i’m a straight a student, but my math grades so far this year have been… not great. in quarter 1 i had a c+ and in quarter 2 i had a b. however, i am in the honors program at my school and up until this year my grades in math have never been this low. my poor grades in math combined with my 79th quantitative percentile on the ssat have led to me stressing about how they might affect my chances of admission, especially in a competitive applicant pool.
stats for context:
- asian american, over represented state (MA), full pay
- ssat: 79 quant, 98 reading, 98 verbal (98 overall)
- applying to 7 boarding schools for 10th grade admission (andover, concord, groton, governor’s academy, milton, nobles, and st. paul’s). i’m reapplying to andover, concord, milton, and nobles because i got waitlisted from them last year lol.
- heavily involved in dance (12+ hours per week, was clara in my city’s production of the nutcracker this year) and piano (national competitions, performed in carnegie hall 5+ times). i submitted dance and piano video portfolios to all the schools and received some very nice feedback from some! when i visited st. paul’s i also took class with their amazing ballet company.
- volunteering: i provide free piano lessons to low-income children around boston and i tutor english to students in ukraine
- vice prez of freshman student council at my school, asian student union member (that doesn’t really mean much because anyone can join haha)
- all of my interviews went so well - i’m still in touch with quite a few of my interviewers - and my essays were great because i told my stories well and showed unique perspectives. i got them reviewed by my educational consultant and a family friend (whom i don’t know well) that works in college admissions.
if anyone is having a similar experience, or has any advice, please feel free to share 
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It could be that it’s finally catching up that math (or what’s been covered this year) isn’t your thing. It could be a variety of things such as before this year, teachers, or the subject, were easy and things just clicked. Now it takes more time to understand as it is getting more complex. It happens sometimes.
For many bright kids, everything about school just comes easily and they don’t really have to work at learning. And for most, at some point, there comes material that doesn’t click all that quickly. It doesn’t mean it’s not your thing. Don’t go there yet!
What it does mean is that your learning toolkit lacks the tools and techniques you need to master material than isn’t immediately accessible to you. Use this as an opportunity to develop those. Try to figure out where you got lost and start there. Go see the teacher for help. Get a tutor. Go back and review and redo earlier material to ensure you have mastered fundamentals. The ability to learn is the skill you need to develop and will use for the rest of your life. Really, this is what you need!! It’ll outlast everything else you learn (and possibly later forget!) Don’t start closing off avenues for yourself at this point in life because sometimes, once you master a fundamental-- even one you struggle with – you’ll go back to smooth sailing.
I will also toss out there that this is not an uncommon way for some students to discover they have ADHD (without demonstrated hyperactivity) at around this age. When the time required to master something exceeds their focus time, they can’t. There are ways of addressing this that don’t necessarily require medication, so if you think this could be the case, you should talk to your parents about getting tested.
As for your question about BS, I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker that you do not present as being quantitatively strong. Schools need kids with all kinds of strengths, and while your scores and grades don’t suggest you are a powerhouse, neither do they suggest you are a disaster. Hopefully, your essays and recs point to what you can bring to a community.
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