I was accepted into St. Olaf this past winter. All my grades have stayed great this senior year, except my fourth quarter grade in physics which fell to a D. Will my admissions offer to join the freshman class this fall be rescinded? I am not pursuing a major in which I would be required to take physics.
Also, should I alert the college of this grade drop and provide and explanation? What should be my steps moving forward to ensure that I can still attend St. Olaf this fall? Thank you!
What will your overall grade be in the class? If it’ll be a C, then I wouldn’t be as concerned as if it ends up being a D overall.
Most colleges don’t want to rescind. If the rest of your grades are as normal, and if it’s only this one class, then it’s more likely that the school will try to work with you rather than rescind. If you do get a D as your final grade in the class, call admissions at St. Olaf and talk over the situation. If you get a C, I wouldn’t have you do this unless you really want to.
The general rule is to avoid D’s, F’s, and felonies. So the D might be an issue but nobody here can read the mind of St. Olaf admissions officers. I’d recommend you contact admissions and get out in front of the problem. If you have a reason (please don’t tell them your teacher was awful) you can discuss it. See if the D might impact your offer of admission and, if so, discuss if you can remediate it (perhaps take a summer course).
Also…if it is just your fourth quarter grade and your final grade is a C or better then you should be fine. You may want to ask your guidance counselor what is on the final transcript – our HS only send the final grade.