@thesecretguy-I already answered your private message so check there.
Hello, I hope you are well and please could you answer my quesiton.
I have two. I was accepted to UC Davis
My first one is that instead of letter grades that show on my final transcript, I actually reported number grades when applying to the university. For example I got a D in Mathematics for my first semester of senior year but I reported it as 3. I applied to 4 UC’s. Irvine Davis, Santa Cruz and Riverside. I got into 3 and waitlisted at Irvine. Irvine SC and Riverside all asked for my transcripts but UC Davis did not. I am assuming they saw my transcripts which had letter grades on it because all the other 3 UC’s asked for it and probably saw it. But my final transcript that will go to them in July will show them letter grades and not the number grades that I reported. Is this okay because my counselor said it wasn’t that big an issue.
Secondly (much bigger), I recieved an F in the second semester for my Math SL Course. I tried to bring it up second quarter of my second semster but I couldn’t. I scored nearly 80 percent i.e. a B- in my mocks but it still wasn’t enough. It’s not really that I am bad at math. I reciever 720 in SAT (98th percentile) and also mostly B’s in 9,10 and 11 grades Also, I will most certainly score a C (4 in IB) or above in my actual IB exams due in 2 weeks.
Am I in grave danger of being rescinded? or will I be fine?
P.S.
I am talking about UC Davis.
I am an international student paying full tuition
@Sally_Rubenstone Please help me. My husband and I were thrilled when our son got accepted into Rice University regular decision. Right now, he is taking advantage of Georgia’s Move on When Ready program to go to Georgia Tech. He is taking regular classes at Georgia Tech for his high school credit. The teachers do not know he is in high school, he signs up for classes like all the other Tech students, but they count towards his high school credit. That being said, his grades have dropped this semester. He made 2 As and 2 Bs last semester at Tech. High schools add 10 extra points for colleges classes, so his transcripts show all As; however, we sent the Tech transcript as well, so they also have his “true” grades. This semester, he will make 3 Bs and one either C or D in multivariable calculus. If he makes a C, it will go down as a B on his transcript. If he makes a D, it will go down as a C…however, colleges know that 10 points are added and I feel that we should send in his Tech transcript, too. It is not because he is lazy. He works 15 hours a week so he can pay for a bus ride to and from GA Tech Monday thru Friday and the bus/marta ride takes him 1.5 hours each way. That’s 30 hours of time he can’t spend studying. The class in which he is doing so poorly only has three tests, two midterms and a final. He bombed one midterm (47). Multivariable Calculus is not a typical senior high school class…and he is taking it at a college known for its rigor. However, applied mathematics is his intended major! He definitely plans on reaching out to Rice once he knows his grade (finals are about 2 weeks away). He’s been studying, going to PLUS sessions, everything he can to make sure he makes at least a 71 on the final to make a C in the class. I’m literally sick to my stomach. If Rice rescinds his acceptance I don’t know what we will do. They gave him an awesome financial aid package because we are low income. If they rescind, then he will have to go to a community college, I guess. We couldn’t afford anything else. He has made all As in high school classes, 730 reading and 790 math SAT. He took an online course in Advanced Algebra the summer of 9th grade so he could take Calculus as a junior. Then he self-studied Calculus BC (his school only offered AB) and made a 4 on the test. He did this just so he could enroll in Georgia Tech his senior year. Now I’m thinking it was a big mistake.
@tracycoral-While I can never say so for sure, I think that your son will be okay at Rice once he explains to them everything you have said here … including the time spent on the bus to go to Tech, the extra hours he works to pay for the bus ride, the PLUS sessions, etc.
Since you are so worried now, however, you might not want to wait until grades are final before having your son contact his Rice admission rep. (By “his” rep I mean the admissions staff member who oversees applicants from his high school. If he doesn’t know who that is, he should call Rice and ask. However, if he has already had personal contact with a DIFFERENT Rice admission official, he can email that person instead.) He can explain what you’ve said here and tell Rice that he MIGHT get a D in multivariable calc, but it could be a C. Then he can ask if his acceptance will be revoked because of the downturn, especially if he does end up with a D. Chances are good that he will be reassured that he’s fine as long as he’s not slacking … which clearly he isn’t.
