<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I was looking at the third prompt of the UC essay (Is there anything you'd like us to know about your academic record..etc?), and one of the ideas the UCs gave for what to write about was "inconsistancies in your academic record."</p>
<p>My weighted culm. GPA is a 4.1, and unweighted is 3.85. My SATs are 800 verbal, 730 writing, and 520 math. (retaking, but don't think I'm going to do amazingly better in math.) I got ELC, so I am in the top 4% of my high school class at a "competitive" school. </p>
<p>Last year, my junior year, I got all As in my APs/Honors classes (and 5's on the AP exams), B both semesters in regular Chemistry, and a C both semesters in Algebra II. I had gotten A-s in math up until these Cs in Algebra II.</p>
<p>There was no "unusual" reason for the Cs other than that I had a hard teacher, and for some reason I found algebra II to be very difficult. I worked really hard, but that's what I got. Instead of taking Trig or no math this year, I am taking AP Statistics and getting a B. </p>
<p>So, should I talk about the C/not amazing math ability in college essays (I hear that college admins will get mad if you don't "explain" a bad grade/weakness) even though there isn't much to say? Or, should I just include in a sentence that I'm simply not a math star, and dedicate that space to writing something positive? I feel that my other qua</p>
<p>Please respond!!! Thanks!!</p>
<p>Oh, I have some similar problem like you, jumpingbean. However, I'm in a worse situation though, I have two Cs, both in Calculus, one for each semester last year. At least you got ELC, I didn't. If only I work harder but math is totally not my strength. I'm thinking about explaining my bad grade in prompt 2 where they ask how have you taken advantage of the academic opportunity or something, but then I don't know what to write for prompt 3. It's quite a dilemma.</p>
<p>Yeah, I got two C's as well, as in both semesters of Alg. 2. Hopefully someone will have an answer for us!</p>
<p>Unless you learned something important from getting a C in Alg 2 the answer is No. You could write about it if you improved significantly in the 2nd semester, i.e. got a C 1st and then a A 2nd. But since this isn't the case and you don't have any legitimate excuse for the grade (like your mom dying), no.</p>
<p>my situation is veryyyyyyyyy similar</p>
<p>i also got ELC, but 2 C's in AP CHEM last year...i want to explain them in my third essay, but i don't know if i should or write about somethign more interesting.</p>
<p>to the OP, your essay is not going to help you. If you write about inconsistencies it should be with an eye towards explanatory reasons such as illness in the family or some other setback. </p>
<p>Spend some time with google and read how the UC system judges these essays. Keep in mind they were introduced as an end-run against the ban on affirmative action, and with a little searching you can see that you get the bonus points for overcoming difficulties, attending enrichment programs (that are only offered at schools enrolling large numbers of minority students), explaining that you attending a low-income school, etc.</p>
<p>See, for example, an article in the UCLA Daily Bruin which says
[quote]
With its announced intent to move toward a more "holistic" model of undergraduate admissions, UCLA will adopt a process modeled after UC Berkeley's, which has admitted a greater percentage of underrepresented minorities in recent years.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As the education-industry newspaper The Chronicle notes
[quote]
Both “comprehensive review” and the latest change at UCLA represent attempts to reverse the decline in minority enrollments that followed bans on race-conscious admissions adopted by the regents in 1995 and by the state’s voters in 1996. see <a href="http://chronicle.com/news/article/1061/ucla-adopts-holistic-model-in-admissions-to-stem-decline-in-minority-enrollment%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D">http://chronicle.com/news/article/1061/ucla-adopts-holistic-model-in-admissions-to-stem-decline-in-minority-enrollment
[/quote]
</a></p>
<p>ebonytear and mikemac give sound advice.</p>
<p>My son was in a similar situation last year. He wanted to use that space to explain why he got a C in an upper division college Latin class. Frankly, it just sounded like he was whining and trying to justify the C. I told him to write about something else so he wrote about fly fishing. He could have also used that space to write about hardships and special circumstances.</p>
<p>Anyway, he got into all the UCs that he applied to and is now attending UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say anything about you "not being a math star"; I think they can tell that from your grades and SAT scores! No need to dig your own grave deeper...haha. If there is a legit reason (family death, illness, etc.) or you learned something really valuable from that C and are now doing amazing in math b/c of what that really hard teacher taught you blahblah, then yeah...write about it. If there's not much to say, adcoms aren't dumb and will notice.</p>
<p>I was thinking about how I would say even though I got bad grades in AP classes last year, I still come back and take them again, like challenging myself. Does that sound like I'm determined and strive to do better or does it point out my weaknesses even more?</p>
<p>Don't write an essay outlining a negative aspect of your profile.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your feedback!</p>