<p>Im currently a high school senior and a resident of Georgia. I have taken nothing but accelerated/ honors classes (exept electives) my whole high school career. Im taking my first AP class (ever) this year, which is AP Calculus and failing with a 65 thus far. I also have no extracurricular activities besides FFA and FBLA. However, I plan on joining my schools track and tennis teams, as well as working a part time job, come next semester. My current grades are six A’s in all of my accelerates classes and one F in my Ap calculus class. I have a 3.5 gpa and got a SAT score of 1730 my first time taking it. (I plan on retaking it 2 more times) My questions are as follows- do extracurriculars really count? How bad would all A’s and an F in an AP Calculus class look on my transcript? Should I drop the AP class next semester, even though its the only AP class I’ve ever taken? What are the chances of me getting into any of these colleges - UGA, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, or Emory University. Thanks in Advance.</p>
<p>First of all, you can go to the Common Data Set for each of these schools (google it) and read up on both how much ECs matter to them and also how you compare academically to admitted students (GPA, class rank, test scores). It’s your best source of objective data because it’s provided by each school.</p>
<p>Next, have you sat down with your calc teacher and tried to figure out what’s going wrong for you? You definitely need some serious tutoring to get through this semester without failing the class. It also sounds like you probably don’t belong in this class next semester if you are making an F. Discuss transferring to a regular or honors math class next semester. Make sure you are talking to your parents as well - no one likes unhappy surprises and they may need to pay for that tutoring if it’s not available for free. </p>
<p>Finally, schools will want to know why you suddenly have an F senior year (this is the first, I assume?) An F generally implies that a student failed to identify that they were in trouble academically and didn’t ask for help until it was too late. That’s a student that the more selective and rigorous schools are going to be wary of. </p>
<p>And given that you are facing an F right now, I would say that your priority is addressing this rather than adding ECs. In fact, I’d suggest you cut back any ECs you can, until you get this straightened out.</p>
<p>I’m also looking to apply at UGA, please chance me- “Chances at UGA or Auburn?”
UGA- high match (because of your current test scores and ECs)
GA State- match
GA Southern- low match
Emory- high reach
If your ECs and test scores were a little better, you’d have better chances.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. AP calculus is hard for me because im not suited to my teachers teaching style. I am used to teachers giving us the material and reviewing it to make sure we know it. My current teacher assigns us work and thats pretty much the end of it. She is an easy going person, and great teacher, but she is under the impression that teaching us this way will better prepare us for college. I do not believe this is true at all.</p>
<p>Actually that teaching style is basically what I experienced in both of the Calculus classes I took at two different colleges more than ten years apart in time. If you don’t understand the lecture, and you can’t figure it out from the textbook, you are the one who has to get yourself into the professor’s office during office hours or into the tutoring center on campus. </p>
<p>The trick to getting through calculus is to do every single problem in the textbook (even the ones that aren’t assigned) over and over and over until you get them right.</p>