How bad does it look on a transcript if a student retakes courses? For example I retook 2 courses geometry, Algebra 2 because of some health issues that I had which led to a lot of absences and bad grades in those particular classes. Aside from that I have gotten mostly A’s and a 2 B’s in all of my Aps (10) will that make a difference for Ivie leagues and top tier schools? Should I not apply in that case? Also I have 5 e-board positions from school clubs and heavily involved in debate w regional and national titles. Would an ivy be willing to over look that? Thanks
What is the rest of your application going to look like: GPA? Test Scores? ECs? Class rank? Subject tests? Top schools are a reach for everyone, but for the most part they are holistic. Did you take Algebra 2 and Geometry at the same time the first time around? I think it is more plausible for a GC to explain that you had one bad semester for health reasons which you got under control quickly rather than explaining two bad years, especially if your problems were just in math. Make sense?
10 AP isn’t unheard of, but the top colleges will tell you this is not, “He who has the most AP wins.” It seems you may need to research what your targets look for, which is more than stats and titles in school clubs. You can’t make your best presentation without knowing more, right? From the source, not an anonymous forum. Learn what holistic means.
And rather than shotgunning ‘the Ivies,’ you should be targeting the colleges that best fit you and where you match what they want.
I agree moving forward tops repeating a course you got a B in. Let the GC explain. How this impacts you depends on what courses it was. Related to your major? A core? Or some odd elective?
The competition is fierce. Know what matters.
Don’t worry about the retakes. They can be explained but also shows perseverance by you. I like taking a negative and turning it into a positive…
FYI - I know a high school national champion debater that got shut out of the ivies with 4.0 /35 act. But he pretty much only did debate. He is “suffering” 
at University of Chicago and loving it. His others acceptances were Michigan, Northwestern. He also had a few rejections so spread the love and apply at different levels of schools. Many really smart kids get shutout every year. Apply wisely.
There are 13600 approx seats for the entire Ivy League. Half per gender. 8800 seats.
60 percent are spoken during the process for the deans picks, distinguished athletes, urm groups, legacies, faculty children, staff children and development candidates. At Harvard there also another 50 or so z listers from the year before too. Then you add the international contingent not already counted above. Say it’s another 5 percent.
So in the end my math tells me there are 3192 seats for the entire world. That’s against the toughest and most elite group of 30 to 40 thousand students each year vying for a seat. And top to bottom the 30k to 40k aka real competition is universally excellent. And then the schools also needs artists actors and musicians to fill out an interesting class.
Our human nature will tend to think positively. And that’s perfectly ok. But the resulting disappointment for attaching so much weight is inconsistent with the opportunities that the 40k. Elite students Have at the other spectacular and elite schools outside of the ivy block.
Heck the whole 1.8 million student population considering college have awesome options in reality as well.
A couple of comments:
–I would have your guidance counselor note that you had health issues and indicate that is why you re-took classes. This way the information will come from an independent third party.
–Acceptance rates at Ivy schools are generally under 10% (some closer to 5%). The schools routinely turn down applicants with perfect GPAs and standardized tests due to a lack of space. They must be considered to be a long-shot for any unhooked applicant.
-You interest in any Ivy indicates a lack of research in the schools. The Ivy league is a sports league. All of the schools do have excellent academics, but other than that they are quite different. As a couple of examples – Do you prefer the urban location of Penn or the more rural location of Dartmouth? Do you prefer the large core curriculum at Columbia or no requirements at Brown?
–When the time to apply to colleges honestly asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be excited to attend. Expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
The ivy I’m most interested in is Harvard due to the classes they’re going to offer starting 2019. My docotors believed i had a pretty bad lung infection my junior yr until i was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis. my rank is now #1 but i retook classes which i guess doesnt make me a “true” number one since i re took the classes. i want to apply to harvard as a pre law major so I don’t think that math is too important? on the act i got a 36 and im going to take that sat sometime in october with the subject tests. im now dually enrolled in a college and taking courses i think might make me more competitive (linear algebra) but theyre so many kids that have the grades and the scores that i guess i was asking if i still had some chance.
I misread the original post and thought you were considering retakes. If you’ve already done this, don’t worry. But, to get into H, you need to be seriously on your game, understand what they look for (which is more than stats and some hs activities or titles.) Many of the competition will have no B grades, just A.
What do you do that’s outside the hs comfort zone? I understand your path was interrupted by the illness, but they’re going to look at what you DID do, when you were able. “Pre-law” is not a major, what specifically do you have in mind and do you have activities related to that, outside school? What do you do for volunteering in your community?
The complete app forms a presentation. Try to know what H looks for, what they say, what they show, the sorts of kids they brag about.
Yes, you can apply. But seriously know what you’re doing and how you match what they look for. Want to tell us where you are, more or less? Because in addition to the volume of top applicants, some areas will have so many that the competition intensifies.
Your rank is your rank - your school decides how they calculate your GPA and how they rank. Some count both grades, others only the most recent. If your school counts you as 1st, then you are 1st. Harvard (and any other college) can look at retaking classes a few different ways, and that might be influenced by what your counselor says in your LOR. Some students don’t have the luxury of retaking a class, because their schedule is full of other classes necessary to graduate, others won’t let you retake anything where you got a C or better, because the class is a resource they need for other students - so consider yourself lucky you were able to do so.
As for your individual situation, there is a simple explanation - you were sick, and even though you did well enough to earn an acceptable grade, you did not feel you learned the material well. Because these are foundation courses - those on which future math courses are built, it makes sense to be sure you understand the material fully before moving on. By retaking the classes, you are showing that you value your education.
Yes I am number 1 at this point. Thank you so much!
Ya I think I should have explained my extra curricular a little better instead of just e-board. I will def start researching more, thanks!
With 36 on your ACT, there is no reason whatsoever to take the general SAT exam. Just take the SAT II exams that are required for the places on your application list.