It’s good for everything else BTW.
Make sure to play to your strengths, so take as many honors/AP classes in social sciences and humanities.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps your math grade is indicative of poor study skills, not being bad at math.
Here’s why: as a kid who just finished 9th grade most of your classes are not skill based. Rereading the chapters the night before a test is enough to put the general idea and enough specific facts back into memory. Couple that with good verbal skills and you can spin out essays. Math is different. You can’t learn it the night before. It takes practice, frustrating practice, until the concepts sink in.
The trouble is that as you go up in grades more and more is going to be based on applying what you’ve been learning rather than just remembering the right answer (or enough to guess at the right answer). This is true in HS in science classes, and true in college in a whole lot more than that.
If you’ve been spending a few hours a week working the unassigned math problems, redoing your old tests with the answers covered up, etc. then I’ll agree that math and you are not friends. But barring that, my bet is on insufficent practice and/or not studying effectively. Along that last line of thought I suggest you get the book “Making it Stick” this summer; it covers what is known about learning effectively with tips for HS and college students on how to apply it. If you’ve been re-reading the chapters and your notes before tests then you haven’t been using the best techniques and this book will explain why.
@mikemac well said. I found several similar title on Amazon. Did you refer to this kindle version? https://www.amazon.com/kindle/dp/B00DQZR8LU/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_eos_detail
thinking to get DD a copy…
@annamom Slight typo in my previous. post. The correct book title is “make it stick”
https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learning/dp/0674729013
@mikemac thanks.