<p>Illinois Wesleyan is not a safety for you....</p>
<p>I think that your "F" will hurt you at all of the schools that you are applying to. Your reasoning also won't impress colleges. You need safer safeties than are currently on your list.</p>
<p>...okay. Yeah. Being lazy isn't going to help you at all. :/ But it won't hurt you entirely. You can still get into places, but it will be difficult.</p>
<p>lmao @ smallcollegedftw.</p>
<p>contructive criticism peoples -_-!</p>
<p>@ dnlgao</p>
<p>well it isn't... it is a high match/low reach...</p>
<p>and Hendrix is more of a match....</p>
<p>stupid double post :S</p>
<p>Not doing class assignments because you thought the class wouldn't count is not a "legit" reason. I think it might be even worse if you give that explanation to colleges..</p>
<p>But isn't an explanation better than no explanation, even if the explanation isn't that great?</p>
<p>Also, I disagree. I think IWU is a match. Hendrix, trust me on this, is a safety. </p>
<p>I know people who've gotten into Hendrix with mediocre GPA's (equal to mine) and 22's on the ACT. And there was nothing particularly special about them. Hendrix accepts literally everyone. </p>
<p>Also, two of my aunts went there, my brother applied last year but didn't go, it is in state, and I am the sort of person that would go there: atheist, liberal, etc. My test scores are around the top 20% or so? It's a safety. </p>
<p>...They accept like 85% of their applicants.</p>
<p>"Not doing class assignments because you thought the class wouldn't count is not a "legit" reason. I think it might be even worse if you give that explanation to colleges.."</p>
<p>I think so. Well, while I don't think it's the best of reasons, I think it does 'justify' my 'F', or at least make it look 'less bad'. I did pay attention, I did attend class, and everything else.</p>
<p>But your grade doesn't prove you attended and paid attention. Why didn't you get any test/quiz grades? How was your grade a zero? I agree that colleges will view you in an even worse light if you provide this "explanation." If it was ok with your school for you to fail second sem just because you were re-taking, they would not have made you take second semester at all. They would have let you drop. Colleges will view your attitude towards the class very negatively. I think its better to let them think you just had trouble with the matirial, but still tried to do the work than admit you did nothing for a semester.</p>
<p>"I think that your "F" will hurt you at all of the schools that you are applying to. Your reasoning also won't impress colleges. You need safer safeties than are currently on your list."</p>
<p>Well, of course it will hurt my chances, but how much do you think? Like, for example, if I had a 50% at IWU without the 'F', what would my chances be with the 'F'? Like 20%?</p>
<p>I'll give you a full run-down of my list of colleges (in order of likeliest to least likely):</p>
<p>Hendrix
DePauw
IWU
Lafayette
Sewanee
Furman
Case Western
Rhodes
St. Olaf
Wake Forest</p>
<hr>
<p>It's likely I'll get into multiple, right? And at least one...</p>
<p>By the way, I put Lafayette so high up there because I'm applying ED. They accept 34% regular and 66% early. Both applicant pools are equally as strong (I found this out via google), yet one gets accepted at essentially double the rate of the other...</p>
<p>Anyways, let me know what you guys think.</p>
<p>If not, I can just go to the U of A, I guess.</p>
<p>"But your grade doesn't prove you attended and paid attention. Why didn't you get any test/quiz grades? How was your grade a zero? I agree that colleges will view you in an even worse light if you provide this "explanation." If it was ok with your school for you to fail second sem just because you were re-taking, they would not have made you take second semester at all. They would have let you drop. Colleges will view your attitude towards the class very negatively. I think its better to let them think you just had trouble with the matirial, but still tried to do the work than admit you did nothing for a semester."</p>
<p>But I made A's and B's in all of my previous honors math courses. I have a 700 SAT math, and I made a 4 on the AP Stat exam. Clearly, I wouldn't have trouble making a passing grade in Trig. Although I'll admit to being arrogant, I wouldn't have trouble making an 'A' if I actually wanted to. The fact that my resume is so strong in math (discounting the 'F' one semester) should prove that my reasons are truthful.</p>
<p>Also, I actually took the quizzes and tests, but just didn't turn them in. In my (I know realize flawed) logic at the time, my grade would be irrelevant; why turn in anything? My attitude wasn't: why care about the class if I'm going to retake it. My attitude was: why care about my grade? I still wanted to (and did) learn the material.</p>
<p>Actually, I changed my mind SmallCollegesFTW. You're right. It's not a match, but a high match. I wouldn't go so far as to consider it a slight reach, but it actually might be on the verge of being a reach with the 'F'...</p>
<p>I'm a 'shoe-in' at Hendrix though. I will not change my mind about that. ;)</p>
<p>Here is precisely what I sent my colleges about the 'F':</p>
<p>"-Trigonometry-</p>
<p>Due to my sheer and immature laziness I made a 'C' the first semester of my Honors Trigonometry class. My counselor, knowing my GPA was already quite low, recommended that I retake Trigonometry altogether to bring my 'C' up to an 'A'. It seemed logical and so I agreed that it would be smart to retake the class. So when the Spring semester of my junior year arrived, I (thinking immaturely) decided that the grade I received would be irrelevant -- why would it matter, I thought, if I was going to retake the class my senior year and the grade I got then would replace my grade for this semester? I paid attention in class and even took quizzes and tests (without turning them in) to see how well I was learning the material, but I turned in zero assignments and so obviously got an 'F'. My teacher knew why I was doing what I was doing and he seemed fine with it...because I was at least paying attention in class, etc.</p>
<p>However -- and this is what I failed to think of my junior year --, I wasn't able to retake the second semester of Trigonometry, the semester in which I received an 'F', until this semester.....so my high school transcript will show the 'F' for about another five months. That is why the transcript you guys received has a glaring 'F' on it.</p>
<p>I think it's ironic that I got an 'F' in Trig. during the most academically successful year of my high school career.</p>
<p>Anyways I hope that you all at least understand why I got the 'F'. It is still an 'F' and it still looks terrible, I know, but hopefully it does not look quite as terrible now that you all know the reasons behind it."</p>
<p>I say "the most academically successful year of my high school career" because it clearly was: I took challenging courses and maintained a 3.7 weighted GPA (that is very high compared to my other years, lol).</p>
<p>I think that letter was a really bad idea. You should not explain why you got an F, because failing for whatever reasons besides the coursework being too difficult for you is unacceptable, and even the excuse of the coursework is weak for colleges.
