Explaining bad grades

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi CC,
I’ve been a straight-A student since Year 8 (first year of high school) - literally, As in every single subject. However, Year 12 is here and it seems my grades are slipping. It’s coming up to mid-year exams, and I’ve got the following report card (there are no minuses or pluses at my school - it’s a flat A, not A- or A+):</p>

<p>World Literature: B
Calculus: A
World History: B
Politics and Government: A
Economics: A</p>

<p>I hope to get those Bs up to As by the end of the year (November), but on the off chance that I don’t - what do I do? Is it worth mentioning the new grading system put in place at my school this year? Since starting high school, the percentage needed to get an A in every subject has been 75%. This year, it’s been raised to 80% in all subjects except History and Politics and Government :(</p>

<p>Thanks,
NJI</p>

2

<p>So you go to a school that uses the European grading system?</p>

3

<p>The ECTS scale (<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECTS_grading_scale[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECTS_grading_scale&lt;/a&gt;)? No - these are our grade cut-offs:</p>

<p>A - >80% (except for two subjects mentioned above)
B - 65-79%
C - 50-64%
D - 35-49%
E - <35%</p>

<p>I should probably add that where I am, it’s a rarity to see a student attain more than 85-90% in a humanities subject (e.g. History). This is pretty much the same state-wide. Averages for tests, etc. round out to about 55%.</p>

4

<p>It is not worth mentioning the grading scale. That smacks of whining or making excuses. Your school should send that information with your transcript.</p>

5

<p>

My school doesn’t even know what a transcript is :frowning: I guess I’ll have to educate them.</p>

6

<p>bump 10char</p>