Okay, I probably sound so ignorant in this post, but whatever. I’m a sophomore in high school by the way.
Fall semester just ended, and my grade in Band is less than satisfactory. I received an A minus, which was devastating to me and I am now genuinely worried about the consequences of that grade.
I’m worried that Wind Ensemble, despite being one of the hardest classes in my school, will seem less challenging compared to APWH or another AP class, thus making an A minus in WE worse than an A minus in an academic class. I have a 4.1429 GPA (as my school does not put pluses/minuses in our high school GPA), but colleges most likely will put the minus into account. My dream college is probably UC Davis, but I probably won’t get in.
Wind Ensemble is the highest band in my school (audition only) and it is probably the hardest course that I am taking. The teacher is extremely critical (not to mention rude and intimidating), and he regularly gives C’s and D’s on our play tests (which are worth 100 points and 40 percent of our grade). We didn’t have a final, so I had no chance to bring my grade up by the end of the semester. Meanwhile, all of my friends in Symphonic Band (the lower band) got 140/100 on their finals due to extra credit, inflating their grades despite being less experienced on their instruments in comparison to me or other students in WE.
I’m considering not doing Band next year or moving down to Symphonic Band; my grade this year was borderline A minus/B plus, and I don’t want to take the risk again. Will the A minus negatively affect my chances, and should I stop taking band class next year? I acknowledge that an A minus isn’t a terrible grade, but since the only extracurriculars I have are 60 community service hours, a couple of clubs, marching/concert band, and being secretary in a school club, my GPA is all I have for college admissions.
If you want to keep taking WE then you should take it, if you feel like WE is too much then consider dropping down a level. It’s your choice (and an A- is NOT A BAD GRADE).
FWIW, although UC will include WE in the GPA calculation, some colleges will either formally or informally ignore or place less weight on non-academic classes. I would not really worry about it.
First of all, an A- will not single-handedly ruin your chances.
I don’t know much about UC Davis, and I don’t know anything about your school, but I do know that during a holistic admissions process, course rigor is taken into account. UC Davis will, no doubt, hear from your guidance counselor that Wind Ensemble is considerably difficult.
I mean, jeez, if an A- is outstanding in that class, your teacher might have something favorable to say on a recommendations letter.
On the other hand, you shouldn’t rely on your GPA for college admissions. GPA and test scores matter differently at different universities, but they are far from a golden ticket or an end-all-be-all. Competitions, portfolios, recommendations, and essays will no doubt weigh much more heavily during an admissions process past a certain point.
Also, you’re in sophomore year, you silly goose! You’ve got plenty of time to do things, and should definitely not turtle on your GPA. Find what you’re passionate about and follow it; that’ll be what makes UC Davis really want you, if they’ve got two cents about them. I would absolutely not drop down to the easier orchestra, if Wind Ensemble is what you’re passionate about.
To be honest, UC Davis is not really that competitive for an A- to matter. You could probably have all of your grades be an A- and still be safe for that school.
I would be more concerned about attitude than about a A-. Your response to getting an A- and being in a difficult class is to drop the class? How about rising to the challenge. I’d be more inclined to give a thumbs up to a student who got a C in a class and re-enrolled in the class the next year and nabbed an A then I’d give a thumbs up to a student who got an A- And dropped the class for the following year and never got below an A again.
Really, OP. You have some things to learn about how colleges view applicants.
If you got a C in an ensemble class, adcoms might wonder what happened. But you got an A-. And if you know you’re short on other activities, do something about that. A full A in ensemble won’t magically make you look more broadly or deeply involved than you are. Nor will an A+++ in a less competitive group. You’re missing the larger point.
Oh dear god. An A-? Honey, you’re fine. That’s a great grade, and like the others have said, your reaction to it is a little worrying. It’s ONE semester, you’ve got a whole half a year left to impress people with your improvement! Don’t take this as hard as you seem to be. Stop listening to the cult of the perfect admissions application. Even if this was a bad grade (which it’s definitely not) no sane admissions officer, or more importantly, no sane employer would see it as a death knell for your abilities. Just study the material, do some EC, and enjoy the instrument.
I am more than a little surprised you asked this after over 8,000 posts and 3.5 years on CC. We see GPA’s well into the 4+ range on most posts, even ignoring schools that do not use the traditional 4.0 scale. She did not say it was an UW GPA, did she? So it is weighted, where extra value is attached for honors and AP courses. It varies a lot, but typical is a 4.5 for an A in an honors course and a 5.0 for an A in an AP course. But because the standard is a “regular course” where and A=4.0, they still call it a 4.0 scale.
As you state in your opening line, I am a bit skeptical of the validity of this post. To stress so much over an A- seems a bit overwrought to me, and also I think most know that UC Davis is hardly Harvard or Stanford in selectivity. It isn’t a knock on the school at all, it is simply a fact. Most schools are not Harvard or Stanford (or Yale, Princeton and about a dozen others that are at the very top) in selectivity. So logic would dictate that almost everyone attending those less selective schools have less than perfect academic records, which by definition has to mean not getting all A’s. UC Davis has nowhere near the selectivity of Harvard. Harvard accepted 5.7% of applicants, while UC Davis accepted about 40.5%. A huge, huge difference.
I wonder as to why you consider UC Davis your dream school. Again, this is not meant negatively, but I am genuinely curious.
You’re acting like halcyonheather went into a rant about how this GPA couldn’t possibly be correct or something. She simply asked about the school’s weighting scale.
Most universities don’t even factor non-academic electives into GPA calculation. If you love music, keep doing it. If you want to continue with band into college, those schools only care about what strengths you can bring to their ensembles. Your grades will always be lower than students who are placed in less advanced ensembles. That is just how things work. They get graded on practice charts and you don’t because it’s already expected of you to pick your instrument up everyday outside of school. Those kids aren’t graded as harshly on musicality and you do because it isn’t expected of them to play with more advanced technique. I know this because I’m in the top choir and orchestra at my school. Kids in the lowest orchestra have the option of not playing during the class period (with grade deductions of course) because the teachers set such low expectations for them. No one is handing you grades anymore because they want the whole ensemble to work harder and play more professionally. Someone can brag about how they have a 125 in orchestra, but if they are in the lowest ensemble does it even matter?
I [url=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17038371#Comment_17038371]know[/url] it’s a weighted GPA. For that reason, I don’t know how it was calculated and I don’t know whether it’s a good GPA or not. It seems like the OP either thinks we know what the scale is, or thinks the GPA is good just because the number is bigger than 4.0. (People post all kinds of GPAs on here, but no one can evaluate them. Even with the “typical” scale you described, you can’t compare people from different schools because they have different numbers of honors/AP classes.)
That’s a fine point! Although, strictly speaking, it may count as weighting the A+.
There’s no reason to question their motives over their dream school. Besides, they might be pursuing some sort of merit-based aid that puts them under extra scrutiny.
It’s also fairly safe to assume they have an excellent GPA, if they’re fretting over an A- in a nonacademic class.
And, just saying, I’m pretty sure the OP’s question has been answered.
