Regents Scores

I’m a rising senior this year, and I have a big concern about my regents score. Since I go to school in New York, I have to take Regents Exams. For the most part, they have gone pretty well. I scored a 100 on the Global, 99 on the US History and English exam, 96 on the Chemistry test, 95 on the Earth Science exam, 93 on the Biology one, and a 88 on both the Algebra 1 and 2 exams. However, in my geometry test I scored a 74. In school, my GPA is a weighted 97.1 and I have taken multiple AP’s and honors classes. I have a 1490 on the SAT, 780 on the US History subject test and a 720 on the literature subject test. I am captain of my cross country and track teams, secretary of NHS, a member of model UN, and had an internship at the Department of Human Rights. For cillegal, I am applying to mostly private colleges, like Syracuse and Northeastern. But, I am worried that my Geometry exam will represent negatively on my record. Will that score undermine my chances of getting into universities?

Are your regents scores displayed on your transcript? Even if they are, they don’t really matter much to colleges, especially non-SUNYs. The grade you received in the class overall is more important, but still won’t ruin your chances.

Yes, the regents grades are on the transcript. I would recommend retaking the geometry in January to try to get an advanced regents with mastery in both math and science. Your grade in the classroom is reflective of the work that you do every day when you walk into your building. Your regents grade reflects how well you did when covering the content in comparison to other students in the state. Since your transcript will reflect your highest regents scores, if you do better on the geometry regents, the higher grade will be reflected in time for the mid-year report.

@sybbie719 Regents grades are not on every transcript sent to colleges. I know for a fact that our public NYS high school does not show regents grades on the transcripts sent to college . I recommend that the OP speak with his/her guidance counselor to see exactly what his/her HS reports on the college transcript.

Also agree that other than SUNY and CUNY schools Regents exam grades don’t matter much to colleges. Abs As things stand, your grades and standardized tests appear to make you a competitive applicant for most of not all of the SUNY schools. Anyone can have one bad test and it seems math is not your particular strength.

I would not retake the geometry regents assuming you got a decent (B or better) grade in the class. I believe your time would be much better spent: 1) excelling in the classes you are taking in school 2) working on college applications 3) increasing your involvement in ECs you care about and 4) spending time with friends and family.

@happy1, let me preface this by saying, if you attend NYC DOE public school, your regents grades will be on your transcript via STARS (which I know for a fact). If Op is concerned about the regents grade, it is most likely on the transcript.

When the GC does write the recommendation, it would be good for the GC to be able to say that Abby is graduating with an advanced regents diploma with Mastery in Mathematics and Science (which is the highest level diploma given by the state after the advanced regents diploma with Honors and Mastery in Math and science-which based on OP’s regents scores, she has a good chance of achieving). If retaking the geometry regents is the difference between an advanced regents diploma and an advanced regents with Mastery (op has already achieved Mastery in Science), Op should go for it. Abby will very likely come up against in the pool from NYS who have achieved this designation.

I also know that I have had students who were rejected from SAT optional schools and private schools, because of the regents grades on the transcript (I have had my regional admission rep straight up told me that they saw this as a concern in the application). I don’t think that we should be painting a broad stroke narrative that regents grades, especially if they are on the transcript does not matter. If something is on the transcript, it is fair game and can and in many cases will be used to evaluate the student.

The Regents scores I’ve seen are in a bottom corner of the transcript and easily missed. At times, a GC will print or xerox them alone on a page, but rarely. If a student is otherwise compelling and all the R scores were poor, an adcom might explore that with a GC. One score? The first issue is being otherwise compelling for the holistic target colleges.

We don’t know her proposed major and she noted schools like Syr and Northeastern.

The only schools that will care about regents scores are SUNY. Also, it is widely known that the Geometry regents is extremely difficult. To be honest, a grade of 74% is pretty good. Many, many students fail that exam.

Your overall grades and scores are very very good. Fear not - you’re fine.

Hi, as of right now, I am intenteding to do a double major in Political Science and Economics or International Relations. The Economics major I would pursue in a way that is more politically centered. So, math is not really a prime focus in my degree. Also, as of the class grade, I scored a 90 in my class. On my transcript, other than Pre-Calculus, my math grades are all low 90’s in comparison to my high scores in other classes, so it is obvious that I am not as strong as a math student. I have asked my guidance counselor, but she was not very helpful on the manner, giving me a non-conclusive answer.

Also since my other scores are good, I will graduate with an Advanced Regents diploma with a distinction in Science. Additionally, as of right now, I am applying to Syracuse, Northeastern, Duquesne, University of Pittsburgh, and George Washington University.

One last thing, one of my teacher recommendations, is my geometry teachrr. He taught me in geometry, pre-calc and will teach me AP Calculus this year, and asked me to write my letter of recommendation. I do not know if this will also reflect that the test was not a good measure of my intelligence

For Private Universites the Regents Exams/Scores have very little importance. Both Columbia and NYU it is not a data point for evaluating the prospective student.

