I work really, really, really hard in school and while I have A’s and B’s I also have the occasional C+ as well. It’s my junior year of high school and I have been so stressed out because everyone is telling me that colleges hate C’s but I really want to get into a good school (I’m not talking ivy league). I know some people may say that it’s obvious I’m slacking off but I’m not. I’ve been putting my all into my classes to raise my grades (and I put my all in before too), I study and make sure I know the material and I meet with my teachers all the time too, so they know I care and am trying. But it seems that every time I take a test or a quiz in these certain classes I can’t pull in a good grade. (full disclosure I also have ADHD) Will competitive colleges really not give me a second look? Even if I have glowing recommendations, etc.?
Please don’t believe everything you read.
The occasional C won’t keep you out of college. (In fact, straight C’s won’t either, they’ll just limit your options.)
The higher your grades, the more options you have. So if you can keep those C’s to a minimum, and maximize your A’s, you’ll have more options and more aid.
But a whole lot of wonderful recommendations won’t compensate for poor grades. Your grades-- both GPA and SAT-- matter. Remember, they’re a mark of what type of student you are. And colleges are looking for strong students.
No, an occasional C is not horribly a killer for top colleges. Most view you hollistically and care about you as a whole. On top of that if its a C ina honors or AP course, colleges will note you are challenging youself. If everything else in your application, like recommendations, is great, then Cs shouldn’t really kill it for you.
One kid from my high school got into Harvard with a C- freshman year in geometry… not saying it happens a lot, but it’s happened
What colleges are you thinking of? It’ll be easier to tell you whether you have a shot with mostly A’s and Bs, or not.