Hi! I’m in freshman attending a magnet school and my classes are all honors and AP. I’m very bad at math, I am so bad that I haven’t gotten an A, not even once. So, I failed my test and that’s going to drop my grade to a C. The bad news is, it’s the last week of school before the finals. I am DESPERATE to become an astronomer and I would commit suicide if I don’t become one. I’ve been getting A’s on my other subjects and B’s on math my whole life. I have never gotten a C. Will I still get accepted in Stanford University if I get a C once or twice?..sorry…it’s been bothering me and I couldn’t study worrying about it. Please give me an answer
Honestly, you probably wouldn’t get into Stanford even if you had all A’s. That statement has nothing to do with you and everything to do with how insanely selective Stanford is. Please do not be fixated on Stanford or any school in particular for that matter. Learn for the sake of learning. It’s fine to aim for a top school, but it’s not the end goal.
Most (almost all) of your fellow applicants with all A’s will not be accepted to Stanford, even with national awards and perfect test scores.
To tell you the truth, a C in a core class will hurt your chances, but don’t worry about that because chances for getting in Stanford were never good anyways.
You should be more worried that you’re struggling at high school math, something that’s extremely important for doing well in college. If you’re having a hard time getting A’s in math now, you will have a hard time getting accepted into any elite college, or if you’re accepted, you will struggle academically.
Please stop fixating on getting into a college and focus on studying math so that you can be a better thinker and be more prepared for college and beyond.
Committing suicide? Sorry to tell you but you cannot survive high school if you think like this.
You are just a Freshman and you have 3 more years to show yourself. You can accomplish whatever you want in these 3 years. Remember: with hard work nothing in impossible! You can do lots of great things and get perfect scores on you standardized tests. You can even cure a disease in 3 years!!! IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU AND HOW HARD YOU WORK.
With a C in freshman year you haven’t lost all of your cahnces but instead the C is like a warning for you to work as hard as you can!!
You can do it if you want it!
Good Luck to you!
My brother in law and sister in law are both astronomers, now in their 40’s. Neither went to Stanford. They did get various degrees at the University of Michigan, Columbia, New York University, and the University of Rochester, so there are many options that will lead you to your path. They have both worked for NASA/AMES and its counterpart elsewhere in the country, so they’ve achieved great success.
“I am DESPERATE to become an astronomer and I would commit suicide if I don’t become one.” holy crap u need help.
“I am DESPERATE to become an astronomer and I would commit suicide if I don’t become one.”
If this is your biggest concern congratulations and condolences. Congratulations for having so little to worry about that you believe not reaching a goal you have as a teenager is “suicide worthy”. And condolences for not having a way to put things into perspective-something reaching goals requires
@debate4ever @asaltbb Hehe…thank you guys sooo much… I feel so much better now :D. I was crying when I found out I got an F. But your right. There are many other universities out there anyway. It’s not too late for me. I’m over reacting. I’m sorry. I was just very shocked, because I have never gotten an F on my test and a C as a grade.
@lostaccount @yoyohi I’ve been so obsessed with astronomy and I have fun watching and reading about it, it’s one of my only source of happiness, and I would love to keep learning about the universe for the rest of my life. IT IS MY LIFE. so if you think I have a problem, I do, and trust me, my mom keeps yelling at me for that. There’s still the exams. I am very determined to study now, I will make sure to get an A on the test, although i’ve never really gotten an A on a math test, But, I will try!.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
I’m not entirely sure, but I think Stanford mainly focuses on your grades from 10-12. So one C in freshman year probably won’t be the sole reason you don’t get in!
@OneHappyStudent - I am a junior struggling through my toughest year academically - I am getting 2 B’s this year when every other grade in my life was always either an A or A+. So believe me, I get how stressful it is to get a terrible grade. I pulled a 58 on my midterm and was devastated. After several more grades I have pulled it back up to a B-, and if I do well on the final the best I can do is to pull a B. But I understand the tears more than you know.
And believe me, I understand how mom yelling doesn’t help. If you are anything like me, you are harder on yourself than just about anything they can say - I am told that most kids who are driven to do well in school are self-motivated.
You have three more years to get into Stanford - it is probably not long enough to practice a sport to become a PAC-10 caliber athlete. 
There are some really wonderful, kind and helpful people here at CC. I am glad I stumbled across it as I was at wits end wondering how badly I have messed up my chances of getting into a great school. I know I still have a long road ahead of me but I have gotten a lot of great advice.
A bad grade or two is not the end of the world, as bad as it may seem at the time. My dad told me and my mom that he had failed an exam in high school, my grandmother told him to take 2 days and feel bad about it, then learn from it.
He told me it is easier said than done, but I liked the idea of being able to accept the emotions, without wallowing in despair about it because after all, we do have to get on with our lives. So while I still find myself getting upset about my B’s, and what might have been, I am trying to keep focus on what is still possible.
As others have said to me, let me repeat to you - best of luck to you!
On the plus side - don’t worry about the C. It’s not the end of the world, and if you’re able to show improvement throughout high school it’s a great thing.
On the negative side - Becoming an astronomer will likely require a degree in physics or astrophysics. You’ll need to take some of the most difficult math classes at your university for that. I’d recommend spending more time getting fluent with math - anyone can do it, the degree of effort required just varies by student.
@unforgivable
I agree. One C is the least of your worries. If you can never get A’s on math and struggle to understand it, astronomy isn’t the right choice for you. Astronomy is a TON of math.
For the C you just got in math, you don’t need to worry about it at all. You could have had an F, and still have a normal chance to get in. This is because Stanford only looks at grades between 10th grade and 12th grade. So, everything in 9th grade goes out the window. For Stanford, that is. For other colleges, this isn’t the same. So relax, and try not to get any more!
If you struggle with mathematics, maybe astronomy or astrophysics may be extremely tough for you in college. Nevertheless, that seems to be the least of your problems considering what others in this thread have said.
I agree with many of the other posters, but I would also like to add one thing. Take the ACT early!! Take it again and again, if your financial system allows. I waited late into my junior year, and that was a huge mistake on my part!! Even during sophomore year to get an idea where you stand.
Best of luck
Do NOT take the ACT more than three times. That raises red flags to admissions committees. DO lots of practice ACT exams before the real one, and also try the SAT, as many kids do better on one or the other.
I am more concerned about your suicide comment and your clear need to improve your math skills. As a high school kid, you are in a position to explore many things you are interested in. I am very sure, as another poster said, that you will need good math skills to be an astronomer. Maybe math will never be easy for you, and it is possible that being an astronomer will not work out for you. But that doesn’t mean you can’t always keep it as a hobby while earning a degree in something else. If you truly feel that your only path to happiness is in astronomy, please have a few sessions with yiur school counselor, and also your parents, to understand why you feel like this. At your age, you should be interested in several things, not just one.
I don’t think I got a single A my freshman year (my gpa was a 2.8) so yes it is definitely possible, especially if you go from performing that poorly to finishing very strongly (they like to see an upward trend).
Stanford’s acceptance rate is one of the lowest in the nation. As many have already stated, even with all A’s the chances of getting in are extremely unlikely. Plus, the part about killing yourself is a little extreme. You need to take a chill pill.