My son is really struggling in AP Stats and has a current grade of D. He can drop it now with no penalty but keeps wavering on what he wants to do. Last month he was adamant he wanted to drop but then changed his mind when he was actually going to do it. Now he says he wants to stick it out and says he will bring the grade up. If he drops it now it will not show on his transcript at all.
The problem of course is that he is applying to colleges now. He has already submitted one app that shows him taking AP Stats this year. I told him if he dropped it he would have to email the school to let them know. He is planning to apply to several more schools EA so those will go out in a few weeks. I’m not sure if its better to have him drop it and it will never show up at all, or let him try to finish it up and have it potentially cause a rescinded acceptance if he ends with a D or F.
I should probably add that he is not applying to selective schools. Most of his schools are in the 50-75% acceptance range. His favorite school right now is Temple which is in the match range for him. Will these schools rescind an acceptance for a very low grade in an AP course or is that only true for top schools? Also, this is his only AP course.
Has he done everything possible to bring the grade up (ex. worked with his teacher after school?) Can you get him a tutor? If everything has been done and he is still getting a D I’d probably have him drop it, let the one school know immediately, and remove the class from the rest of his applications.
Is there any chance that he can audit the class (sit in on the class but take it for no credit/no grade) or take it P/F in the HS? This is a stressful enough year with college applications etc. so he doesn’t need the added pressure of having to bring up a D grade in statistics.
The biggest issue I see is that statistics builds on what is learned earlier in the year so it can be hard to play catch-up. I would not jeopardize college acceptances to take the class in HS.
If he does stay in the class I would insist on getting a private tutor at least once/week.
Earning a D in a senior year course could result in college admission rescission.
Dropping now would require informing colleges which he has already applied to so that the revised schedule will be considered for the admission decision. If he has already been admitted, he should ask the college whether dropping would cause rescission. Colleges do not like being surprised by dropped courses on the final high school transcript next summer.
He should be aware that, as a political science major, he will likely have to take a statistics or major-specific quantitative methods course in college.
I’d have him drop it. Spring semester Senioritis can set in heavily. I don’t think this is adding anything to his resume, but I can imagine him really struggling in the Spring. Spring grades still count and offers can get rescinded.
Drop. It’s October, here come the college apps, then the holidays, then spring of senior year and lots of activities and distractions. Risk of doing harm seems way higher than the potential benefit of having it, particularly being that he already has a math class. It sounds like you feel an acceptable grade is unlikely if he sticks it out.
He has only applied to one school, get ahead of this now. Will this leave him with enough on his schedule? Is it too late to pick up something he would like to take for fun - an art/PE class or something?
In the fall, you are in college application season. You may be taking the SAT again. You may want to visit some more colleges. You have to write college- specific essays (hopefully you already wrote your common app essay over the summer.). You have to fill out your Common App and get recommendations.
Also you may be in marching band or Sports or be a leader of a club. College Apps is like another timesucking EC on top of that.
Then in the spring, you may have senioritis. You are been accepted to college and are looking toward the finish line. You have to study for the AP tests…it will be difficult to study for too many at once.