Actually, a score of 74 of the Geometry regents exam is just meeting the CUNY college readiness score of 70 (fortunately she has higher grades in Algebra and AL2 so that is not an issue). A score of 74 is a performance level 3 out of 5, where OP has a performance level of 5 on her other 2 math exams.

Ask your GC for a copy of your school profile.

Does it list the exit credentials of it’s graduates; what percentage of students at your school are graduating with the following diplomas:

Local diploma (disc code 26)

Regents diploma (disc code 27) / regents diploma with Honors (disc code 28)

Advanced regents diploma disc code 47

Advanced regents diploma (disc code 47) with Mastery in Mathematics -85 in 3 math regents (endorsement code 5) or Mastery in Science - 85 in 3 science (endorsement code 6)

Advanced regents Diploma (disc code 47) with Mastery in Mathematics and Science (endorsement code 7)

**Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors (disc code 62) & Mastery in Mathematics and Science (endorsement code 7) **

If you can score an 85 on geometry, you would graduate with the advanced regents diploma with Honors and Mastery in Math and Science

If your GC does not know the number of students in your class who are getting or are on track to get an advanced regents with Honors and mastery in math and science, your school’s data person knows because it is how your school is being evaluated by the state. I am really surprised that your GC has not spoken to you about this especially because high schools are always looking to raise their numbers.

There is a tremendous amount of discussion surrounding the Geometry Regents - for some reasons they’ve made ti the most difficult one. With all of the OP other high scores it doesn’t matter. And yes, the numbers who fail that exam are astounding. The OP never mentioned wanting to be in the CUNY system. There is a great deal of controversy in NYS surrounding Common Core math and the regents. The OP has excellent grades and math scores. One lower score on the Geometry Regents does not matter especially with a 1490 on the SAT.

Keep something in mind…you scored a 74 right after finishing the course and review (I am assuming here). You would need to practice and study with all of your other subjects. However, I am not sure of the timing but is the next test in January 2019 which would be to0 late for your transcript? Could it also be viewed as an “upswing” in your Regents grades depending upon when you took Geometry?

Best of luck!!

The January regents score would be posted in time for mid-year reports. As i previously stated if Op could raise the score to 85, she could get an advanced regents diploma with honors and mastery in both math and science which is the highest level diploma from the state. If it is something that she could do and it will give her an advantage, she should take it.

Double check with your school. We were told August was the latest to be assured it would make their transcripts.

I don’t think schools are going to care about a score on the Regents exam - maybe a SUNY, but that’s it. At my kid’s school, the Regents serves as the final exam and counts for 10% of their final grade for the year. Schools will care about your final grade for the course, so the score could have a negative impact in that respect. Still, in the overall scheme of things, not a big deal. I don’t think a January re-take is a good idea. If OP got a 74 right after finishing the class, he/she would most likely do even worse taking the exam 6 or 7 months later. Probably best to forget about it and move on.

@sybbie I think we will have to respectfully agree to disagree on this one. Our local public HS is not a NYC school but is NYS public school. Regents grades are not on the transcript and I don’t think anyone graduates with an advanced regents diploma with honors/mastery (or whatever it is) from our HS. Students at our HS only take the minimum number of Regent required to get a NYS diploma because the HS feels their own finals are better exams than the regents. Regents are nothing more than an afterthought in our HS and are only minimally weighted into the final grades.

Separately, if the OP is not a strong math student, is there any guarantee the grade will be raised if the Regents is taken again? Will the OP have the time to dedicate to studying without interfering with other critical tasks. Time is a precious commodity. In addition, the OP is not planning on a STEM major so the one lower math Regents test grade, I believe, will not materially hurt the application.

On a personal note, my D didn’t do as well as she could have on one Regents (she was ill) but we never considered having her retake it for one second. As I noted in my earlier post, we felt there were just so many more valuable ways to spend her time (ex. working on college applications, doing well in senior year classes, fulfilling her heavy commitment to ECs, and enjoying her senior year).

Perhaps different conclusions are based on the importance a particular HS puts on Regents, if the grades show up on the transcript, etc. But I would let it go.

Her math grades “are all low 90s.” We don’t know the SAT breakout, but at 1490, even if one were 800, the other wouldn’t be lower than 690. Good. The geometry teacher will write an LoR. See if you can casually ‘touch base’ and talk to him about what sorts of comments he’ll make. You do want it about your smarts, curiosity, work, participation, etc. Not just nice gal, does her homework. I’m not sure he needs to mention the Regents.

For econ, some colleges will expect math strength. But I think you have this in your grades. And rigor, right?
For poli sci, your internship is good. But a hint: see if you can vol on a campaign. Adcoms know it’s an election year and many poli sci kids don’t get engaged this way. It doesn’t matter if you answer phones or pass out flyers, the point is putting yourself in the context. Not much time left before Nov, but you don’t need a huge time commitment to learn from it and list it.