@sr1991 -College folks are concerned with final grades, so if your son can pull that F to at least a C by the end of the year, he should be fine. You don’t need to contact the admission office now, but do keep a record of everything your son is doing to improve (the tutor you mentioned, extra help from the teacher if offered, etc.).
If his grade does not go up to a C by the end of the school year, he will want to be able to show Rutgers that it wasn’t due to lack of effort. If your son is still failing this class (or getting a D) by the end of the third marking period (or second trimester), then it’s time for him to contact Rutgers to warn them of the pending bad grade and to explain what he has done to try to succeed. albeit without the results he’d hoped for.
Admission is usually rescinded on a case-by-case basis. So any student who can make a strong case that proves he or she wasn’t slacking, will USUALLY be okay, even with a poor grade in one senior class.
Hi Sally. I have gotten into a couple schools and am waiting to hear back from a couple more. I have a 3.7 UW gpa (school does not weigh for AP classes and our scale is weird like an A/A+ is a 4.0 but an A- is a 3.7) and this past fall semester, I have gotten 5 A’s but I will have 1 C in AP Calc. AP Calc is the hardest class I’ve taken because math isn’t my strongest point and this is the first C I have ever gotten. The schools I have been accepted into include Tulane and Fordham, which aren’t exactly like Stanford level. Should I be concerned about possibly getting rescinded?
@klossyy -No worries with a C in AP Calc and an otherwise strong transcript. Keep plugging away so that you don’t slip down to a D (and then potentially onto thinner ice) but with that one C you’ll be fine.
@klossyy-On behalf of my generation I apologize to yours for making the high school and college application experience so more stressful for you than it was for us. I’m glad that I can help relieve the pressure at least a tiny bit.
I was accepted restrictive early action into Stanford. I took the ACT three times (February, June, July), with my best scores coming in June and July. Since Stanford accepts score choice, I reported the June and July scores in my Common App. however, my hs transcript discloses my full testing history, and for the admission committee to verify the 3 scores with my transcript, and verify the 2 score “choices” in my common app, I went ahead and sent all 3 official score reports. My question is, should I tell my admissions officer about this update? Should I be worried they may rescind my application because of this “discrepancy”?
Hi Sally,
My school allows students to take classes at a local community for college credit. First semester I had a total of six classes, three at my high school and three at my community college. I did well in my high school classes, which were all Honors and AP. However, in my community college classes I received two D’s. While taking these classes I also worked at a part-time job to help pay for school. The workload was a little too much for me and I had trouble keeping up with those particular classes. I have never received a final grade of a D in all four years of high school and currently have a 4.0 GPA. Should I be concerned about the schools that I have already been admitted into rescinding my acceptances? I read your previous posts and already sent an email to one school explaining the situation.
@Legend918 - Congratulations on your Stanford acceptance. I see no discrepancy here. You adhered to the Stanford instructions, which say to self-report your best scores. By later sending ALL of your scores, you have done nothing wrong at all … assuming that the official scores (and transcript scores) that Stanford receives will include the same ones you reported on your application (as well as the ones you didn’t). So if that’s the case, you don’t have to anything … including worrying about this!
@yendys -You do need to be concerned about rescinded acceptances with two D’s but, by doing what you’ve already done (writing to the colleges and explaining the situation), you should put yourself on firmer turf. You will also need to have a strong second semester. If you do both of these things, you should be okay.
Note, however, that even though you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew again, you also don’t want to take a lighter course load in the second semester than the one that you reported to colleges in your applications. So if you plan to scale back on your second-semester classes in order to make sure you maintain high grades, you will need to clear it with the colleges. When admission officials see that the classes on the Final Report (which they receive in the summer) isn’t congruent with the classes they expected the student to take, they may revoke the acceptance. So if you plan to lighten your load, be sure the colleges know about it before you do.
hello, i just finished applying to all of my regular schools (many of them are like difficult to get in/ivies), but i’m worried that my mid year report will screw me up a lot. currently, i have 3 90s+, a low 80 on AP Calc, and high 80 in AP English, and my overall gpa for this fall semester should be 94+ How much will my 80 grades affect my acceptance decisions in these higher tier institutions? im incredibly worried, but there are reasons to explain these grades (family member’s accident, job problems - basically a lot of family problems) – and if they do play a major role in my college decisions, how do i explain to the colleges?
@shinnie–Although a college–even an Ivy League school–would not rescind an acceptance due to a couple of 80’s, for students like you who have not yet been admitted, these grades could be a liability. Your “competition” will include applicants who have never earned any grade below an “A.”
But it’s irresponsible for me to estimate the effect of these grades without knowing a lot more about you. For instance, if you are from a disadvantaged background or if your resume includes unique talents or accomplishments, then these grades might have no effect at all. It really depends on how much your target colleges are interested in other aspects of your overall profile.
You can certainly send an update letter to your colleges now (or soon) explaining the family and job problems and their impact on you, but do keep in mind that your competition will also include seniors who are living with very serious family issues, with economic struggles, deaths of immediate family members, etc. So if your problems seem less severe by comparison, the explanatory letter could actually work against you.
Hopefully your college list includes some realistic choices that you’re excited about since Ivies can be such a crap shoot for everyone … even candidates with perfect grades and test scores. You sound like a strong student, and there will be many places that will welcome you.
@Legend918 - You should have answered 3 for “how many times taken” but it’s a confusing question since you were reporting scores from just 2 different tests on your Common App. So just let this go. It’s nothing to worry about.
hello! My GPA for semester 1 of senior year has dropped from a 3.71 average to a 3.18 average on a 4.0 scale. I have one C, 2 B’s, and 4 A/s. I already got accepted early decision. I plan to do better second semester however, and the C is in a hard class but Im still worried. Is this drop in my GPA large enough for my decision to be rescinded?
@colegeboundmaybe -That dip in your GPA does not seem big enough to affect your acceptance. However, if your C and your 2 B’s are in your major academic subjects and all or most of the A’s are in electives like band, yearbook, etc. then you need to be extra careful to not let your grades dip any further. But for now you should be fine.
@Sally_Rubenstone
Here is my question/situation - accepted to Princeton with a 3.9 UW and no B Range grades whatsoever.
Would this transcript get rescinded: A A A- B+ B+ B- ?
I have received in my first semester of senior year 2 B’s, 3 C’s and 1 D. I have been accepted into early action from a couple schools. My sophomore and junior year grades were all A’s and B’s. My freshmen year I had 2 B’s 2 C’s and 2 D’s. I’m worried that I will be rescinded from the schools which I have been accepted into. These schools aren’t the most selective. Can you tell me my chances of being rescinded?
@James_Howard -There is a big difference between getting C’s (or even D’s) in 9th grade and getting them again in 12th. Colleges typically give freshmen a lot more wiggle room than they give to seniors because they understand that some freshmen need time to adjust to high school life.
So, yes, your acceptances might be rescinded if you aren’t proactive now. You need to pull up your grades if possible, and contact your regional admission reps to explain why you are struggling. If the admission folks feel that you are paying attention, they are more likely to be forgiving than if they suspect that you’re just slacking off and don’t care.
Hi sally- I’ve recently been accepted to a top tier college, however someone I had once bought illegal substances off of had been caught by my high school officials (though not actually arrested). If I am somehow implicated with him, what are the chances I get rescinded?
p.s. i’m done with doing activities such as these. My future is not worth ruining over a slip up like this.