I am currently a High School Freshman with a good GPA overall (98 weighted)…it just so happens that by some unfortunate events I received a C+ for one semester of Physical Education. How will this affect, if at all, my chances at Ivy/high-ranking colleges later on? Please give me any feedback possible…
<p>The extremely selective colleges recalculate your gpa using only core courses so a C in Phy Ed won't affect you. It might affect your class rank to some extent if you were in one of the top positions. In general, a C would be enough to knock you out of an Ivy. Probably the lesson to learn from that is that the selection process at HYPSM is insane, and that are plenty of other schools of the same calibre. There is just not enough room at the brand-name schools for all of the qualified applicants and the admissions process resembles a lottery.</p>
<p>they don't care about non-academic classes. But, Ivies do care about class rank, so it could have an impact if the PE grade is used to calc your HS rank.</p>
<p>How could you get a C in gym? I thought gym was supposed to be the easy GPA booster?</p>
<p>bigmac: some schools hare really stupid ways of calculating gym grades. At my high school all we had to do was show up, wear the uniform, and participate a bit, but other schools are different.</p>
<p>I came from a public middle school where, yeah, all you had to do was show up and I got a 95...but at the catholic high school i went to they have a really structured grading policy...half of your gym grade is participation and half is written tests...just so happens that I have very little knowledge of sports and when we had a written test on volleyball I just went on soccermoms.com and got notes from there...my gym teacher had different ideas about the rules and I got a 69 on the test, and we didn't have any other tests that quarter...I explained to her the situation while simultaneously freaking out, but she wouldnt hear my story; so I got a B participation and D on the test...voila a C. :(</p>
<p>I got a B in gym once last year, and that was with being there and participating every day. I'm completely unathletic and terrible at all sports (as in, I want to run away when any sort of ball comes flying at me) and I was unfortunate enough to have a teacher who graded on skill, not participation. It happens to lots of people at my school (not a competitive school at all either).</p>
<p>in ny we have physical fitness tests that measure 1)mile time 2)50 yard dash time (agility) 3)pull-ups 4)swimming capability 5)sit-ups</p>
<p>basically, they're all tested and you get a score on 100 point scale based on how well you do on the tests. basically, the less time you get on the mile and 50 and swimming lap tests, the higher your grade. also, the more sit ups and pull ups the higher your grade. i personally think that this system for gym grading is unfair but thats just me.</p>
<p>My S got into Columbia ED with a 75 (C) in Phys Ed one term-his other term phys ed grades ranged from 85 to 95 tho, and luckily at his school the PE grade is not averaged in,therefore it didn;t affect his GPA or class rank..I'm told that college adcoms don;t care about your PE grades as lons as you passed and giot the required credits to graduate....</p>
<p>The extremely selective schools that would care about your Phy Ed grade are the military academies. :)</p>
<p>My gym class had written tests, skills tests, physical fitness tests, and participation grades. I ended up with an A, but I think it was the hardest class I had in high school. The written tests would have been very difficult, but the teacher went over them word for word the day before and at the beginning of class. Everyone else still failed, somehow. Skills tests <em>shudders</em>. I didn't do too bad, because the teacher liked me and was generous when grading me. Or he was just laughing too hard to tell whether I was managing to do a couple things right or not. I have no coordination whatsoever, and volleyball is the worst sport ever invented, IMO. We had a serving test: I would toss the ball up, wave my arms in the air trying to hit it. Then it would smack me in the forehead. Then we did golf (It took me the whole first two weeks to learn how to hold the stupid golf stick thing), then tennis (much like volleyball, but with a racket). Ping pong and gymnastics I was pretty good at. Luckily, I was good with physical fitness (running, sit ups, pull ups, etc.) and I always showed up and at least made an effort.
I don't think colleges will care too much about gym grades. If you were sick or anything like that, you could mention it with your application as an explanation. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry much about it. If you really want to make up for it somehow you could find out if your school lets you retake classes and will remove the old grade from your transcript, or it could just show that you do have the ability to do well, or you could do some type of sport.</p>
<p>CynthiaR: You could turn your last post into an admissions essay. I liked the part about the "stupid golf stick thing".</p>
<p>Thanks--unfortunately, I've already done the whole admissions thing, so it is too late to make my P.E. experiences useful. I am always glad to make others laugh with my many shortcomings :-)</p>
<p>CynthiaR...wow you sound just like me!! Its inspiring to have someone out there that understands the horrors of gym class...i have skill tests as well, and the written tests are really bothersome b/c when you have a biology regents and a test on the laws of soccer in the same day, well, what seems more important? Unfortunately, my school doesn't feel the same way as I do :(</p>