Teacher Troubles, Ivy Colleges, and a Horrible, Horrible Conundrum

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello everyone!
New to the board here, I'm a long time lurker but a first time poster. I am a junior this year and I am facing a big problem for college admissions in the fall.</p>

<p>I, like most of you on this board am an Ivy league hopeful. Here are my stats for some background info:</p>

<p>SAT: 2350
SATII Math:800
SATII Bio:800
Grades: All A's except for last semester, which I got 2 B's. I am taking as many APs as possible
ECs: Very solid, have my own business, editor in chief of newspaper, likely drum major of band next year, Interact Club, my passion is playing the sax with honor bands and awards to back it up.</p>

<p>I am asian and male, by the way.</p>

<p>My dream schools are UPenn and Stanford.</p>

<p>Just recently, something has come up which has really thrown a wrench into my college dreams. My AP Environmental Science teacher and I have traditionally had a history of clashing with each other. Our personalities don't fit very well, and I was hoping to just get this class over with and have a decent grade by the end of the year.</p>

<p>I got a B in her class the first semester and I was just hoping to ride second semester out.</p>

<p>However, last week, I had work for another class out in my AP Environmental Science class, and she (the teacher) became angered and took it away. Next thing I knew, she had kicked me out of the class. It has now been replaced by the equivalent of a TA period</p>

<p>I am trying desperately to appease her and get back into the class, but I don't know what my chances are of that happening.</p>

<p>Because I took chemistry over the summer one year, I will have 4 years of lab science. However, I do not know how dropping an AP class second semester will look on my transcript. (I can still take the AP test, however)</p>

<p>I have asked many people about my situation and answers have ranged from "just do well in your other classes and you'll be fine" to "you're pretty much screwed for Ivies now"</p>

<p>So now I come to you, the ultimate hub of college admissions information on the web in search of answers.</p>

<p>How will my situation hurt my chances of getting into my dream schools? </p>

<p>If this might screw me over, is there any way to explain or rationalize the situation on the app (I don't think just saying I didn't get along with the teacher is gonna help me)?</p>

<p>Is there any possible way to make up the second half of the class, say online or at another institution?</p>

<p>Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance for your answers!</p>

2

<p>Contact the administration, the teacher shouldn’t be able to do that.
****ing teachers and their power trips.</p>

3

<p>Word, teachers should be impartial. Of course, we have only heard your side of the story ;).</p>

4

<p>Actually, there is a story behind that. Because of our past issues, I had to sign a behavior contract. If I broke any of the stipulations, I would be immediately removed from the class. One was “be focused on APES at all times”, which having work from another class out violated. One could argue that I was not DOING the work from another class and merely had it out, but arguing will get me nowhere in this situation; the only solution is through appeasement.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned contract, the administration is completely behind whatever choice she decides to make. We have talked to the principal and counselors and they choose to back her, whatever she chooses to do. My counselors have actually told me that they thought the decision was way too harsh, but they can’t change her mind.</p>

<p>Now I am wondering about one thing, meteman, which your comment made me think about. Is it legal for a teacher to take a student out of a class like that? There are no other teachers that teach that class.</p>

<p>But the administration will be no help. The only way to change her mind is through her.</p>

5

<p>There must be more to this if they made you sign a behavior contract. What happened to cause that?</p>

6

<p>Yes, I didn’t go into detail about the things leading up to that. Basically it all stemmed from our inherent personality clashes; I was never too excited about the class to begin with, so there were a couple times when I zoned out during class. Then I got into an argument with her twice, once over an essay grade, and the next during an in-class activity, it went like this:</p>

<p>Class is grouped into tables and is doing an activity where she asks us questions and each table responds by writing the answer on a whiteboard and holding it up</p>

<p>Our table has already written down on an answer, so I am sitting and reading a packet that was handed out earlier.</p>

<p>She says, “multivariable, if you don’t participate, I won’t give you any points for this activity”</p>

<p>I tell her that our table has already written down an answer</p>

<p>which leads to an argument and my getting kicked out of class, and then the contract.</p>

7

<p>Get your parents involved.</p>

8

<p>Dear multivariable,</p>

<p>I have no knowledge of what this would do vis-a-vis your chances at UPenn or Stanford. And as much as people want to speculate, let’s be real here: No one knows with any degree of certitude. However, I can tell you this: There is no amount of explanation that makes you come out looking good. What are you going to say? “I signed a contract and then violated it?” That’s the gist of it, however you want to split hairs. If I were you, I’d think hard about why your teacher felt she needed to have you sign a contract and why, after having signed the contract, you didn’t behave in the most exemplary way possible? Could it be you didn’t think she’d have the nerve to enforce the terms of the contract?</p>

9

<p>um, what absweetmarie said.</p>

<p>and also: never argue with a teacher! that’s just stupid. even if you’re positive you’re right or have a point, if she or he is not in the mood to hear it, then don’t say it. you’re just asking for trouble and her, being the matriarch, will do what it takes to assert her jurisdiction over you</p>

<p>also: that was just stupid, to elaborate. having work out from another class after you basically agreed on a contract that you wouldn’t? you said you weren’t working on it? why was it out then?</p>

