<p>Hi, I have a son who just got accepted into college (ECU, Campbell, NC State). He took pre-calculus as a junior and received a C. He is now taking AP Calculus AB, and currently has a D. I'm really worried that once colleges see his senior grades they will consider rejecting him. His current grades (Hon. Sociology-A, AP Biology-B, Hon. English-B, AP Calc.-D). The D seems to be an outlier, I'm hoping colleges will keep the other grades in mind. Has this ever happened to any of your children? My son's first choice is NC State, but the whole family is afraid he'll get rejected later even though he was accepted last week. Thank You, Motherof2kids.</p>
<p>I don't know about NC State's policies, but I do know that your S still has a chance to improve things since what NC State will be looking at will be his final grades.</p>
<p>He can either drop to a lower course (which NC State may not mind) or he can get tutoring to raise his grade.</p>
<p>Regardless of what he chooses to do to keep that "D" grade from being his final grade, he needs to take seriously the fact that if his grades plummet, he will lose his NC State admission.</p>
<p>Typically, seniors slack off more and more as the year progresses, so if he's not careful, that "D" could change to an "F," and some other grades could fall, too, which probably would cause him to lose his admission.</p>
<p>Mof2k, Hello and welcome to CC. Are you in NC? I am and have a S at NCSU. Many of his h.s friends are there also. I know several of them got C's in AP Calc. AB. and one got a D but none of these are engineering majors. Is your S planning on majoring in engineering? I'm guessing not since his other schools are ECU and Campbell. If not he will probably be OK as long as he doesn't fail and keep the rest of his grades up. Since AP CAlc. is a year long course, your S has time to improve his grade. Don't panic yet. PM me if you need more info. on NCSU.</p>
<p>I am not from NC either and cannot speak to what their schools may do in this situation, but for whatever it's worth, last year my S was also facing a D in calculus after fall mid-terms, but managed to raise that to a C by the end of the semester and received a B for his final grade in the spring. And this is a kid who was on the math team and planned to go into engineering! His math teacher was not overly concerned at the time (even though I was panicking for similar reasons as the OP) and told me that the fall curriculum included a section that was completely new/unrelated to previous studies, and given the faster pace of AP classes, many students had struggled with that particular section and not quite "gotten it" by test time. So a D at this point may not be an indication of his final grade if he tries to do his best in this class for the remainder of the year - and does not get caught up in senioritis (esp since he's already been accepted to colleges). But if he really feels like he is struggling in Calculus this year, he should consider dropping down to a lower level.</p>
<p>Is he on block schedule where the D will be appearing as his final grade in a few short weeks? Or is he on a traditional schedule where he has time to pull up his grade?</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Kat, Are AP's at your h.s on the 4x4 system? We are on that system for regular and honors classes but all AP's last the whole school year. Makes for a confising schedule.</p>
<p>Thank You, I appreciate all of your inputs. My son's school is on block schedule, so he will have his final grades in mid January. He is planning on majoring in biological sciences and minoring in business. We tried hiring a tutor for him, but he's at the point where, he has to relearn pre-calc. over again (he took pre-calc in his soph. year) to actually do well in calculus. I'm just hoping he manages to get a C and won't be rejected from his 1'st choice college. -Thank You, Motherof2kids</p>
<p>Wow, taking Calc on a block schedule must be tough! I could not imagine doing it. My son took it over a summer, and it was more of a calc for humanities/soc sciences types, and he was swamped. </p>
<p>I don't have any suggestions since I don't know how NC schools work or what their standards are for senior grades. I know most schools are forgiving of a lower than ususual calc grade, and don't get anxious about lower senior year grades, unless it is a drastic drop. Your GC might have specific info on whether is courting trouble. I still think you should get the tutor over Christmas break to get him as caught up as possible and maybe ask the tutor to consult with the calc teacher to see what the exam is going to emphasize to help him get through it. As a bio major, calc may well be a requirement, and calc for the sciences is toughie in college. In would help him to have a good foundation of the precalc and some idea of the calc, as it won't be easier taking it, if he has never gotten the fundamentals. Even if the tutoring does not help much for his exam, getting those precalc/calc basics down a little better can really pay off. Good luck to him, and congrats for the acceptance already.</p>
<p>At NCSU a biological sciences major will have to take 2 semesters of calculus. It is called Calculus for Life Sciences/Management majors. Thats different than Calc. for Science(think Chem., Physics, Meteorology) and Engineering majors. It shouldn't be quite as tough. S has a friend who only went through Pre-Cal in h.s. and has managed to make it through the Life Sciences/Managment Calc. sequence.</p>