<p>i am very worried about the status of my acceptance to Wash U once they receive my final transcript. due to various circumstances, including severe anxiety and also a teacher who, despite proclaiming her acceptance of late work and a complete lack of warning otherwise, would not accept my (very) late work. because of this, i was given a F in this one core class. normally it would prevent me from graduating, but due to an extra credit, i will be able to graduate. i really, really do not want to be kicked out of Wash U though. My grades for the semester are the F, and A-, and 4 B-'s. My first semester gpa was a 3.5, and high school cumulative was 3.7. i will contact Wash U after speaking to my college counselor. anyone have any insight?</p>
<p>WashU requires an end of year report?</p>
<p>I thought most universities only wanted mid-year reports during Senior Year.</p>
<p>yes, absolutely. they need to receive an official final transcript</p>
<p>That F is going to need some serious explaining. Is there a valid reason for your turning in work very late? Colleges aren’t trying to play gotcha with admissions so if you have a solid reason for your F then Wash U might understand.</p>
<p>You did graduate, so I rather suspect this won’t be too much of an issue. I would just let your final transcript get to them that shows you graduated (I think that is all they really care about) and see if they say anything. Why bring attention to something they may not even notice or otherwise care about? Certainly be ready to explain if they do, but I really don’t think they will. You are not the first person to have something like this happen. If you had totally blown off the semester and gotten all C’s D’s and F’s that would be different. But this is clearly an isolated aberration.</p>
<p>Aberration or not, this could be a potential problem. </p>
<p>“My grades for the semester are the F, and A-, and 4 B-'s. My first semester gpa was a 3.5, and high school cumulative was 3.7.” This statement does not sound like someone at the top of the admissions class. To some extent, I agree with the post by fallenchemist - at the same time, I would prepare an explanation that could be used for an appeal if needed. Remember that admissions is based on a candidate maintaining the HS record that their admissions decision was based on. So the overall answer is that every year their are some people who have their admissions offer withdrawn prior to enrollment.</p>
<p>I hope the OP comes out of this circumstance OK with admission offer intact.
But; “Lucy, you got some esplaining to do”. This is a reference to the old “I Love Lucy”, a pioneer sitcom.</p>
<p>But I would really like to know for my own information and to offer guidance to my kids/grandkids(when and if);</p>
<p>Where do people get the idea that colleges do not look at final transcripts? </p>
<p>Are there any colleges that do not look at final grades?</p>
<p>My son has already received communication from Wash U about how to submit his final transcript. There is a part he fills out and then gives it to his high school so they can complete and submit. Good luck.</p>
<p>
I don’t know where people get the idea that colleges don’t look at final transcripts.</p>
<p>My understanding is that every college looks at your final grades. They can have an affect on your admission status and on Merit scholarships that have a minimum HS GPA requirement.</p>
<p>Actually, they only need your transcripts, not the “Final Report” paper that guidance must fill out. They send you the form for this (part of the Common App), but because they sent me it so late I contacted the school and explained that it would be hard for me to send both together, and the admissions officer said that it is not actually required.</p>
<p>As for the original poster, I would definitely be prepared to explain myself, every year people from my school have admissions rescinded (although usually to state schools), and my guidance counselors spend a good deal of time warning that this is the major problem of senioritis. However, they usually have almost all D’s and F’s, whereas your problems are clearly only in one class, so I think they will definitely listen to reason, it is not as if you gave up on school or anything. I am sure if you can give them a good (and you should probably be completely honest) reason, they wont rescind anything.</p>
<p>Albo - the only problem is that the OP’s grades of “F, and A-, and 4 B-'s” are considered to be a very poor performance by WashU. I addition, the OP’s GPA of 3.5 (senior) and 3.7 cummulative is not at the top of the entering class. As far as admissions, this is a potential red flag for freshman year. I would expect this situation to be further examined before a final decision is made.</p>
<p>If they don’t rescind your acceptance, what they could do is put you on academic probation.</p>
