Scaling down in second semester?

I am a high school sophomer. My grade in Math is looking very bad (C- so far) now. It’s an accelerated class. Now that 1st semester is almost over, is it okay to scale down to a lower Math class (Advanced PreCalc) for the next semester starting from January? Is that going to look bad on college application (especially for selective colleges) since the transcript will show harder class on 1st semester than the 2nd semester on the same school year? Or, should I continue on the current Math class and try to do better (which may or not happen as it is a hard class) in next semester which may or may not happen? Thanks!

Better to drop down than to have a D or F second semester. Math builds on itself, so unless there’s some external factor that prevented you from doing well first semester and that external factor has been resolved, it’s unlikely that the second semester will be easier.

As stated above, dropping down is better than doing poorly but you will need to inform colleges of the change. Frankly, neither option is going to look good to selective colleges. Can you get a tutor and try to get that grade up?

He is a sophomore. You should enroll in the level that suits you best. Talk to your teacher or counselor about a possible change.

I thought he was a senior @CheddarcheeseMN! Thank you for pointing that out!

By all means, drop down next semester!

I think it looks better to drop down now and show an upwards trend in math grades and difficulty level in the following years. It could make a good topic for a college essay in terms of recovering from struggles and lessons learned. Perhaps try to really focus on math during the summer break before junior year and score a “home run” afterwards.

No, you don’t have to worry about colleges. I made my comment thinking you were a senior and had already reported courses. Just focus on doing well in your classes!

Given that you are a sophomore, yes it would be fine to drop to “advanced precalc” (what are you in now? Super advanced?) You are already 2 years ahead in math…its better that you not try to accelerate math more than you are capable of.