<p>but i mean good luck to you. i really do think that this will hurt your chances though, to be entirely honest; there are plenty of 4.0 students without such a blemish for stanford and penn to choose from.</p>

10

<p>If I were in your position, I would get the parents involved as well. It couldn’t really hurt in any case. If worse comes to worse, address it in any optional essays that may pop up. Briefly explain the situation, take responsibility for it whether or not it was your fault and mention what you have done to mitigate/how you matured from that mistake. More or less you are saying you were wrong (which is not easy) and throwing yourself at the mercy of the court. If you go on about how it wasn’t your fault, (even if it wasn’t) get the legal system involved, etc you will generally be viewed in a dim light because even if it was just a teacher being a d-bag, that is just how society views people who go about things like that.</p>

<p>Worst case scenario, you don’t get the schools you wish and can take a gap year to further prove with actions that you are taking responsibility then re-apply. I would rather lose a year filled with working, perhaps taking a few community college courses or doing extraordinary things with your new-found freedom to get into a school like Stanford then not at all. :)</p>

11

<p>My thoughts:</p>

<p>1) Sounds like the counselors are on your side, so they will probably write you a good recommendation. Hurdle #1 crossed.</p>

<p>2) Study for and take the AP test.</p>

<p>3) Can you get a science teacher to sponser you for an independent study? Maybe you could do a research project and write it up. This narrative can be presented as you having a passion that you wanted to follow, and you were capable of simultaneously handling (and doing well on) the AP test, so you did not need to be in the class.</p>

<p>4) Just try to be nice and calm and respectful for this semester. It will probably go a long way to soothe the teacher who had enough of you, and perhaps you two will laugh about this later :)</p>

12

<p>You should write a sincere letter of apology, but that means you actually need to recognize that what you did was wrong. Nothing fake. If you can’t do that, then move on; it’s not the end of the world.</p>

<p>

If I was your parent, I’d work hard to turn around your thinking. We would also have a long conversation about respect.</p>

13

<p>It seems as though you are technically at fault, though I wouldn’t say (based on the info here) that you should have been in the situation to begin with. I totally understand the feeling of dealing with an irrational person (my mom, lol). You should write a letter of apology; doesn’t matter if it’s sincere. Just appease this teacher and keep your head down, make her feel like she’s right. Because in the long run, her opinion doesn’t matter, but her class does.</p>

14

<p>samslam–I don’t think, based on the information at hand, that it’s fair to assume the teacher is “irrational.” (I will not make any assumptions about your mom, one way or the other.) Multivariable’s teacher has the right to expect that the kids in her class (even those who are wildly gifted academically, with Ivy League aspirations) pay attention to what’s going on in her class. Further, she has a responsibility to the other kids in the class to keep disruptions to a minimum. We don’t know if she is unfairly singling out the OP. Maybe she is. It is also just as possible that she was at the end of her rope and couldn’t figure out another way to keep the OP’s disruptions from affecting the class as a whole. When people say things like “technically at fault,” it suggests that there is a difference between being “technically at fault” and REALLY being at fault. Why make the distinction? The OP signed a contract. He didn’t abide by the terms of the contract. That’s “at fault,” plain and simple.</p>

15

<p>Can you go over the administration’s head? Is there a school board or district office you can contact to push the issue?</p>

16

<p>You are lucky to be out of this class without a bigger consequence. There is no version of this story that is very sympathetic for you, and your best options are:

  1. sincerely apologize for your behavior
  2. use the study hall time to self study APES
  3. take the APES test and do very well.
    Your lack of respect for your teacher and the class are obvious, and you do not want to do further damage to your GC rec letter.</p>
17

<p>dad1518–Go over the school administration’s head? Really? What are the grounds for such an action? Maybe the OP should accept that he made a mistake in picking a fight with his teacher and in violating the terms of a signed contract, and face the consequences. In the long run, he will be better off, even if it means he isn’t accepted into one of his dream schools. It’s funny. Every time I’ve read about a college or university with an honor code, I’ve thought, “Why is this so necessary? Do students really need to be reminded to be respectful, to live up to their words, to be considerate of other people, etc.?” Some do, evidently.</p>

18

<p>OP-- actually, sounds like your teacher gave you the most valuable lesson of all . . . “actions have consequences.” Getting into a big name school shouldn’t be you (or your parents) main concern. Sometimes being being book smart isn’t enough. Good luck resolving this problem.</p>

19

<p>I second siliconvalleymom’s three recommendations. If your apology letter is sincere, and you end up next year in another class with her than perhaps you can utilize this on your app, if it fits in with an essay option (How I learned what paying attention and participating really mean:-)…but other than that I wouldn’t address it in your application at all.</p>

20

<p>Use that barnburning intelligence that got you a 2350 on the SAT, and do a better job (or some kind of job) figuring out what went wrong. </p>

<p>“Inherent personality clashes”? Give me a break. If you can’t do a better job of managing personalities and teacher expectations, you won’t last one term at a place like Stanford.</p>

<p>The enablers on this thread just slay me. I don’t even know this kid, and he’s not in a class of mine, I’m not even a teacher, and I’M READY to throw him out.</p>