I hope you did not honestly send that to colleges especially in context of the unprofessional language such as "you guys".</p>
<p>Professionalism is not my thing. I distaste formal writing.</p>
<p>I actually only sent that to two of my colleges so far (sort of difficult to explain why, but I'm waiting on an email back from my others before I send it to my others, if I will).</p>
<p>And besides, what was I supposed to say in place of 'you guys'?</p>
<p>I stand by what I said. In this case, you not only emphasized that you got an F, but that you pointed out that if you thought a grade didnt matter you put in zero effort to turn in homework. That highlights laziness... and no high scores on the AP exam or SAT math will erase that idea from an adcom's mind.</p>
<p>lol, that letter is a joke right? did you not have anyone proofread that before you sent it out? come on...</p>
<p>you are writing a letter to an institution of higher learning, not a Myspace bulletin. i'd be surprised if you get accepted anywhere after that brilliant letter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Professionalism is not my thing. I distaste formal writing.
[/quote]
Professionalism "may not be your thing," but didn't you at least think it was important to write formally this one time? the way you wrote that letter shows serious lack of tact... and frankly, common sense. BTW it's "detest" i think you were trying to say</p>
<p>No...'distaste' was the word I was looking for.</p>
<p>Also, I have common sense. Of course you are 'supposed' to write formally for college applications. But, as I told you, I do not like writing formally. It's insincere...or at least, it would have been insincere of me in that instance.</p>
<p>This is also sort of the main reason for my low GPA. I only try when I'm learning material I am genuinely interested in. So I hardly gave effort at all in most of my classes. Even in classes that I am generally very interested in (AP Physics, for example) there are still chapters or sections I ignore due to lack of interest (Optics, for example). Call me strange or stupid, or both, but I refuse to dishonestly try in classes for the sole purpose of making my application look better. </p>
<p>Trying in classes you are genuinely uninterested in is exactly the same as lying about EC's on your application, for example. Would you advise someone who was lacking in EC's to lie so as to 'better' their application? Surely you wouldn't. Dishonestly trying in classes is the same thing.</p>
<p>I stand by what I said. In this case, you not only emphasized that you got an F, but that you pointed out that if you thought a grade didnt matter you put in zero effort to turn in homework. That highlights laziness... and no high scores on the AP exam or SAT math will erase that idea from an adcom's mind.</p>
<hr>
<p>Again, I did not put in zero effort. As my letter states, I paid full attention in class and even did the quizzes and tests. Homework is not required and most people in my class (obviously including myself) never do it. So I did exactly as much work as I did the first semester. </p>
<p>This is the point you seem not to understand (and this means my colleges will likely not understand either). It's not that I stopped caring about the MATERIAL. The only thing I did not care about was my GRADE, which is completely worthless. I will try to make this point more clear when I send this letter to my other colleges, if I do at all...according to you guys, I shouldn't.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, I have common sense. Of course you are 'supposed' to write formally for college applications. But, as I told you, I do not like writing formally. It's insincere...or at least, it would have been insincere of me in that instance.
[/quote]
you can express yourself with sincerity without coming across as immature. none of us would write with flowing, elaborate diction if we didn't have to, because we don't actually talk like that. you aren't the only one that feels like they are putting on a "mask" somewhat when writing formally. </p>
<p>but taking the time to write a formal, well-composed letter shows that you take yourself seriously and care about what type of impression you make. i'm not saying that you don't, but that's not how you will appear based on your letter. </p>
<p>
[quote]
his is the point you seem not to understand (and this means my colleges will likely not understand either). It's not that I stopped caring about the MATERIAL. The only thing I did not care about was my GRADE, which is completely worthless.
[/quote]
but that's the thing. your grade is NOT worthless. a high GPA may not indicate intelligence, but it reflects on your work ethic and shows that you are a serious student who cares about his academic success. </p>
<p>come on, man. you just don't get it. we all know that high school is BS, and 99% of the things colleges use to evaluate us don't actually show who we are. but we still make the effort to do them anyways, because we know that's the only way to succeed academically in today's world. i really do wish you the best, but i have serious doubts about whether colleges will look upon you or your application with favor.</p>