Hi, I got a D first semester in calc ab, a C second semester and overall for the year I passed with a low C due to personal reasons that I have discussed with my teacher and counselor. I am feeling slightly nervous as this is the only D I have on my transcript. My school has a policy stating that if you pass for the year you can’t retake a semester averaged grade of a D directly through the school, but only online. I know that some colleges regarding the recognition of retaken courses and such, but I figured that it would help me as this is a damaging thorn in my application profile. Is it of significant advantage of me to go about doing this and to give an explanation to admission officers?
Colleges will use your final grade. The question is do you think you really understand the information in the course? And do you think you’ll need Calc in college?
Yes, I really enjoyed the class and material, and although my final grade doesn’t exemplify “mastery” of the subject per say, I still believe that I got a good enough handle to be prepared for calc bc this upcoming year. And yes, I will need calc for my major in college. Lastly, by final grade do you mean as in the whole school year, or if I were to retake the class and Get a higher grade than I did the first time around?
Did you take the AP test and what score did you get?
It’s a very individual, local question. The answer depends a lot on your school’s policies, you and your schedule and aspirations, and on policies at any schools where you will be applying. Work with your teacher and counselor to find the best answer.
If you go forward with BC Calc, I’d advise starting now and using Khan Academy or some other online or other resource to systematically review concepts from last year. Start now if possible! That would be enormously helpful. If your teachers and counselor agree that BC is a good idea–they’d know best–that will be very helpful to you. It will be a great refresher, and I’m sure you will put together some of the concepts to a greater extent. An A or B would show you can handle the material well. Investing some diligent work now might really benefit you down the road, both in terms of performance and and showing schools that you are diligent, persevering, and hard working, which are great predictors of success in college, which is what colleges want, students who will come and succeed.
If you ever comment on the grade in a college app, always be positive, forward-looking, and emphasize what you learned (and, of course, do try to learn from disappointments and setbacks). This is great general advice–not just for college apps–it’s how we grow and improve. Good luck!
If you can retake the D part on its own and online, go for it.
@VickiSoCal I got a 3 on the AP test. I am glad that I passed, but obviously this is not the greatest score.
@TTG @MYOS1634 I appreciate the thoughtful comments. Do you guys think it would be somewhat redundant for me to retake the first semester of AB online? I mean, I am taking BC this year and I think if I were to do well in that class than colleges would consider this as improvement rather than just looking heavily at the D for my first semester. Any additional thoughts?
I would only retake if you can do it before you start BC. It can only help for you to review the material online this summer using Khan Academy. Use this fall to focus on getting a great grade in BC, especially if you are thinking of going into engineering or some other math heavy major.
I think it would just be extremely helpful to review the material in a systematic, dedicated way before BC gets underway in six weeks or so. You can do it online or just yourself (if you can do it in a self-disciplined way). That would really help you do well in BC. Your teachers and counselors would be able to provide the best advice. It does seem to me though that good grades in BC would at least go a long ways toward showing you can do well in math at the college level. Just remember, lots of students in the BC class will have made A’s and B’s in math last year, thus displaying a good understanding of the foundation material. you want to make sure you are starting on a level playing field. Some work now will probably be beneficial down the road. Good luck!
Review before you take bc but dont retake the ab class - your bc exam will have an answer subsection and subscore. 