@Sally_Rubenstone Thanks for your advice to contact colleges to let them know about two C’s in first semester. My son emailed his top 3 choices, including UMD, and they all said his acceptance (and merit aid where applicable) is not at risk. Unclear what will happen this semester, but that’s good to know.
I also wonder if more people will choose their state school now, and if that will cause state schools to tighten rescission policy? Not the most important thing to worry about right now, I know…
@twodogsnight -Thanks for the follow-up info on your son. That’s very helpful to me and probably to many other students and parents in similar straits.
You don’t have to worry about your son losing his acceptances after being assured that he wouldn’t, but you’re right to wonder how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect enrollment patterns in general. Certainly there are many admission deans and enrollment managers who aren’t sleeping well these days while they’re navigating cloudy skies with no radar. They can’t do more than guess whether international students will be wary of enrolling in US schools for fear that they won’t be able to get here in the fall, and they also must worry that some families will need far more financial aid than anticipated due to lost jobs, closed businesses, and plummeting income. These financial concerns could indeed lead to more students opting for in-state institutions due to their lower price tags and their proximity to home.
But right now the main concern of most enrollment officials is, “Can we fill our beds, collect the money we’re expecting, and start our classes on schedule?” rather than, “Are we going to be TOO full and end up taking a hard line when GPA’s dip?”
So it sounds like your son is fine … at least as far as his acceptances go … and hopefully he and the rest of your family will stay healthy as well.
I recently was accepted to a top LAC, but there was an error on my reported senior courses: I reported a half-year engineering class as a full-year course. I completed the class successfully, and the mid-year transcript I sent to the school in February should have listed the grade as a final grade (they never contacted me about it), but I’m still worried. I have already deposited my enrollment fee; should I tell them now before June, in case they’re upset that the class was only half a credit? Should I even contact them at all?
@divebomb --This is really a non-issue and it’s highly likely that no one at your LAC noticed the discrepancy already or will notice it this summer when your final transcript comes in. But, just to set the record straight, you can send a VERY BRIEF email to the admission office correcting the oversight. Be sure to apologize for adding more mail to the inbox during a stressful time, and wish them good health and smoother sailing ahead.
Don’t expect a reply to your message (you may or may not get one) and then congratulate yourself on your acceptance and don’t worry about this any more.
Good health to you, too!
I got my acceptance letter to Cal yesterday. My dilemma is that when I submitted my UC application I thought that my academic years that attended high school was correct. However, I accidentally put that I attended high school from August 2015 - May 2020 instead of August 2016 - May 2020. Since that was the case I confused my 9th, 10th, 11th grade years but my senior year was correct. It looked right when I was going through it, but I was in conversation with my friend and I realized that I inputted my years wrong after the deadline was already up. I tried to contact all the UCs to tell them about the mistake but Cal weren’t accepting any updates. I asked @Caladmissions on twitter and they said that if I did get admitted I will have to contact them immediately, but because of the COVID-19 crisis, their offices are closed. I submitted an inquiry in the morning today and I haven’t heard back from them yet. Do you think that they will rescind me for this mistake? All of my coursework and grades that I inputted are correct. What I’m really trying to get the opinion of is if you were reviewing this application do you think it is a critical mistake on my application? I didn’t mention any gap years in my essays and I hope they just see this as a careless mistake that doesn’t matter. Any response will be great.
Thank you
I’m an also incoming Freshman (at huge risk for being rescinded at UCLA because I got a C in AP calculus my two semesters of senior year). This coronavirus is really messing things up. If I may ask what was your UC GPA. Were your stats good? I knew one case of someone being rescinded from Berkeley over a mistake, but each case varies.
@teagrace
My UC GPA was around 4.27. My full weighted gpa was 4.59. I got 2 Bs in ap lang last year and this year I got a B last semester in calc bc and I have a B now. I think I should be fine, it’s just this inconsistency with my academic years that I don’t know how to fix right now. I honestly hate calc cause I skipped from precalc to bc and none of it sticks with me. My test scores were not that great ACT:32. In the additional comments section, I talked about caring for my grandmother in a long term care facility. I’m sure you are also stressed out right now like I am. This covid-19 situation is so annoying. I really hope everything works out in your favor. Good luck!
you too! I hope you go to Cal, and I hope this doesn’t cancel your grad and prom
@kyzumi -This is nothing to worry about. Your acceptance is safe. But do keep up with the efforts you’re making to notify Cal of your error. It may take FOREVER to hear back but, in the meantime, don’t worry. And congratulations!
@teagrace -In spite of the C’s, your place at UCLA is safe if your GPA remains at a B or above. And if those AP Calc C’s were in the SAME class, they will only count as one C … assuming that C will be your final grade.
Of course, with so many high schools ending suddenly and prematurely this year, and with many resorting to “Pass/Fail” grades, I think that the college folks are likely to grant unprecedented leniency when it comes to computing final GPA’s.
thank you Sally!
Hi i’m a senior in highschool who got accepted into UCLA but i had to report to them that i got a D in my fall semester of my senior year in pre-calculus. I’m really scared that my admission will be rescind. I had to report my D to santa barbara as well but they said it was fine because of my previous academic success. I’m hoping that UCLA will give my a revised contract or something. This whole process has been really nerve wrecking. I have never received a D in my life so it’s the first one on my transcript. My gpa is still above a 3.0 it didn’t really drop because I got all A’s in my other classes. My major is biochemistry. I already reported the changes march 20 and then 3 days later my congratulations letter went away it says that my change is under review. I know UC’s don’t take D’s lightly. I’m just really nervous right now, any advice?
