Will a C in pre-calc really hurt my chances?

Student Lounge African-American Students
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<p>I'm struggling in pre-calc this year. Usually I'm no good at math, but this semester has just been horrible and I'm not sure I can go any further.
At my school, pre-calc is divided into two semester-long courses. I got a B first quarter, but second quarter has been super-difficult (worsening depression, new meds, huge workload, pre-calc has become harder, etc.) I'm doing fine in all my other classes, and should get solid As in every other course except for <em>maybe</em> APES (A- or B+).</p>

<p>TL;DR: I think I might get a C average for pre-calc 1 and I'm extremely worried. How doomed am I?</p>

<p>Some background:
-Junior, first-gen American
-GPA: 4.25 W
-Family income: ~$60k, give or take some (mother works, father does not)
-Mid-tier public HS in Northern VA, average SAT scores are about 1500-1700
-AP courses: Spanish 5, World History, Environmental, US History, Spanish 6, English Lang/Comp (senior year: Chinese 5, Comparative Gov, US Gov, English Lit, possibly Psych)
-Part-time work experience: 1 year so far
-ECs: student rep to my city's school board, MUN head delegate, 12 years of dance, National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society
-Summer activities: studied in China for a few weeks after 9th grade, VA Governor's School after 10th grade
-Other stuff: I speak 6 languages with varying proficiency and I've traveled a lot, if that helps.
-Applying to Georgetown SFS, UVA, William & Mary, American, Tufts, George Washington, and maybe one or two more.</p>

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<p>Bump 10char</p>

3

<p>It could. It doesn’t bode we’ll for calc classes.</p>

4

<p>Bump! Bump! Bump!</p>

5

<p>Why not list your actual SAT score?? All those schools are a significant reach.</p>

6

<p>I have decided to start my CC karma with you: lucky!</p>

<p>So basically I have a similar (I think) trend in math classes. All of my classes are B first semester, C second semester. Except AP Calc which I got a C in first semester, B in second semester. See my point?</p>

<p>My weighted GPA is higher than yours, but I don’t know how your school weights. We have similar AP courses, and assuming you are on track for one of the AP Scholar awards I’ll say similar scores.</p>

<p>I am here to tell you that your C is <em>gasp</em> not going to kill you. Now you do have some pretty good schools on your list, but I wouldn’t freak out about it, especially if math is your only C. The most important thing is to try your hardest this semester, maybe invest some time in a tutor, and really hunker down on your other grades. My sophomore year I got straight As… with a C in precalc.</p>

<p>And yet I have managed to get in to some pretty good schools, most notably Tulane with a full tuition scholarship, and I have been accepted at fly in programs who have seen my transcript. I don’t know about my very high level schools (Williams, Yale, Wellesley, Vassar all come out in March) but the thing is that no one really knows about those schools. When your acceptance rate dips below forty percent and you have more than 10,000 applicants chances are people are really throwing darts at your application. Get a good SAT/ACT score, decent SAT IIs (A good Math 2 score will help offset your grade a little bit), and you’ll get into a school you love and can handle.</p>

<p>TL;DR: No. Your C will not kill you. Focus on getting that grade up, prepping for your senior year math class to show improvement, and RELAX (mentally, not academically.)</p>

<p>EDIT: I didn’t see your SAT scores at first. You’ll probably want to grab a book and bump those up. They aren’t bad, on average, but you’ll need a little more to offset your transcript. Try the ACT since a) you probably wont need SAT II’s which suck, and b) Some people (like me) score better on it</p>