<p>Hello everyone,
My kid has an 'F' in AP Calculus during 2nd term of junior year. And she is taking it again in her 2nd term in the senior year. So that will be from Nov 2013 - Feb 2014 I think. </p>
<p>I am worried and confused. When she starts applying to colleges in Fall, wouldn't they see the 'F' on her transcripts? How does she get into the college? Should we wait for applying to college until she cleared the 'F', but by that time, the deadlines may be over.</p>
<p>Please help.</p>
<p>What are the rest of the grades, and test scores, like? What sort of school were you aiming for prior to this one grade?</p>
<p>There are plenty of colleges where one F won’t be a deal-breaker if the rest of the application is strong.</p>
<p>Will her high school replace the grade, or are they going to do an average of the grades or show both? At my kids’ HS, the grade doesn’t go away. In any event, I don’t think you’ll be able to wait to apply to schools. What are her other grades like? What kinds of schools is she planning to apply to?</p>
<p>When she’s filling out the common app, she’ll list the courses she’s currently taking as well as the ones she’s planning on taking. Colleges will see both the F and that she will retake Calc. FWIW, one of my hs classmates received a D in the second semester of AP Calc BC and is now at UCLA studying biz econ. There are many colleges that will be willing to overlook an F on the transcript, and even give her merit money.</p>
<p>Yes colleges will see it and they won’t be happy. The fact that she is giving it a second chance is a plus. If there were extenuating circumstances she should use the “Is there anything else we should know” part of the application to address it. It’s also possible the GC could say something.</p>
<p>Well, She doesn’t have a great GPA either. It’s an even mix of As, Bs, Cs.</p>
<p>She is aiming to get into a state uni. Now with this ‘F’, I am worried if she could even make it there.</p>
<p>Which state are you from? Which schools is your daughter interested in?</p>
<p>If you’re from California, the answers will be very different than if you live in say, Kansas.</p>
<p>My S2 got a F in Spanish when he was a junior. He took Spanish again as a senior(got a C) and was admitted to and graduated from one of our state universities.</p>
<p>How many terms does you school have? Was this a class that met only that one term, or was that grade for only a portion of the class? You need to ask the school how it will appear on the transcript, if it is only a portion of the class. Most schools only post the final grades on their transcripts, not the individual marking periods.</p>
<p>What state, and what specific schools? This is probably something that can be addressed with the guidance counselor, who should be familiar with your state schools. In some places, she might only be eligible for lower-tier state schools, but others she might be fine. Most places will take the grade in context - she took Calculus as a Junior, is that common? If not, the rigor of her courses may balance the grades to some degree.</p>
<p>We live in Minnesota.</p>
<p>The F itself is not a deal-breaker, but I question the wisdom of taking AP Calculus as a junior, and then failing it. Why was she taking the class in the first place? Was the failure due to not grasping the material, not handing in work, or some other factor, like an illness? Did she take the AP exam? How did she score? When her grade started dropping, why did she not transfer out?</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be harsh with these questions, they’re ones that a college admissions officer is going to want answers to. She is going to want to address this head-on, and include any lessons learned, mitigating factors, and what she did to improve herself moving forward (i.e., taking the class again).</p>