<p>I am a freshman, and I would like to transfer to a private school next year from the University of Kentucky. My GPA might be as low as 3.14 for my first semester, but there is reasoning behind this. My chemistry professor was fired during the semester due to her terrible teaching skills, and we are now stuck with a substitute who is equally as bad. I have no idea what's going on, and I may end up with a C in chemistry. Right now, I have a low B, but if I do bad on my final, that's it for me. And I also received a C in my chemistry lab because my computer malfunctioned during my practical (my final), and that literally eliminated more than 15 minutes of the 50 minutes given to me. I was NOT allowed to do a re-take. My grade went from a B to a C when it easily could have been an A if my computer would not have messed up. This was not my fault, as the problem can be attributed to the computer not having Adobe Flash Player and a faulty Internet connection. Will schools like Vanderbilt, Emory, and Wake Forest understand my situation? I'll have a much higher GPA next semester, and I am taking 19 credit hours. I do a lot of extracurriculars and I hold a lot important positions here at UK. Also, I do a ton of service work, and my stats from high school are great (9 AP classes, all honors courses, top 4% of my class, 3.93 UW GPA). What do you think? Thanks in advanced!</p>
<p>And I have a good SAT score (2120), four great recommendations (from professors and my advisor), and super amazing essays that I’ll be working on for over 2 months.</p>
<p>You’re planning to say you have low grades because of a bad teacher and a computer malfunction? No, there is not any college that will buy into that.</p>
<p>The time to handle such problems is at the moment. If your school agreed there was teacher fault they would adjust grades or add a note to the transcript. </p>
<p>If your computer malfunctioned you should have found the proctor immediately and worked out the problem. </p>
<p>Your excuse laden application would be a tremendous turn off at any college.</p>
<p>The proctor was the one that attemped to help me, couldn’t, and then had to get the actual supervisor of the chem lab department. This itself took about 8 minutes. Then, I had to login into the other computer and get back to where I was. The chemistry department at UK does not allow re-takes, even if it’s their fault. That policy alone is by far one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard in my life. And no one’s going to put a note on my transcript for a teacher being fired! Do you even go to a university? Let’s be for real here…</p>
<p>And by the way, the rest of my grades are ALL A’s. I would have about a 3.8 (solely with a B in chemistry), if none of this would have happened.</p>
<p>Greentz,</p>
<p>Since the problem on the exam was due to a malfunction of the departmental equipment, if you could not have been given more time that day to complete the exam, and the department could not come up with another plan to rectify the situation, it is time for you to take this up the food chain. Start with your own advisor. If that doesn’t work, contact the university Ombudsman and/or the Dean.</p>
<p>I agree with Waverly.</p>
<p>If your gpa is going to be high in the end, why does it matter? You can write your experience in your essay but don’t blame anyone because your not taking responsibility. Just because your teacher is “horrible” doesn’t mean you can’t get a higher grade. What do you expect at universities where the prof has a strong accent to his native language? Students can’t just blame the prof and get excused.</p>
<p>Sent from my T-Mobile G1 using CC App</p>
<p>But that’s not the case, and that’s not what I asked. The question was, “will the colleges that I am applying to care for my situation,” as in will they at least consider it. The chem lab incident was not my fault (any moron could figure that out), and I’m going to the Ombudsman where I will likely get a re-take and make an A. Now, I do agree that my grade would still probably be a B in chemistry, but my professor helped contribute to that. All the things that she has not properly explained in class means more studying for me, and that’s not good since I have a lot of authority on campus, have two jobs, and do more volunteer work than anyone else could ever imagine doing in a week. There is a place on the CommonApp where you can fill out any other concerns; this is where all this information goes.</p>
<p>"All the things that she has not properly explained in class means more studying for me, and that’s not good since I have a lot of authority on campus, have two jobs, and do more volunteer work than anyone else could ever imagine doing in a week. "</p>
<p>Ahem. You are in college. If you need to study more, you study more, and you drop some or even all of the non-studying things that you are doing. Period. The second you realized that you were going to have to teach this material to yourself was the second you should have cleared the rest of your calendar.</p>
<p>Getting a B is fine. Your not taking responsibility is another story. It does not matter if any of the schools take you if you have the mentality you currently hold. You will have horrible professors. It’s a part of college. Don’t blame a horrible professor for a grade. </p>
<p>And, lastly, unless your school sends an official letter detailing the mishaps you incurred, the schools will not really care. </p>
<p>Also, you would have to pull out a near 4.0 next semester to show that it truly was not your fault for getting a 3.14. If you get a sub 3.5 again, the schools definitely won’t buy your story.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Go there on your app and you will get a lot of thin envelopes. You need a reality check, there are lots of bad profs in the world.</p>