My son is so concerned that a low math grade this semester will keep him out of the running for an IVY. He is an otherwise straight A student at a very competitive high school, with lots of EC. I know he is only in tenth grade, and his life will not end if he doesn’t get into an IVY, but he is concerned he is out of the running and I am trying to comfort him. Anyone BTDT? Tia
No. If he gets rejected, it won’t be the result of one B.
Agreed to the above. A healthy amount of AP courses (as I assume he intends to take) will help counteract that. I have a 4.06 GPA currently going into my senior year and I have had about 3 B+ grades.
I agree with @skieurope.
I also think you should help your S to understand that admission to any Ivy school should be considered as a reach for any unhooked applicant. Acceptance rates are typically under ten percent with some closer to five percent. I would suggest you start expanding his horizons so he isn’t so focused on the Ivys.
Agreed. Each year, Ivy League schools and their peers reject applicants with 4.0/36/1600 and accept applicants with lesser stats. Not that one should not apply, but an applicant needs to have affordable matches and safeties in the mix.
It could, but only if it demonstrates a larger story.
My counselor knew the UPenn admissions rep very well (close friends) and I got a rarely-seen look into the process. I apparently got to the final counsel and the overall consensus was that my math skills were not good enough for Wharton, especially considering they were trying to get more girls into the program. They specifically referenced a B- in pre-calc in 10th grade. Scary right?
Not really, because my grades and scores told a larger story:
740 SAT II Math
Lowest average grades were math
34 ACT, but lowest individual score was math at 31 and science next at 33
Taking SL math (IB) as opposed to HL math (higher level)
Basically, the track record said I was not as good at math and was trying to avoid it. This was more important, especially for a quantitative-oriented business program like Wharton.
So, don’t worry about it unless your son has legitimate math issues or you feel like with increased math difficulty more bad grades will come. Just be weary of your son’s math performances from then on.
why is it “IVY” and not “Ivy”? Seems this says something about how the boy has been taught to think about those colleges…
This is very helpful. Thank you.
Nah-just new to the board.
The problem is that we see so many students think the only valid colleges are Ivys and the like…so they start assuming they will go there and any non A+ grade is taking away from that. They try to fit themselves to the college, instead of finding a college that fits them.
Tell him to work hard, do his best, ask for help and he will still find a great college for him out of the 3000 in the US.