<p>First of all, if any angst exists in this post, I apologize beforehand, for I received my unfavorable report card today. </p>
<p>At the beginning of my high school career, I had high hopes for my future. However, this semester (the second of my junior year) somehow resulted with the worst grades that I have ever received. Unlike the desired upward progression of academic success, I have somehow managed to degress every semester, beginning with the first of my sophomore year. My sophomore year I recieved my first B first semester. Second semester I received 2 B’s. First semester of my junior year, I received 3 B’s. And, second semester of my junior year, I recieved 2 B’s and a C. When I began getting B’s my sophomore year, I knew they would hurt me in my college admission process, but never did I imagine that I would recieve a C, especially in my most important semester of high school. </p>
<p>My main question is this: The C on my report card does the precise damage to my GPA as 2 B’s in place of it would. Do college admissions officers note that I specifically got a C (and think that it’s really bad), or simply the slight drop in GPA? The reason for my inquiry is that my GPA still remains 3.76 (unweighted) which I believe to be generally adequate for most of the schools that I am considering to apply to. However, if a college admissions officers sees the C on my transcript, will he be immediately be turned off and reject me, or will he consider it just as he would 2 B grades instead?</p>
<p>A sub-question is this: How much will the degression of grades affect my chances of getting into schools? I honestly cannot think of any excuses for the degression; my courses have simply become more rigorous and demanding. However, I have high hopes for my senior year, and cannot imagine that my grades will sink any lower. </p>
<p>Not to be a debbie downer, but when I think back on my transcript, the thing that pulled me down (I think) were the two Cs I had on a my junior year transcript. Overall, my GPA was still a 4.0 with 10 AP courses, but the Cs killed it. lol</p>
<p>I would not be surprised if I had gotten into some of my rejected schools if those Cs were As.</p>
<p>Northwestern (R)
Columbia (R) <– I didn’t expect anything to being with lol
University of Southern California (R)
Emory (WL, then Accepted)
NYU (A)
UGA (A)</p>
<p>I got the Cs in AP Calculus 2nd semester junior year and AP physics 1st semester junior year.</p>
<p>To tokenadult’s very important question, I’d add this one: What does a transcript from your h.s. look like? Does it list grades with classes, or does it list your classes, and show an overall GPA? The first way is more common, but I have seen one or two arranged the second way.</p>
<p>Most likely your school will show only the end of the year average for your grades. So, you may of gotten a C this semester, but what about last semester? The average for your two semesters might be the only thing colleges will see, and so I wouldn’t worry about one C.</p>
<p>For example, in my school, quarter grades aren’t reported. So, for one of my classes, colleges will see that my overall grade will be a B+, even though in one quarter I happened to get a D+ and for that semester I had a B. Colleges will never see that D+ and will be happy that I pulled off a B+ in a relatively hard AP class. </p>
<p>My C was in my AP european history course, in which I got B last semester. I really have no excuse for the lower grade- like I said before, it was just a tough teacher with a tough class. </p>
<p>I’m not absolutely positve about how my highschool prints transcripts, but I’m fairly certain that it lists the courses and the grade received in each, so I assume that the admissions officers would explicitly see my “C” grade :/.</p>
<p>I was in a similar position with gkc4. I recieved a C each semester starting from sophmore year (after coming off a straight A freshmen year) and my UW gpa regressed each semester due to more and more B’s. Thankfully, while my grades went down, the number of AP/honors classes I took went up so I ended with a gpa disparity of 3.5 UW, 4.1-4.2 W. </p>
<p>Looking back, those C’s probably earned me rejections to schools that I could’ve had a chance at (USC, NYU to name a few) but I doubt they were the primary reason. </p>
<p>In response to the OP, yes, the C and downward trend will impact your college admissions process but the amount of impact should vary greatly. As long as you apply to a diverse group of colleges, it should all work out in the end.</p>
<p>I’m sure grades are looked at differently by different schools, depending on what the school is looking for. We had students with a perfect 4.0 including AP Coursework (our high school does not weight regardless of difficulty of coursework) who still did not get into the more prestigious schools they applied to. On the other hand, our son was accepted into a Service Academy with a 3.5 and lots of leadership both in school and in community activities (Sr. Class Pres., JROTC Cadet Commander, Band Section leader, church activities, Civil Air Patrol, etc.). SA’s are looking for well-rounded students with academic, athletic, and leadership balance. Civilian schools may or may not put emphasis on all three of these areas.</p>
<p>When we spoke with an area admissions rep about a year ago for West Point, we asked about the grades as our son had his share of C’s and we didn’t know how that would affect his selection. The rep told us 3 things that stuck out in my mind: 1) we will look to make sure there are no D’s and F’s which would signal some other issues, 2) we would prefer a lower grade in a more demanding course than a higher grade in an easier class as we know the student was willing to challenge him/herself academically, and 3) because schools vary so much nation-wide in their expectations and rigor, we look at ACT and SAT scores more closely than grades because they are consistent measuring tools for nationwide comparisons of students. </p>
<p>I can’t guarantee the schools you are looking at would share this philosophy, of course, but it does make sense. I have also noticed that the junior year of high school seems to be the most challenging for many students. If you are a typical high schooler, you are learning to balance rigorous academics with all kinds of other activities: sports, music, jobs, etc. etc. and you are probably more involved now than when you were a freshman. When you start your college application essays in the fall, you can express some of these thoughts and concerns to let the admissions people know you had a more challenging schedule than you had expected. Emphasize what you learned from the experience such as improved time management skills and better study skills. Then at least the admissions staff knows you are not apathetic about the lower grades. </p>
<p>Ironically, our son had a Pre-AP English teacher that he was getting C’s from his jr. year. His ACT English score at that same time was a 31/36, so grades do not always show the whole picture. Keep your chin up and try not to worry too much about the C.</p>
<p>Similar situation–I have two C+s on my transcript, both in math. Everything else this year is at least an A, and other years I had a sprinkling of B+s but by far mostly As.</p>
<p>I already edited most of the Ivies off my college list due to the news of the second C±-I was banking on a B–but I really love every other school on my list and don’t want to do other trimming. Will I be okay if my other grades, essays, and especially ECs are good?</p>
<p>Also, it should be noted that this is the hardest level math class offered at my school–AP BC track for next year.</p>
<p>^I think gkc4 meant 4.0 weighted because it can’t be 4.0 uw with 2 Cs. Unless gkc4 used new math!</p>
<p>OP, my daughter’s friend got a few Cs and he got into Wash U and a bunch of selective LACs. Another friend of her got at least a C in Math Senior year and is going to Harvard, but he is a URM.</p>
<p>Yeah…I had no trend whatsoever. My semester GPAs would fluctuate within a few points randomly, but there was the dip during Junior year. D’oh. :P</p>