<p>you're a B student with an SAT above 2000. there are plenty of B students with 1500's who manage to get into college, so you should get in somewhere. plus you have geographic diversity on your side.</p>
<p>did you apply to the U of Arkansas?</p>
<p>I don't understand how you got an F in the class then, since according to you, you did all the tests/quizzes. Unless homework was 50 % of your grade (which I highly doubt as I've never heard a teacher doing that), how is it possible to get a F? Since according to you, you tried on your tests/quizzes, you should have gotten Bs and As, which in no way would add up to a F.</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>
<hr>
<p>Did you read the part of my previous post comparing lying about EC's and trying in classes you are not genuinely interested in?</p>
<p>Answer me this. Let's say you don't have very many EC's. Would you lie about being in clubs you weren't actually part of?</p>
<p>you're a B student with an SAT above 2000. there are plenty of B students with 1500's who manage to get into college, so you should get in somewhere. plus you have geographic diversity on your side.</p>
<p>did you apply to the U of Arkansas?</p>
<hr>
<p>True, true, but when you say 'manage to get into college' do you mean any colleges or decent colleges? Bad state universities (i.e. the U of Arkansas and worse), community colleges, and really really bad LAC's aren't really what I want...</p>
<p>And nope...did not apply. Although I am currently taking two classes there right now.</p>
<p>I don't understand how you got an F in the class then, since according to you, you did all the tests/quizzes. Unless homework was 50 % of your grade (which I highly doubt as I've never heard a teacher doing that), how is it possible to get a F? Since according to you, you tried on your tests/quizzes, you should have gotten Bs and As, which in no way would add up to a F.</p>
<hr>
<p>I didn't turn in the quizzes or tests. I just looked at them, did them, kept them, and then checked to see what I did and did not get correct when we went over them as a class.</p>
<p>Bump for any more opinions on the matter?</p>
<p>To those screaming at me for the lack of formality in my original post, how is this?</p>
<hr>
<p>Due to inexcusable 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. When the spring semester of my junior year arrived, I 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 (only to see how well I was learning the material), but I didn't turn in a single assignment the entire semester and, consequently, of course, received 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 and learning the material.</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. My high school transcript will show the 'F' until I graduate. That is why the transcript your office received (will receive) has a glaring 'F' on it.</p>
<p>(Please do not interpret this as an excuse for failing; I take full responsibility for my former immaturity and can now clearly recognize that I was, well, stupid in high school. But I hope all of you will believe me when I tell you that I have outgrown my old ways and plan to take college very seriously next fall. For what it's worth, I have given full effort in my two courses at the University of Arkansas these first three weeks and plan to do so for the next four (maybe six?) years and beyond.)"</p>
<p>OK, I'll bite.</p>
<p>I would write a letter to each college that conveyed the following simple idea:</p>
<p>I received a C the first semester of Trigonometry. I was undisciplined and let things get away from me. I met with the couselor and agreed with her suggestion that I should retake the class because I have a good chance of getting an A if I apply myself.</p>
<p>The second semester I wasn't able to switch into another class, so simply out of interest, I "audited" the second semester of Trig, without turning in assignments. I didn't fully realize that would generate an F grade, or consider that I wouldn't have my hoped for replacement A grade in time for the F to be removed.</p>
<p>The first part I essentially have already stated, but the last part I really like. Thanks.</p>
<p>Should I put 'audited' in quotes though?</p>
<p>I think you could argue either way...</p>
<p>In case anyone cares, here is my updated letter:</p>
<p>"Due to inexcusable 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. When the spring semester of my junior year arrived, I wasnt able to switch into another class that I would like without fully compromising my current schedule, so, simply out of interest, I audited my second semester of Trigonometry without turning in assignments, because I decided the grade I received that semester 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? 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 and learning the material.</p>
<p>However -- and this is what I failed to realize 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. I thought I would have time to retake the course and replace my planned F in time for college applications, but that was obviously not the case. And so that is why the transcript your office received has a glaring 'F' on it.</p>
<p>(Please do not interpret this as an excuse for failing; I take full responsibility for my former immaturity and can now clearly recognize that I was, well, stupid in high school. But I hope all of you will believe me when I tell you that I have outgrown my old ways and plan to take college very seriously next fall. For what its worth, I have given full effort in my two courses at the University of Arkansas these first three weeks and plan to do so for the next four (maybe six?) years and beyond.)"</p>