Once he gets to Rice, it’s possible that he will decide that he’s over his head in the applied math major. If that’s the case, he can switch to something that’s less stressful. (Most college students end up majoring in something different than what was intended when they were still in high school.) But maybe he’ll be fine with it. So my best advice is that he should talk to Rice NOW rather than having the whole family sweating over this until the end of the semester.
Let me know what happens and good luck.
@Sally_Rubenstone Thank you so much for responding and giving me some guidance. I feel better already. My son said he will do that first thing tomorrow morning.
@Sally_Rubenstone Hi Ms. Rubenstone, I was the one who wrote to you a couple months ago regarding my disciplinary probation for alcohol intoxication and its impact on my guaranteed transfer offer to Cornell. I just wanted to let you know that I received official notification tonight that I had been accepted to the Cornell Class of 2020 and will more than likely (pending the results from my other transfer applications) be moving to Ithaca in the fall. Thank you for your advice and encouragement!
@esterling-Thanks so much for the follow-up. Your good news made me happy, and it’s also very helpful for me to know the outcome in situations such as yours. I promise you that you aren’t the only high school student or college freshman who’s gotten into hot water over underage drinking, so it’s useful to know how a college has responded to it.
Best wishes on your transfer to Cornell … or wherever you land.
@tracycoral-If your son has any problems with Rice, let me know. I can’t promise that I can help but I would want to make sure that Rice got all the info that they should have and then acted appropriately.
@Sally_Rubenstone Thank you so much for that offer. After sitting down with my son’s high school counselor, I realized that even if my son made a D, it would show up as a B on his high school transcript. GT only gives letter grades, his school only gives numeric grades. His high school counts 80 to 89 as a “B”, 74 to 79 as a “C” and 70 to 73 as a “D”. Their policy is to convert college "D"s to a 71, then add ten points making it an 81. A “C” is converted to a 75 and then ten points added, so 85. Therefore, his high school transcript will convert his GT grades to three As and a B. Of course, he will still send in his GT transcript and it may upset Rice to see that “B” is really a “D” (hopefully, that won’t be the case). Do you think with so many variables going on, it may be best to wait until we see what he actually makes in the class? I’m feeling a little better about how the grade will appear on the high school transcript, and my son already said whatever grade he makes he wants to re-take multi-variable calculus. He is not happy with a C or a D, and really feels he could do so much better.
@Sally_Rubenstone Will colleges be able to see attendance when final grades are submitted to them or does the final transcript simply show just the final grades for the classes?
@Sally_Rubenstone If a student accepted into UVA has a slip in grades from a B-, B+, A, B, A, A- in the first semester to a C-, B+, A, B-, B+, A- in the second semester, should the student reach out and contact the college explaining the slip in grades or should they just let it blow by. This student is taking 5 AP classes for the year.
Would contacting UVA to explain be bringing unnecessary attention on the student or would it ensure that no harm is done?
And one final question, would this student be in jeopardy of receiving a letter asking for an explanation with this slip in grades?
@StressedaboutUVA -You’ll have to ask your counselor what’s on the final transcript at your school. Most final transcripts do not show absences but different high schools have different policies so yours might.
And I don’t see your slip in grades as being severe enough to warrant reaching out to the admission officials. However, if you have a SIGNIFICANT reason to explain your downturn, it’s worth sharing with the college folks. If you have a reason but you’re not sure if it counts as “significant,” post it here or send it directly to me.
@tracycoral–I think I need a Georgia Tech degree myself to follow all of those grading changes. 
As long as you can sleep for the next couple weeks, then hold off on contacting Rice. Meanwhile, I bounced your son’s situation off of a friend today who is the director of admission at a very competitive college (not Rice’s level but quite selective). She said that she would not be concerned if your son got a “D” in multivariate at GA Tech, given the situation you described and she didn’t think that it would be a problem at Rice either, as long as he explains it just as you explained it to me.
So go ahead and wait for final grades but do try to get some sleep until then!
I was accepted to both UVA and Berkeley for the fall. For the past three years, I’ve gotten one B per year and the rest As. Last semester, I only got one B. This semester, however, I have 5 Bs and only one A (but 6 AP classes). I can maybe get one of my Bs up to an A. I know Berkeley won’t rescind my offer because of their 3.0 uw minimum, but is UVA likely to rescind my offer?
@umbrella25-Nope, I don’t see UVA rescinding your offer.
