iuw

Hi! All,

Need your help! This is for my daughter. She (CA resident) is applying for UC systems (looking for tier 2 schools, like Irvine, San Barbara, Davis… ) and Cal Poly. Her GAP is 4.08 (weighted), but SAT/ACT is not good (1800+/27), looking for a business major. She took 2 AP classes since grade 10.

Her situation is she is taking AP Calculus this semester, and doing not good (current class grade is C-), she may get a D for this semester. She has taken all math classes prior to Calculus. How to handle this situation? She cannot drop off this class at this point when I asked counselor. Below are several options if she gets a D this semester:

(1) Drop off the class for next semester
(2) Continue this class for next semester, she may get a D or C (getting a C is good, showing progress)
(3) Report to the colleges she has applied to (late Dec when we get the grade report). Typically colleges ask students to report any class with D or below, but we may lose some competition.
(4) Don’t report to the college until March when we get admissions from a couple of colleges, and then have a conference with each, tell them the challenge, and find which college might be OK, then take that college’s admission. At that time, her status of this class may not be good
(5) Don’t report the D until the college (which we choose) finds it in June when they verify the official transcript (my daughter may get a chance to get a C for the second semester, which shows progress, or she may pass the AP exam even if she gets two “D”). There were students before (took the same class, they got C, but the AP exam was 5). The math teacher is really making the class harder, and the average grade for the class used to be C, and but 90% of students passed AP class. For this option, we also have risk to be turned down by the ONLY college that we have chosen (if they consider you didn’t report it …), so we may lost all.

Please provide suggestions. Thanks

lolilaughed

Does your high school allow you to Withdraw with a W on the transcript? An alternative could be to talk to your teacher and have her personally transfer your daughter into an easier math class (if available)

ougnala

I'd do all I can to get rid of that D

A C won't be as bad, but it's still a red flag. I guess it depends on how important calculus is in business.

calgal

Withdrawing from the class if allowed would be one option. Make sure her UC application reflects the change in course status. Getting a tutor and devoting herself to calculus from now until the end of the semester is even better. The GPA for the UCs does not include senior year grades. However, a D (but not a C-) may well get her rescinded in the late spring, and you are right to fear that possibility. If she is not applying to any schools that will evaluate her first semester grades (like private schools would), her strategy should be to intensively study calculus now (with help) even if this detracts from other subjects and bring up her grade. Since honest self-reporting of intended courses for second semester is part of the UC application process, she will have to decide if she is continuing with calculus second semester prior to submission by November 30th. What does her math teacher suggest? It sounds like she cannot drop down to an easier math because she has taken all the prior classes. Do any of the UCs require 4 years of math or is that just recommended?
Based on my son's peer group experiences with UC admissions last year, your daughter's chances of admission to the schools you named is uncertain. I would urge her to apply to some of the Cal States besides SLO in order to have a real safety or two. Good luck!

CrystalProphecy

Has it occurred to anyone that UCs don't look at transcripts till May? I only think if you get several Ds in a single semester and show an obvious trend of descending grades that they would dare rescind your acceptance from a school.

Nevertheless, push your daughter to try to get those grades up. You never know what other classes could go down as well.

calgal

Crystal prophesy, even UCSC will rescind for a single D on the final transcript senior year. Your opinion is not factually correct.

siliconvalleymom

Calgal, I agree with you that tutoring up and working on that class intensively is the best next step. It's mid-November...there is still plenty of time left in the semester.
Has your daughter met with the teacher yet to talk about what's going wrong?

iwannagotobrown

I'm having the exact same problem except I'm a junior :'(
there goes my chance of getting into Brown/other schools :'(

Captainkeeves

If she gets a D I am sorry to say that is not going to cut it. They will probably look down upon a C. I have friends who have been denied from schools in Cali with amazing SAT scores and nothing but A's. I attend UPenn for business and business calculus is important...especially when analyzing financial trends.

But also remember with her credentials she can still get into a great school. There is no need to panick, not everybody is perfect. So my adivce is take reality on the chin and apply to another school. And stop saying "we"...this about her, not you.

iuw

Thanks for all responses to my posting.

Yes, we are trying everything we could for my daughter at this point, hired a tutor (recommended by the teacher). Cannot drop off this course per schoole policy. Besides the turtoring, the teacher also asked her to come to see him with questions, and she did. But I think she just has challenges to handle this tough topic.

Calgal:
You mentioned "even UCSC will rescind for a single D on the final transcript senior year. " We also want to apply for UCSC, did you see that happned before to somebody?

I need to prepare for the worst case (she stills get a D), any comments on my options (2) - (5)

Coolbrezze

I wouldn't drop out of the class, maybe she needs a tutor.

bluebayou

if she earns a D this semester, then drop the class and retake at a community college. Struggling through second semester will not help her learn the material.
Unless the colleges ask for senior grades or any grade drop, wait until the acceptances come in and be proactive with a letter explaining what happened and that she's retaking. Sometimes groveling is rewarded. Do NOT wait until June. If the teacher really is that hard (C students earn a 5's on the AP test), then a letter from the GC could support your case to stave off recision.

btw: yes, calc is essentially required for undergrad biz.

bsDBer2010

it may be that she has problems with the fundamentals more than the calculus. I'm a 4.0 student in BC calc...and but some things still get me flustered. Inverse function derivatives? When I never learned what an inverse function was...lol that did not work out too well. I think a peer tutor (does your daughter's school have a program like that?) might be very helpful (and free if in school, very affordable if out of school) for catching up on the fundamental aspects. Calculus is easy. Everything that lead up to it, being mixed and matched in crazy ways, is hard.

Do the colleges know that your school's calc class is very difficult, grade-wise? It is unfortunate that this is not her junior year. If she had done poorly in the class but gotten a 4 or 5 on the AP exam, it may have forgiven the grade, since it appears that she knew the material well enough on a standardized test.

Do NOT drop the class. The only thing worse than a D is dropping after a D for a potential business major, imho.
I think you should conference with your daughter's teacher to find out what's wrong - careless errors? Confusing material? Maybe the teacher can offer her some extra credit?

harrypotter123

awww i don't think its nice to claim your own daughter's SAT score is not good... 1800 is still a relatively competitive score. =\

calgal

The college counselor at my son's HS relayed anecdotes of 10-20 students/yr rescinded from UCSC for not meeting the second semester senior year requirements. The example given was a D on the final report card. Other ways to get rescinded would be senior year GPA under 3.0 (unweighted for UCLA and UCB, I think weighted for most other campuses). If you call the admissions office for each UC she is considering, they can give you their precise requirements.
I don't think doing well on the AP test will be a factor, as the decision will be made before that score returns.
The suggestion to retake at a cc if she does get a D first semester is a good one. Just be sure to send an update right away to the colleges she is applying to. The whole premise of self-reporting grades is based upon complete accuracy and to wait and not report a substantive change in schedule would be a big mistake.
Hopefully with extra effort and a good tutor she will maintain her C level grade or improve.