My current admission states that I am provisionally admitted. I’m afraid that that will change because I get paranoid very easily. It’s my last year in high school and my grades are slightly changing. In my first semester my grades consist of 5 A’s and 1 B. However my second semester is mostly likely to end with 5 A’s and 1 C. Will this affect my Cal Poly Pomona admissions?
@dvkay00 You will be fine at Cal Poly with 5 A’s and a C. Nothing to worry about there. But you do seem to “get paranoid very easily” so perhaps this is something to work on before you start college as well as once you get there.
You will presumably be more independent at Cal Poly than you were in high school and thus there will be fewer others to offer reassurance when you need it. Don’t hesitate to reach out to university mental health counselors, your residence hall staff (if you’ll be living on campus) or the professors themselves, if you feel you need any kind of support … emotional or academic. But also try to manage your instinctive drive toward self-doubt once you recognize that you’re actually doing fine in college, as you clearly have done in high school.
My son got off the WL at Berkeley. He was kinda skating through last marking period and is in danger of dropping to C- (hope not a D) in Calc BC from a solid B in the first 3 marking periods. If he gets his act together, he can get a C but, C- seems like a most likely outcome. Is he going to have problems with admission getting rescinded? I am not sure if BELOW C includes C-.
@Sally_Rubenstone any advice? Is C- a problem for Cal Berkeley? And is C- considered to be below C or is it just D and F that are problems?
@CantbelieveNJ -The UC’s don’t count pluses and minuses … kind of a bummer if you get a B+ but great news if it’s a C-. So you’re okay … as long as you have just that one C- and the rest of your grades didn’t go down across the board.
@Sally_Rubenstone he’s maintaining A in all other subjects. His calc BC teacher is tough - he knew it but, did not put in the effort. I am confident he’ll get a C- but, wanted to have the information in case something untoward happened.
@CantbelieveNJ - Even if your son does get a D, he might still be fine. Although the UC’s claim that they will rescind when a senior gets a D or F, in reality they will assess each situation individually. So if a guy is earning all A’s except for a D in a notoriously hard class, he will probably be okay, even with the D.
Also, you said that your son got B’s in calc in all the marking periods except for this last one. Well, colleges look at the FINAL grades, not the QUARTER grades. So if your son got 3 B’s in calc, even an F in the final marking period should still leave him with a C for the year. So if you think he’s in C- or D turf for this final quarter only, then his OVERALL grade shouldn’t be cause for any concern.
@Sally_Rubenstone - I am a transfer student admitted for Fall 2018. My conditions of admission state: “Please remember that your admission is contingent upon verification of official academic records, satisfactory completion of coursework, and avoidance of academic and behavioral misconduct.” I currently have 1 A, 2 B’s and a borderline B or C in Physics. If I get a C in physics, my GPA will drop to 2.93 for the semester but my total GPA will still be a 3.78. There is no GPA requirement specified. Is this enough to get rescinded?
@Forshenzo -I don’t see a problem here though it would be helpful to know WHERE you are enrolling!
@Sally_Rubenstone yes of course haha I’m sorry. I’m enrolling at USC.
How serious could 2 Cs (1 first semester and 1 second) be at UCLA?
@Forshenzo -You should be okay with your one C at USC. However, IF your intended major is physics or related (e.g., engineering), you may hear from the USC admission office about your grade. I think it’s unlikely that your acceptance would be rescinded, but you should be prepared to discuss your physics grade if you are contacted. If your major is NOT related to physics, I doubt you’ll hear any more about it.
@berd2k -If your GPA is still 3.0 or higher, you should be fine with those grades.
@Sally_Rubenstone will USC rescind an incoming freshman student for 1 C and 3 B’s?
@drooooooooooo -No, you won’t get rescinded for those grades but IF you’d had all A’s (or close to it) until now, you may get a letter asking you to explain the downturn. If you’d had a mix of A’s and B’s before, you probably won’t hear from USC.
Hi Sally,
I’m a senior going to college next year, but my grades this semester have dropped. I may end up with a D in Calc 2 and because I’ve been trying to raise my grade for this class, 3 of my other classes have dropped from As to Bs though all of these classes are AP-level classes. Also, my school also operates on the semester system so both of my semester grades will be shown.
I’ve already lined up a job for the summer, so is there any way I can avoid getting rescinded without retaking a summer class? Would an online class or retaking it in the fall make a difference?
Thank you!
@forms4forms5 -The A’s that have dropped to B’s aren’t worth your worry, but a D in Calc 2 MIGHT be. The reason I say “might” is because many college admission officials can be rather forgiving when it comes to advanced calculus classes, especially for students who haven’t named math or engineering as prospective majors. But even if the admission folk at YOUR college are among the lenient ones, you can’t merely stick your head in the sand or cross your fingers and hope for the best. You need to act right away (or as soon as the D is confirmed). If you end up with a C or even a C- you don’t need to do anything unless the college contacts you first.
But if you do finish with a D in Calc 2 as your final grade, you should immediately contact your college. Send an email to your regional rep (if you don’t know who that is, phone and ask) and copy the main admission email address in case your rep is on vacation ('tis the season!).
Explain in your email what you’ve said here … that you’ve been working hard to raise your grade but that you haven’t succeeded and you’ve affected your other grades in the process. Also explain that you have a summer job but could retake the class online if the college wants you to do so. (Is it also possible to take a night class at a local college while still working? If so, you can suggest this as an option, too.)
Presumably you’ll know your final grade in the next couple weeks. So once you do, if it’s a D, don’t dawdle. If you wait for your college to contact you, it might be mid-summer and thus too late to retake the class. So be prompt and pro-active in addressing a D, and you’ll probably be okay. Good luck!
@Sally_Rubenstone
Thanks for your help! I do have a couple more questions if you don’t mind answering.
Would the class I take at a community college show up on my college transcript or would it just be part of my high school transcript? And if I take an online course, would I need to retake the entire calculus course or just the second part?
@forms4forms5 -If you take a community college class this summer, it will not be on your high school transcript because high school is in your rear view mirror. (The only exception to this is when the high school itself requires a student to repeat a class, but it sounds like this won’t be the case for you.)
And the class will not be on your college transcript either unless you make a special request to include it because you learn that you can get credit for it. Colleges have varying policies that govern whether or not they will give credit for classes taken prior to matriculation. So you would need to find out if the college you plan to attend would grant credit to you for the successful completion of your community college summer class. If the answer is yes, then it’s likely that the credits would be counted but the grade you earn probably won’t be factored into your college GPA. This is something you’d need to check on too because, again, college policies vary. But usually the grade received in a class taken elsewhere before enrollment doesn’t become part of your GPA.
And if you take an online class, you would also have to check with the admission office at the college you plan to attend to find out exactly what they want you to cover in that class. My best guess is that they will not require you to take ANY summer class but–if you do get a D in Calc 2 this semester–you should certainly offer to re-take it and also ask EXACTLY what class you need to take.
@Sally_Rubenstone
That was really helpful, thank you for all of your advice!