Please, I need to know: How badly will this C affect me?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>First semester of Junior year, I got a C+ and three B's.
All in my AP classes. I managed two A's in my easiest classes.</p>

<p>My dog Mishka passed away suddenly on the day of my finals in his sleep. I'll never understand why, but I'm guessing it was a cardiac or cerebral event, because she was perfectly fine the day before.
The night before, she was playful and happy like she always had been. She ate her food with the same voracious appetite she'd healthily maintained her whole life. She was perfectly fine.
I just don't know.</p>

<p>I ended up doing absolutely horribly on the finals. My teachers still don't know why.
It dropped my grades drastically.</p>

<p>I feel certain that I am utterly disqualified for most scholarships and summer programs. Many of these scholarships/programs only ask for a transcript, without any opportunity to explain hardships or poor circumstances.
I can only rely on merit aid, because my parents have too high of a yearly income, but also cannot afford to help me pay for college. However, considering the circumstances, merit aid no longer seems like an option.</p>

<p>Because of my better academic record previous to this year, I will still have a 3.85~3.7 by the end of 1st semester in senior year. However, I feel that my C will make that GPA completely irrelevant. It will seem as though I couldn't handle the rigor of AP classes. And perhaps I couldn't. </p>

<p>I almost feel as though it would have been better to get several B's than get that one C in my AP US History class. It is well known as one of the most difficult classes in my school, but dammit, I could have gotten straight A's this semester if it weren't for my irresponsibility.
And now I suppose I'll pay for it with a mediocre education.</p>

2

<p>Well, this is kind of sad.
Bump.</p>

3

<p>There is no such thing as “mediocre education”. Education is all about what you do with what you have.</p>

4

<p>I understand. I have a lot going on in my family and I got two C s on my transcript first semester of sophomore year. I’m going to try to make up for it the rest of this year and last year. I don’t think they’ll disqualify you for scholarships, I hope they don’t. Let’s hope they just look at your gpa.</p>

5

<p>“There is no such thing as ‘mediocre education.’”</p>

<p>Sure there is. </p>

<p>I don’t see how a single C is any worse than several Bs? It seems like they would affect your GPA in about the same way.
Most scholarships I’ve seen look at your overall GPA. And a lot of them have lowish requirements like 3.0 GPA.</p>

6

<p>Colleges don’t see semester grades for freshman to junior year, don’t they? I was under the impression they only see final grades.</p>