@Sally_Rubenstone First off I wanted to say thank you. I just wanted to ask one question and clarify what my previous post said. So I mistakenly chose 2015-2016 as my freshman academic years, then 2016-2017 for sophomore, and then 2017-2018 for junior, but my senior year was 2019-2020. I feel like this discrepancy would seem a bit odd to Cal, but I still got accepted. I’m trying not to worry, but I’m just a bit scared of this making me not able to go. Hopefully that is not the case. My question is should I accept my offer of admission now or just wait until this issue is hopefully resolved? I think the best thing to do is to wait since I don’t know what will happen yet. Thank you so much for reassuring me and I don’t want to bother you anymore. I will keep you updated on what happens. Fingers crossed for good luck. Also please stay safe and healthy. Thank you so much again 
-Kenneth
@kyzumi -Assuming that you definitely want to attend Cal, then you SHOULD commit ASAP. Your misnumbering of your years in high school will NOT have ANY impact on your acceptance.
Because this is a confusing time for EVERYONE and because Cal is a huge university, it could take FOREVER for the red tape to get unraveled. But ultimately you WILL be able to enroll. So don’t confuse the Cal folks even more by withholding the acceptance of their offer, and stop stressing over your minor error—-it will get figured out (eventually!).
@travina–It’s legit that you’re worried because the UC schools claim that they WILL rescind for ANY grade below a C. That’s the bad news. But the GOOD news is that students are actually evaluated on a case-by-case basis. So you need to try to tell UCLA what you’ve said here, if you haven’t already (that your other grades and your GPA are all good and that you really did work hard in this class). If you have a specific reason why you did badly (e.g., you were out sick for a week, there was a problem at home, your teacher was new and struggled with the material or was off on maternity leave for a month, etc.) be sure to explain this too. If you made special efforts to success (e.g., you went to extra-help sessions after school or got tutoring) include this as well.
Was this a first-semester-only class or did you take it in the second semester as well? If you were STILL taking it when the school closed this spring, how were you doing in it?
A potential problem here is you didn’t follow the instructions for reporting, which may make them less lenient. You were supposed to tell them in January as soon as you got your final grade. As they instruct frosh applicants in the instructions they send
@JulioAlvarez1999 -This thread is for students who have ALREADY been accepted at college but are worrying about this acceptance being rescinded. This isn’t terribly common but it DOES happen … most often due to a sharp decline in grades in the senior year; sometimes it’s due to a major disciplinary problem or to lies on an application that have come to light.
But YOU have not even applied yet, so you will find lots of information about choosing and applying to colleges elsewhere on College Confidential.
You should also take a close look at the College Board “Compare Colleges” website. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/compare-colleges
Here, you can enter the names of up to three colleges that interest you, and you will immediately see the acceptance rate and median test scores. Then, when you click on the college’s name, you will be able to get more specific information about median GPA, costs, etc.
For example, if you entered Stanford on the “Compare Colleges” site, you would see that a mere 4% of applicants get good news. That’s about the smallest figure in the world! The median test score range for math is 740-800 and the verbal range is 700-770.
When you click on the school’s name, you’ll get taken to it’s main profile pages where there is a menu on the left-hand side. When you find it, click on “Applying” and then on the “Academics & GPA” tab. You will then see that 98% of all admitted students are in the top tenth of their high school class. You will also see that only 1% of the students have a GPA of 3.5 to 3.74. Everyone else is higher. No one has a GPA like yours.
If you add UCLA to your “Compare Colleges” list and then go through the same process, you will find that only 3% of all admitted candidates are in the same GPA range that you are.
So is it POSSIBLE to get into places like Stanford and UCLA with YOUR grades? It COULD happen, but it’s very, very, VERY rare. There would have to be truly extenuating circumstance … like if the applicant is a minority student who grew up in a homeless shelter and is also a recruited quarterback!
There are, however, MANY colleges in California (and beyond) that WILL welcome you. To help find them, you can try the College Board’s “Big Future” search that will allow you to screen schools according to your preferences for size, location, major, etc. and that also takes into account your grades and test scores. Go to: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search
Go through the menu on the left and select your preferences. Under the “Test Scores & Selectivity” heading, put in your actual scores if you have them already (or PSAT’s if you have those but not SAT’s or ACT) and then tick the box that says, “Somewhat Selective.” This should generate a list of target colleges that typically accept students with your GPA. You can try “Less Selective,” too for an even longer list.
When it’s time to actually apply to colleges, most of the schools on your list will REQUIRE at least one recommendation although some may not. Typically, a college will expect a recommendation from your school counselor AND one from a teacher you select. Some students will also send an extra recommendation or two from an employer, minister, club advisor, etc. But those are not necessary and colleges usually prefer that you not send more than one of these extras.
But it seems unlikely that even the best recommendations in the universe will get a student into Stanford or UCLA with a GPA that isn’t close to perfect. So, instead, start with the College Board Search and try to identify colleges that meet your needs and that will be happy to accept you, too. There are plenty out there, so good luck!
I was recently accepted and committed to Cal. I dropped my high school TA period in January and sent them an email and they told me to fill out the undergraduate update form if admitted. I filled this form out and got an email saying to not commit unless i get a response back , but i already committed. Will my admissions get rescinded?
@alyssarjonesss -I really can’t see this as being a problem for you. If you’d dropped a heavy-hitter academic class, like an AP, then it MIGHT be; but given all the craziness in the world right now, you’re not going to lose your spot for dropping a TA position. Even so, because Cal is a huge university, you will probably have to deal with some generic emails and other red tape before this is entirely behind you.
@Sally_Rubenstone If I have gotten As all throughout high school with 2 Bs and I get one C in my second semester of senior year (with all As in my other classes) will I get rescinded at a top 10 school? I am in 10 classes right now, but I am really worried. Thank you for your help.