I have a question for Sally_Rubenstone. My son has been accepted to his two top choice schools (one public in-state, one private out-of-state) and even has a merit scholarship to the private one, but he has not made his final deposit/commmitment–we have one week left to do that. Unfortunately, a week ago he was caught and charged with a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge. Our appointment with the lawyer will not be until after he has made his deposit at his final choice, and we are aware that there will likely be a community standards form sent that he will have to report and explain his new charge, but we are not going to do anything until we speak to a lawyer. We’ve been told since it is his first offense, he will likely be eligible to do a deferral program that will expunge the charge from his record in 6 months, but it will still be pending until the fall semester ends. He is an honor student with high grades, high test scores, multiple AP credits, good community involvement, and no previous record. Needless to say, we are furious with him and also sick with worry that this one youthful mistake could cost him everything. How likely is it that a state college would rescind his application after he has accepted his spot but before classes begin? The charge came after he was admitted to both places and as I mentioned, we have to make a deposit at one of them a few days before we meet with the lawyer and a few weeks before his court date. We feel certain that the private college, which has a zero tolerance approach to drugs, will rescind scholarship money or admittance or both, but that one doesn’t hurt as much because the school is over our budget anyway. We are worried that his only other option will also be taken away. He will have an opportunity to write a reflective letter explaining what he learned from the experience, but he had a friend who was deferred from this school over a pending trespassing charge prior to applying so it is hard to know how flexible they might be with a student already admitted. Any advice is appreciated!
BTW, the school is UNC-Greensboro, if you are familiar with North Carolina universities. The private school is Belmont University in TN.
@sdwm-As a mother myself, I feel your pain. When many of us parents hear stories like yours, we think, “There but for the grace of God go I.” And many admission officials are also parents. Most–although not all–are willing to differentiate between a typical teenage screw-up (like a misdemeanor marijuana charge) and a more serious violation that might impugn a student’s character (cheating, hate crimes) or potentially endanger others on campus (weapons charges, threats against the high school or school mates,etc.).
I cannot speak for the admission officials at UNC-Greensboro, but my best guess is that if your son writes the reflective letter you describe, his chances of being able to enroll in the fall are very good. His letter should clearly acknowledge his guilt and not try to minimize his offense or put it on someone else (“It was only a little joint and I was mostly just holding it for Jason …”).
If UNC wants to rescind his acceptance (which, as I said, seems unlikely under the circumstances), he can also try to make a counter-proposal such as starting the school year on probation or undertaking a significant community-service project over the summer. He could also propose a gap year with matriculation in fall 2018. I have rarely seen a student who didn’t benefit from a well-planned, constructive year off.
It can’t hurt to take the same approach with Belmont. However, Belmont is a conservative university so the response there might not reflect what the majority of other colleges would decide.
Whatever happens, you should rest assured that this youthful mistake will not “cost him everything.” As I said above, admission officials at the majority of colleges would give your son another chance. So if he should strike out at both Belmont and UNC-Greensboro this spring, he can take that gap year and then reapply to colleges that won’t penalize him for his error. It might be one of those silver-lining situations where he actually learns and matures and ultimately ends up at a place that is an even better fit for him than the two current options.
If it does come to that (which it probably won’t), send me a Private Message and I’ll give you some thoughts on identifying post-gap-year options.
Hi Mrs. Rubenstone, I have a question about grades like most everyone here…
I got accepted to a a pretty selective college (~10% acceptance rate) with a 3.78 Unweighted GPA (mostly A student, had some Bs). I’m still elated, but this semester, my grades have dropped quite significantly. I currently have a 3.33 (2As, 4Bs , rigorous course load with 4 APs). Am I in any danger of getting rescinded? My parents are very nervous and I don’t know what I’d do if I get rescinded.
Thank you for your kind, thoughtful, and reassuring words. They offer more comfort in this upsetting time than you can imagine. At a time that ought to be exciting and happy, we feel like we are going in circles agonizing over financial realities and now this charge. We are still struggling with the decision of making the deposit at the parental preference and affordable option (UNCG) or scraping, borrowing, and stretching ourselves to the limit to afford our son’s first choice (Belmont). (He plans to major in music with a business minor, which is a set of anxieties for another thread!) It sounds, though, like once Belmont catches wind of this, that choice may be removed anyway. I am not sure when or if they will ask for any new information, but I feel fairly certain they will. I will definitely update when we find out what will happen.