<p>I’m debating whether I should explain an F that I got in biology my freshman year. It’s a long story, but basically, my biology teacher speaks broken English (she’s Chinese), so it’s quite difficult to communicate with her. Actually, it’s nearly impossible. So for her class, she calculates your grade, but you also have to calculate it in a folder. She compares your score with her score, but if you don’t hold up your end of the deal, then she fails you. </p>
<p>I turned in my folder ahead of time, and I was missing ONE assignment. She sent me to do it again and come back next class day. When I did, she accused me of trying to turn it in late, and I calmly explained to her that I turned it in on time, but she told me to fix it and bring it back. Then she told me that she hadn’t marked my folder, and that it should have a mark on it if she checked it already. </p>
<p>I tried reasoning with her and explaining it to her, but she completely dismissed me. Mind you, for the other three quarters, I got all As. And my semester grade was alright, I think it was a B or something.</p>
<p>So do I explain it? I really want to, but I don’t know how I would without sounding like a brat and blaming it all on my teacher. Does anybody have any experience with this?</p>
Wait… Are you talking about a grade for a single assignment, a grade on your progress report sent home during the semester, or a grade that actually appears on your official transcript? If it doesn’t appear on your transcript, then explaining it would be unwise. And a B in your freshman year really wouldn’t merit explanation.</p>
<p>The F was for fourth quarter, so it appears on my transcript. The B is just my semester grade, but both grades show up. Though it is the semester grade that determines the year grade and the cumulative gpa, I just thought that it would look pretty horrible to any college to see an F anywhere on a transcript.</p>
<p>Hmmmm… If your overall grades are competitive, it’s not going to kill your chances, especially since it was in freshman year. But if you want to explain it, perhaps in “Additional Information,” focus on what you learned from the experience. What could you have done to prevent the problem, and how did you keep anything like that from happening again? Did you learn to communicate more effectively, or to keep careful records? Did you learn anything by looking at it from her perspective? Did the poor grade make you more determined to become a top student in the rest of your high school career? How you deal with setbacks is interesting to admissions committees, because it shows something of your character and how you might handle the stresses of college life. Just be honest and positive in your comments and, as you say, avoid whining and blaming the teacher.</p>
<p>I agree that if you want to mention it you should focus on what you learned from that experience. I wonder if it’s prudent to call attention to that specifically though. Any thoughts on that? I am in a similar situation and would like to know.</p>
<p>I knew that if I were to explain it, I’d address some of the questions that geek_mom mentioned, but as dandaman10470 said, I’m completely on the fence about whether I should even point it out. It’s from freshman year, and I’ve heard that colleges tend to overlook grades from that year. Then again, I don’t want to leave anything to chance. AHH. </p>
<p>Anybody else have anything else to say about this?</p>
<p>if you have mostly As and high Bs and they see one F it looks like a fluke, and the exception rather than the norm. i have straight As and a C, so my record looks like
AAAAAAAAAACAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
it’s pretty obvious that i’m a good student and just had one mess-up (teacher was psycho). explaining draws attention TO the bad grade rather than away from it. everyone is human, and these people realize that - just don’t force them to. ;)</p>