I did poorly in Chem before being diagnosed with ADHD. I got a C, and a C+. My cumulative GPA isn’t horrible ~3.5 (will be higher at the end of the semester) because I started getting all A’s after being diagnosed the beginning of junior year. I have an a in an AP science class, and AP math class right now, and if I were to retake Chem, I’m sure I would do very well, but I can’t. I didn’t know how much that one class mattered, but some colleges care enough that they won’t consider circumstance.
Are there good engineering colleges that don’t care so much about high school chemistry?
They may not care as much about HS chemistry but you’re likely going to need to take it in college any way you look at it. It’s a basic engineering prerequisite
For admissions purposes, they may not care that much specifically about your high school chemistry grade (assuming that you passed with a C or higher).
However, in many cases, you will need to take chemistry in college, which often assumes that you know high school chemistry.
@JustGraduate @ucbalumnus correct me if I’m wrong, but you both seem to have not read my actual post. I will do fine in college Chem; I had an undiagnosed disability. I skipped a year of calculus, and I’m doing well. I can teach myself stuff, I wouldn’t let myself fail. I know that most schools do care, I need suggestions for schools that won’t.
Also, for @ucbalumnus one of my teachers suggested I apply to ucb after I explained the situation to him. Do they care a lot about Chem?
@account1298582 I did read your post. My point was that your grade in HS chem was not high, which makes me wonder if you got enough out of it to make it through college level chem. I understand you believe you will do well in college chem but your HS record doesn’t show that. That was the point I was trying to make.
Most engineering schools want 3+ years of laboratory science and prefer physics and chemistry, probably because you will take those courses again in college. In a highly competitive engineering school, any math or science C will work against you - probably a math C will be more of an issue than one in science. But it’s impossible to say how much your C will hurt, test scores and GPA will hep round out your academic profi
@JustGraduate I know that the grade isn’t good, and I’ve realized that lots schools aren’t willing to overlook a poor grade in algebra 2, even in lieu of an A in advanced calculus, and circumstances that explain the grade. I have teacher recs that attest to my capability, and good grades in other science classes, but my school wouldn’t let me retake Chem (you have to get a C-). There isn’t really anything to do at this point. I don’t really need random people telling me my acedemic record isn’t that great, I need suggestion for schools that WILL be willing to look at everything else and come to the conclusion that I will be able to succeed in college. If not that, schools that care more about physics than chemistry. I can’t do anything about the fact that I got screwed over by the education system and wasn’t diagnosed until late high school, but I’ve done everything I could since, and I would like to, you know, go to college somewhere decent? Maybe? And not have wasted a lot of hard work getting straight As, a really high SAT score, and doing good work that led to good teacher recs, because of things that were beyond my control? Maybe? If you don’t know of any schools, you didn’t have to respond. I’m obviously well aware of my perdicament. I actually have 4 years of lab science, and 5 years of math + 2 of STEM electives, yet one class is possibly going to keep me out of college, and if you’ve read any portion of this rambling response you should have realized that I’m really stressed out and I don’t need a reality check.
What school are you looking at? Everyone who’s in engineering has to take one semester of chemistry regardless if they took it in high school
@NASA2014 I’m looking at a lot of schools, but I need help finding schools that won’t reject me based on one grade before I was diagnosed with ADHD. I’ll do fine in college Chem. I’m not worried about that. I need a school that won’t weight my high school Chem so heavily. I have A’s in all math and science classes taken since. A total of 4 years of lab science including AP Phyiscs, and 5 years of math.
@ucbalumnus nvm I was being sort of dyslexic. Read your username wrong.
I don’t think that sort of information is available. The truth is that all your grades matter. One grade will not make or break a college application but they all count.
@Proudpatriot what sort of information? Some schools probably care less about Chem than others, that would be something that could be surmised based on general pools of accepted applicants. I know that grades matter, but I’m in a very unique situation. My first two years of high school aren’t representative of my actual ability. And yes, chemistry has, as one grade, on its own, ‘broken’ a college application. That’s why I made this thread. I want to go to college, but one grade I got before being diagnosed with ADHD has literally been the sole thing to cause me to be rejected from a few schools, so I’m trying to find some where it’s not so important.
With colleges that do holistic admissions reading, it may not be knowable from the outside whether admissions readers care about specific course grades, or whether they look at GPA or a general overview of the high school record without focusing on specific course grades.
However, some colleges do admissions by a formula involving GPA and/or rank rather than any holistic evaluation of the high school record and other items.
@ucbalumnus when admissions is done by formula, are weighs usually applied to specific classes?
In theory, they can assign weighting by specific courses when recalculating GPA. However, it is more common that any weighting for GPA calculation is based on general notions of rigor (regular, honors, etc.).
@ucbalumnus I know that cal state schools use that process, but in general they’re pretty selective. I applied to a few because my mom made me, but I know I won’t get in because they are stat based alone. Do you know of any other schools that use this system and aren’t as selective?
A number of CSUs with engineering are not extremely selective. Or did you only apply to the most selective ones like CPSLO?
There are plenty of colleges with ABET accredited engineering that are not that selective (e.g. public schools in SD, NM, AZ, AL, MS, etc. and non-flagship publics in various states – but generally little or no financial aid for out-of-state students, though some may have merit scholarships).
I only applied to cpslo. There aren’t many schools with the specific major I want. I think it was cpslo, pamona, and long beach. I probably should have applied to pamona(the least selective of them), but my counsellor didn’t think I would have trouble getting into schools. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.
I applied to cu Boulder, and even for engineering my gpa is in the mid 50, and my SATs are way above the 75th, but they’re holistic, so Chem could be a problem. I don’t really have to worry about paying for school, so scholarships aren’t a big deal. There’s only one school in my state with the major anyways.
I might have to start looking at non selective schools. My parents have a friend who’s in aerospace, and he told me rank really matters. I might just have to transfer once I’m in somewhere.
Some schools have aerospace electives under another major like mechanical engineering.
@ucbalumnus yeah, I would really like to major in aero or astro though.
At the risk of admonishment, I’ll throw in that imho the issue isn’t chemistry per se but the fact that you have a C in a math or science course, and the resultant pull on GPA. If you had a C in say Physics it would have a similar effect on admissions read. So looking for schools that don’t put as much emphasis on chemistry might be misguided.
A lot of students have problems in life during high school that are resolved and then show a significant upward trend in grades, as you have done. Maybe focusing on bigger picture - which engineering schools do a more holistic read and are known to take into account upward grade trends would give you more information to work with.
You might look at Virginia Tech if it’s prestigious enough for you in the Aerospace field - they have the degree. They are stats driven but being female and high test scores plus OOS could do it. Don’t be fooled by general admissions stats - engineering school acceptance is significantly more selective, maybe 20% acceptance. Know quite a few undergrad upgrads that have no trouble getting in to good grad schools from there. Major aerospace recruiters do go there as well.