<p>I was in the same boat, in a way. I became totally overwhelmed by school when a distant friend died, resulting ultimately in dropping a class and switching one to an audit in addition to a two week leave of absence (they don’t know about the leave, though, since I kept working from home). I decided to explain in person when I visited in April, which was a very good choice, and I also noted that I wasn’t sure what my standing was in the remaining classes. The woman I spoke with was very understanding and put a note in my file so that a final transcript wouldn’t “raise any red flags.” She told me that it would in no way affect my offer of admission because of the circumstances.</p>
<p>I recommend that you call someone in admissions and try to explain the circumstances BEFORE they get your transcript. Plus, it’s harder to reject someone if they’re no longer just a stack of papers. It seems like you’re a good student and just got a little snowed under, like I did. Be honest about what happened, and sound very eager to come in the fall.</p>
<p>In response to the comment that you should worry because you’re “not at the top,” I have a 3.2 GPA and stayed in. They obviously see something in you if they accepted you, and it would strike me as odd if they rescinded an offer based on one F, especially at this point in the game. How would they even know waitlist kids are maintaining better grades?</p>
<p>By the way, what was the class? I’m curious.</p>
<p>I actually either bombed, dropped or DID NOT TAKE science classes one might consider “prerequisites” for entering WashU (not that I’m pre-med or anything like that). I took earth sciences Freshman year earning a B-, AP Chem sophomore year earning a C- before dropping it all together, had been taking “Chemistry of Cooking” at the same time and justified it as one whole Chem credit, then took Oceanography and Biological Anthropology each for a semester. </p>
<p>I have taken zero Physics, Bio, and technically, 0 Chem. No lab science. I got in to WashU. They are capable of looking holistically at a transcript rather than just at grades. My best friend maintained a 4.8 GPA/As in all AP or Honors classes (can’t get to 5 as there’s no Honors PE…poor baby), skipped two grades, is a great writer, but didn’t get into any top-tier schools she applied to (UChicago, Brown, Columbia, etc). Gradewise, you’d think she’s in demand at these places.</p>
<p>Just goes to show…</p>
<p>thanks for all your responses.</p>
<p>i recognize that my pattern of grades won’t make it absolutely crystal clear that it was a completely isolated incident. for information’s sake, here’s my grade pattern:
freshman year: 4.0; sophomore year: about 3.4 avg; junior: about 3.8 avg.
no really good explanation for sophomore year…i suppose i got distracted and apathetic. this year, though, i was just overwhelmed and unable to function anywhere near my ability.
my test scores are at the top of the class, but, like people noted, my grades are not.</p>
<p>i do think that i should contact them asap rather than waiting to “see if they notice.” if the worst happens, i want to have as much time as possible to seek another option.</p>
<p>It was in AP English.
For more info- i got an 800 on the CR portion of the SAT, and my biggest extracurriculars are related to writing. so i’m sure any adcom would be extremely confused by me. and trust me, i’m frustrated, because i could have aced this (ridiculously dumb at my school) class with my eyes closed if it weren’t for my problems.</p>
<p>I sincerely doubt your offer will be rescinded. An F is extreme, but you’re obviously smart. Extreme stress coupled with unforgiving teacher is something I think they can understand, as it seems to me like there would be no other explanation for the grade. It’s not like you suddenly became bad at or disinterested in your chief passion.</p>
<p>After rethinking it, I think defusee is right about giving them a heads up, especially seeing how it is AP English and that is normally a strong subject for you, I assume. I kind of still think it is not as bad as you fear. Schools are usually reluctant to rescind an offer, unless it seems you are really a screw-up, which is clearly not true here. Just take responsibility and get it behind you. I mean go ahead and give them the reason this happened, including what is not your fault. Just don’t make it sound like you are trying to blame everyone else and not own up at all. Which again, it doesn’t sound like you would do that, since you admit you could have avoided this. Good luck!</p>
<p>fallenchemist is right on target regarding your best course of action. Assume responsibility where you need to snd whatever you do, don’t try to blame it all on other people or things. With any luck, things should work out. At the same time have an explanation ready for the rest of your grades. B- in multiple subjects is not a great performance or recommendation, especially combined with the F.</p>
<p>Curious as to your opinion, ST2. In this case there is the F, which is the elephant in the room here. But let’s say there was a student that had the exact same grades as this one, before this semester, and got all B-'s the last semester. I have never heard of a school that would rescind an admission in a case like that. Yes/no?</p>