<hr>
<p>Any suggestions? Things I should take out? Add?</p>
<p>How will colleges look at this? ...Did I do myself good by explaining my F, or should I have left it untouched?</p>
<p>too long. Make it two short paragraphs at most. Adcoms are VERY busy.</p>
<p>But this is such a crucial part of my application...I'm mostly applying to small colleges, and they claim to look at each applicant thoroughly. </p>
<p>I'll try to get rid of as much as I can.</p>
<p>Because you have posted variations of this question on many different forums, I have seen your complete stats. Of course the F is going to raise a huge red flag regardless of the explanation. But your AP scores are another issue that is going to give you problems. Yes, the 4 in Stats is good, but you also have a 1 and a 2 (sorry, can't remember the courses). That is essentially the equivalent of failing 2 of the 3 APs on your transcript. I am not familiar with all the schools on your list, but I would be very surprised if you were accepted at Wake, Rhodes, Furman or Sewanee.</p>
<p>F's look Very, very good! The more you get, the better your chances of acceptance go up exponentially! F's are good! "F" stands for "Freaking great!" Like Tony the Tiger! I think I've heard that even Tony the Tiger had a few F's back in the days; look at what he's doing nowadays! Wearing that furry, fake tiger suit even in the summertime for cereal commercials! How Grrrreeeeaaat!</p>
<p>OP, i would shorten the letter.</p>
<p>and take out the "inexcusable laziness" part... it's probably not a good idea to s*** on yourself like that. instead, you could say something to the effect of "I was under a lot of stress from <em>insert random stressful things here</em> and my grades slipped"</p>
<p>I got an F my first semester at Michigan and when my back was against the wall and had a meeting with my coordinator trying to save my sorry a** at the university, I basically said...</p>
<p>"Even though it was my first semester, there is no excuse for ever failing a class. I didn't visit with my professors during their office hours for help, and I stopped going to class when I realized it was inevitable. I knew it was coming, and I just let it be. I screwed up. I would be grateful if I got a second chance at the university and would definitely make the most of it".</p>
<p>I was basically crapping my pants in the meeting, so the "sympathy factor" helped me out.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you on your colleges.</p>
<p>I think the explanation is going to kill you more than the grade.</p>
<p>^ Are you really saying it would have been better to not explain the F? Or are you saying my explanation is crap?</p>
<p>And thanks for the uplifting replies guys!</p>
<p>...jk, it's better than false hope.</p>
<p>"and take out the "inexcusable laziness" part... it's probably not a good idea to s*** on yourself like that. instead, you could say something to the effect of "I was under a lot of stress from <em>insert random stressful things here</em> and my grades slipped""</p>
<p>Creating excuses for yourself is a bad idea...isn't it? Colleges don't want to hear excuses.</p>
<p>@ GRITS80</p>
<p>The 2 was in Physics and the 1 was in Computer Science...both of those are literally the most difficult AP exams. The funny thing here is that I made an A and B in Physics and an A and C in Computer Science. So I did pretty well in both classes grade wise, but my scores were obviously very bad. When my class (of about 12 people) took the Computer Science exam, everyone literally slept the entire time. Everyone in my class got a 1. None of us knew how to do a single problem because our teacher was horrible. Also, the Physics...well, most people in my class also got a 2 or 1...bad teaching -- remember, I'm from Arkansas. I know I'm supposed to be "better than most" to get into good colleges, but oh well. (It might also be worth noting that I gave no effort in any of my AP classes, and really all of my classes, and the only reason I got a 4 on stat is because I'm apparently naturally very good at it...I mean, my grades for stat were a C and D.)</p>
<p>Per our guidance counselors, the AP score means more than the grade received in the course. The 4 in Stats will help outweigh the poor grades (although you now have a D to add to the F on your transcript which doesn't look good), but the 2 in Physics means more than your A/B grade in the class. The College Board site states that an AP score of 2 is equivalent to a D in an intro college course. It seems you have a awful lot of excuses for poor grades/scores.</p>
<p>lol...I know.</p>
<p>In Stat, the D didn't actually show up though. It says I have a C for the first semester and NC for the second semester.</p>
<p>NC meaning no credit.</p>
<p>I missed too many days that semester for Stat. </p>
<p>...Although I didn't actually miss too many days -- there was a mistake. But my counselor said NC looks better than a D, so we didn't get the mistake fixed...</p>
<p>...yeah.</p>
<p>Also, this statement:</p>
<p>"Per our guidance counselors, the AP score means more than the grade received in the course."</p>
<p>Sounds conveniently true for your counselors to say. Having good AP scores makes the school look better...I bet the score and the grade equally matter and your counselors are bending the truth there a bit.</p>