<p>If we're even considering applying to a school such as Princeton, we probably loathe the grade B. The reason I am posting this is that I received a B both semesters this year in the same class, a class that I can't seem to do well in. I don't know why I can't seem to do well, but I definitely have not slacked off. So here's my question: how much do these matter? I'm currently a sophomore in high school and have decent EC's with leadership in my areas of passion and SAT's(2200's currently without intense prep, goal is 2300+). For the rest of high school, I most likely won't get a B again unless I get super unlucky. I feel awfully miserable right now because of this. The worst thing is, I'm an Asian male. If I get no more B's for the rest of high school, will my chances be significantly hurt by these B's? I swear that I am not a weak student, but I really could not help getting these B's...lets just say the class was messed up. So like with these B's, my UW GPA will end up being ~3.95(?). I know that I sound absurd asking this but I wanted a 4.0 GPA in high school and failed. What should I do for the rest of high school in order to stay competitive with the rest?<br>
If it matters, I attend a nationally ranked high school that offers around 30 AP(the B's were in one of them) courses. I will probably have taken 9-10 by the time I graduate.</p>
<p>I, too, fear the day when I get a B. I may have to resign next year, however, when I am taking a very rigorous schedule. </p>
<p>But a 3.95 UW is strong. It will not keep you out of Princeton. Good luck.</p>
<p>One or two B’s will not affect your chances in a really serious way. Yes, a 4.0 is nice, but ultimately, the student who got 3 B’s in high school is not all THAT different from a student who got all A’s.</p>
<p>The average high school GPA of admitted students to Princeton is a 3.85 (unweighted), which means people with GPAs both below and above that number are admitted. A 3.95 is very strong; don’t stress out about it.</p>
<p>Well two B’s aren’t a problem in itself, but if you’re getting those in a sophomore level class while you “definitely have not slacked off”, then things might be a little hairy later on.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a soph level class, it was an AP class.</p>
<p>Don’t stress about it. You’re fine as long as you do well your junior and senior years.</p>
<p>By the way, a couple of Bs don’t make you a failure!</p>
<p>How many B’s did I get?</p>
<p>Let’s see -</p>
<p>1 in Honors English 1,
2 in BC Calculus
1 in Honors Physics
1 in Honors Chemistry,
1 in Honors English 2,
1 in AP US History,
1 in Honors World History,</p>
<p>so 8. </p>
<p>And I’m international, but I still got in (UW - 3.85 ish, W - 4.63/5).
Just make sure your essays are good. Really, the B’s aren’t going to hurt too much. What can hurt are essays/recs/courseload/extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Great essays and teacher recommendations can easily outweigh a less-than-satisfactory GPA…but yours is definitely not less-than-satisfactory.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful replies. Gryffon, the reason I got a B in this class is because my teacher uses the collegeboard rubric when grading our essays. This makes it especially hard to get full points on the assignments. My essay average ended up being a low C for this reason. I got all A’s on the tests. If it matters, I was like a few decimal places from getting an A.</p>
<p>Also, I can be pretty certain that I won’t get another B during high school because the only reason I got a B in this particular class was because of the teacher. IF I had another for the same course, it would have turned out differently.</p>
<p>Again, a few Bs aren’t a problem.</p>
<p>I’m curious though–don’t ALL AP teachers use the College Board rubric when grading essays? My senior took 10 AP courses in high school, and ALL of the teachers used it when grading essays (or free response-type questions in math/science). That’s how they prepared the kids for the exams.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to hijack this thread, but I’d really like to know whether that’s atypical.</p>
<p>“I’m curious though–don’t ALL AP teachers use the College Board rubric when grading essays?”</p>
<p>Not mine. She used the “how much do I like you, and how good of a mood am I in” rubric. =P</p>
<p>In all seriousness though, yes, most do use the rubric, but those are points out of 9 and unless you weight it so that an 8 or a 9 is an A, a 5 is a C, and so on, a 5 out of 9 would calculate to being an F despite being a mediocre performance.</p>
<p>The other teacher for this course at my school used her own grading scale and gave students a grade out of 9. So, students would see what they would have gotten and weren’t penalized too severely for their mistakes.</p>
<p>my english teacher does - 9 =98, 8 =94, 7 =88, 6 =84, etc.</p>
<p>Some teachers do (and I assume this is what cornetking’s teacher does) 9=95 (or ‘A’), 8 =85, (or ‘B’), 7 =75 (or ‘C’), etc. You can use the ap rubric and be reasonable, or use the AP rubric to screw kids over. Because on AP, a 6 is alright, and a 7 is pretty good. But if you translate that into raw grades, a 6 is failing, and a 7 is a C. Getting an 8 on AP is really good, getting a B on every essay (if you make straight 8s) would really suck.</p>
<p>so that’s why.</p>
<p>I received a streak of below 6’s on these so that’s why my average in this category was a low C. And yeah, my teacher enters these grades as X/9 and 9’s are very hard to earn.</p>
<p>Don’t stress out over two B’s! Its going to be ok! Princeton won’t penalize you for two b’s! I got a year end C in Math my sophomore year and I still managed to get in. These B’s will not keep you out of Princeton.</p>
<p>ok so like the OP, i must confess, i have gotten a couple of Bs. They were not in “core” classes. They were some fine arts electives I took, like ceramics and drawing. In retrospect i wish I hadn’t taken those classes. I have never gotten a B so far in my core classes. Is this going to hurt me? After all, it is an elective and I don’t want colleges to think that I slacked off, because I really tried hard. But what can I say, Im just not good at fine arts.</p>
<p>VERY insignificant, especially since it was an AP. What AP class was it? I’m mad at myself because in Freshman year I got a B at a a private, out of school school called Math Support Services. The jerks had the audacity to charge me $2,500 for Geometry 1A, and another for Geometry 1B.</p>
<p>They THEN PROCEEDED TO GIVE ME A TUTOR FROM MASTER’S COLLEGE WHO HAD NO IDEA HOW TO TEACH. No, not an actual teacher, A STUDENT AT SOME LOUSY, 7TH RATE SCHOOL IN A CITY NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD OF. In one case, I even got a HIGH SCHOOL tutor, although I got the community college guy most of the time. Disgusting.</p>
<p>And then they give you hard tests with material that they did not properly teach. So of course I got a B. Does this even matter in the long run? Is it still possible to get a 4.0 UW with one B?</p>
<p>i totally disagree with the “no B ever” idea. it’s just plain stupid</p>
<p>you got a B. so what.</p>
<p>i had about two Bs (that is before i applied to princeton) one sophomore year and one first semester of senior year. i didn’t think they looked bad at all and apparently neither did the admissions officers. i actually kind of liked my Bs, they gave the application character.</p>
<p>celebrate your Bs my friend; maybe it’ll keep you on the ground</p>
<p>I got 4 B’s and I got in. But I have a nice hook.</p>