@Sally_Rubenstone Should I still be proactive and email or call the school?
@ssk579 - If you have a real reason for your drop in grades --e.g., illness, family illness or other problems–then sent your admissions rep a brief explanatory/apologetic note. Otherwise leave it alone.
@Sally_Rubenstone I am from India and have been accepted to UIUC for Computer science. My India year X have been straight A’s but in my Xii grade I have A’s in Phusics, Chemistry and Computer Science and C in Maths and English. I have 5 in AP calculus BC. I am worried that UIUC may rescind my admission. My grades fell in maths as I suffered from severe dehydration and could not complete the exam. Should I be worried? I am completely stressed out.
@Chopsy -I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
Dean Rubenstone, Did you see the news about Harvard rescinding the 10+ incoming freshman?
@TQfromtheU -Yep, that story was pretty hard to miss. Interesting that most folks on this thread are worrying about C’s and D’s on their report cards, while those Harvard applicants … who probably never got a grade below A- … weren’t smart enough to refrain from making inappropriate posts in a Harvard chat group, albeit an unofficial one.
Hi Dean Rubenstone! I earned a 3.98 gpa before senior year and I earned 2 Bs and all As the first semester of senior year. My Bs were in choir and AP Calculus. I decided that I could focus more on my passions outside of school like bioengineering second semester of senior year and doing so caused a significant drop in my grades. Raising money and setting up the lab space for the research team I started has been extremely demanding and cost a lot of my time. I was accepted to Harvey Mudd College EDII, and am worried about getting rescinded for having all Bs and one A in AP Calculus second semester of senior year. Should I be worried? Thank you for your time and help!
@AreWeThereYetttt -I don’t see a problem here. If the college does contact you to explain your drop in grades, be prepared to provide details about your out-of-school endeavors and you ought to be fine. But I strongly doubt that you will be contacted.
I accepted my admission offer to Purdue Univ., but I’ve really struggled in IB Physics HL 3-4 and IB Math HL this year, failed physics and gotten a D in math. I did work hard to do better, although I could have done more. Otherwise, I don’t have any extenuating circumstances. I’m going to contact the admissions office to explain the situation and ask what I might be able to do to mitigate the consequences, but I wanted to ask for your thoughts and advice about it.
As a little background, my cumulative GPA is 3.55, and I have never had a grade below a B including in Physics 1-2 and Math SL. My other grades this year have stayed at the A and B level.
Thank you
@khanka -
There’s really nothing more you can do except perhaps to offer up your own “punishment.” For instance, you could tell the admission officers that, if your acceptance isn’t rescinded, you could start the semester on academic probation, meet weekly with your advisor to make sure you’re staying on track, and tutor another student in a subject you’re strong in or perform some other type of community service.
By being pro-active about making this offer, you will show the admission folks that your intentions are serious in spite of your downturn this year.
Your fate at Purdue may be affected by your choice of major. Are you heading for engineering or a science? If so, your physics and math grades could lead to a revoked acceptance. If your major is in an unrelated area, your odds of keeping your spot should be better.
But I really can’t say for sure how Purdue will react, and it’s definitely worth your while to contact them immediately and make the offers I’ve suggested above.
Good luck!
Hi Dean Rubenstone, I posted a while back but now that final grades are in I want to ask to see if I will possibly need to send a letter in explaining my drop. My first semester grades were A, A, A, A, A-, A-, C+(Calc BC). For the second semester, my grades are A, A+,A, B+, B+, B, C+ (Still calc BC). The grade drops are 2 AP classes and phys ed. Am I in danger being rescinded or receiving a warning letter? I will be attending an ivy league university.
Thank you!
@buzzbee … I don’t expect that your college will contact you about your grades. The downturn was not significant.
Hi Sally, I was recently accepted into Virginia Commonwealth University as a transfer student from a community college. The issue is that I was originally enrolled in a separate 4 year institution, from which I am just finishing up a 2 year disciplinary suspension as a result of drug use. I have completed a rehabilitation program and sorted my life out, got my priorities straight, etc.
I got an acceptance letter from VCU and I was ecstatic, but then the other day I was emailed by VCU asking me to come in and meet with the Dean of Students office to discuss my suspension from my previous college. I am concerned that they will rescind my offer. Do you have any experience with these types of meetings, and if so, what should I expect? Thank you for reading, have a nice day.
Maybe some the other students and teachers at the school also should be kicked out as some of them statistically could be or had used illegal drugs. Maybe if any kids in high school take others meds like Adderal they grades should be made lower as they artificially improved them. Or how about the drug Caffeine used in excess by caffeing addicts with those hard caffeine drinks. Any one caught drinking those which can kill you in excess should be suspected too. Especially those that go to coffee houses for a straight shot.
@Sally_Rubenstone , Hello, I have recently been accepted to UCSD and I’m scared that I will be rescinded because I went from A’s and B’s to Mostly C’s and a few B’s and A’s. I take all IB courses and I got a D in history my first semester and a C my 2nd, also for one of my electives my second semester, I received a D. What are my chances of getting rescinded? I’m really scared. The reason for my grades was because since they are all IB, they were much more challenging than I expected and I felt it was too much for me to handle, I didn’t drop to regular AP courses because my teachers told me it would look bad in my application, so now I’m stuck in a worse situation. Please give me the cold hard truth!
@Flower4 -Unfortunately, it does seem likely that your acceptance will be rescinded. I can’t tell from your message if your GPA is now below 3.0 but that sounds very possible. If so, that alone is grounds for losing your spot. Then, on top of that, the typical UC conditional acceptance says “No grade below C.” So, even if your GPA is still okay, your D’s will be deal-breakers. You should definitely contact the admission office immediately and plead your case. I’m sure that the admission folks will consider your tough course load before making a final decision, but your drop in grades sounds significant to me and will most likely work against you.
BUT … even if you lose your spot at UCSD, it is not the end of the world. Many successful individuals achieved their success because they were forced to deal with serious set-backs as teenagers or young adults. Frankly, the people I worry about in the world aren’t those who have failed at something but those who have never failed and who thus never learn how to deal with disappointment.
There are still colleges accepting students for the fall (and some even have financial aid), and there are always community colleges, too. If your acceptance is rescinded, contact me again and I can suggest some colleges that will welcome you, even at this late date.
PLEASE HELP ME!
I was admitted to MIT under the class of 2021, but I just received my transcript and failed the New York State Language-other-than-English regents with a 63. However, my grade in the class is still over 95, and I still graduated on time. All my other grades are also in the A+ range. Will failing this one exam rescind my acceptance? It’s also worth noting that when they had me self-report my scores to MIT during February, they never asked for regents scores.
@VeryBarry -Your Regents scores shouldn’t have any impact at all on your MIT status as long as your actual grade in the corresponding class was strong. If the admission officials actually see the Regents score, they may wonder how you botched the test so badly given your excellent academic record, but it won’t affect your acceptance.
@Sally_Rubenstone Hi, I applied to Rutgers Pharmacy and got in when my grades were all As/Bs. I slacked senior year and got a 75 in both AP Chem and AP Calc AB, as well as a 78 in Honors Physics (I had Bs in this class all year but my final dragged it down to a C). My other grades are As. Should I contact the school even though my counselor advised against drawing attention to it? Do you think I have a high chance of getting rescinded?