How much did I mess up my chances of getting into college? [college calculus 1 B grade, IB math AA HL A grade; MD resident, 3.967 GPA, top 10% rank, 1530 SAT, <$50k, civil engineering]

Applying to College
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I’m not sure if I’m catastrophizing right now, but I’m scared that I won’t get into college for an engineering major. I took Calc 1 online over the summer with my local community college, but I got a B. I took this class to help with my IB Math class, and it seemed to help, but a B is a B. Is this a red flag for engineering majors? I have all As otherwise (even in IB Math AA HL), and I’m in the top 10% of my class. I plan to apply as a civil engineering major. I will post my college list below if anyone has recommendations for colleges I should add/remove based on this information. (SAT is 1530 but taking it again)

Safety: Iowa State, Clarkson, Penn State

Target: UMD, Purdue, UIUC, George Washington

Reach: Princeton, Georgia Tech, UT Austin, UMich, Rice, University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins

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Yeah, you’re catastrophizing but you might take it again when you get to college. Online and rushed - in summer - not good for when you’re in school.

You haven’t provided enough info to chance you - but you needn’t take the SAT again.

But assuming you’ve met the requirements - 4 years English, 3 science, 2 years language, 3 years social studies, etc - you have zero issue getting into an engineering major.

But we don’t know your GPA, budget, desires, etc - so you need a chance me.

But yes, you’re freaking out over a B. Think about that. That’s silly. Stop.

Enjoy your Senior year - and tell us more.

PS - you know you didn’t screw up your chances by labeling safeties. If you screwed up, you wouldn’t have safeties.

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Calculus is an important subject that is used all over the place. My primary concern is not related to university admissions. My primary concern is that you need to know calculus very well because you are going to need to use it a lot in the future.

I would be tempted to put a lot of effort into your next calculus or differential equations class to make sure that you really understand it well. Does your current high school math class re-cover much of the same material, or continue on from what you took over the summer?

Jumping ahead in math is rarely a good idea. Taking the time to learn the core parts of math very well is often a very good idea.

By the way, I didn’t take calculus until my freshman year of university. That did not stop me from getting a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from MIT.

Pretty much all of your reaches have many engineering students who never had a B in any math class (although they might get a few after they get to university).

However, engineering is an area where the “prestige” of the school that you attend really does not matter. You will want to attend a university that is ABET accredited for your particular type of engineering. You can do this with a B in one calculus class.

What is your home state? Are any of your safeties in-state for you?

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You most likely wouldn’t have gotten into every school on this list, even without that B. When applying to highly-rejective schools, you’re probably going to get some rejections. When that happens, you will have no way of knowing whether an A in that one class would have changed anything. Probably not. It’s best to resolve now, not to torture yourself about this!

Your safeties are still safeties. Your targets are still targets. You’ll be fine; carry on!

You’re already applying to Penn State; how about applying to Pitt too? They have a great CivE program, and rolling admissions. Apply now and you’ll probably have an acceptance in hand before Thanksgiving, which could make waiting for the other decisions a bit easier.

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One B grade among all A grades otherwise is unlikely to stop you from getting admitted.

However, some holistic admission readers may notice that you repeated the same material (IB math AA HL repeats calculus 1 along with covering additional material), which can be seen as grade grubbing.

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Thank you for the reassurance! My UW GPA is 3.967, and W is 4.79. Class rank is 47/476. I’m a full IB student (4 HLs, 2 SLs), took all honors besides Orchestra and PE my freshman/sophomore year. I took AP Gov (5), and self studied for AP Lit (5) and AP Calc AB (which I’m not submitting because it didn’t go too well). I’m taking AP Physics C right now, and APES next semester.

ECs

-Den Chief (6 years)

-Envirothon (3rd place at counties last year)

-Statewide Youth Climate Institute (YCI) Council

-Internship with local ecological start up (focusing on designing and modeling)

-All-County Orchestra (audition only, selected 5 times)

-Girls State (Governor candidate + mayor)

-Exelon STEM Academy + Mentorship

-Tri-M (parliamentarian)

-Green Team (leadership for 3 years)

-Varsity Cross Country and Track (4 years)

-NHS, SNHS, MNHS

Awards

-Eagle Scout (one of a small percentage of female Eagle Scouts)

-AP Scholar Award

-All-County Violinist

-Honor Roll

-First-Generation Recognition Award

-Rural and Small-Town Recognition Award

My essay is strong, and I know that at least two of my LORs will be strong.

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The part of calculus that I struggled with was integration, but we’re currently covering that in my math class now, and I understand it much better. I think the issue wasn’t the content, but because I took it online. Math at MIT is very impressive! My home state is Maryland, my high school is fringe rural. None of my safeties are in-state, but Iowa State is close in cost to UMD. I’m not so much worried with the prestige as I am with the amount of opportunities and job placement rates, which is why I’m struggling to find strong safeties (Penn State is the best one in my opinion, but it’s not a complete safety).

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Thank you! I just didn’t want the B to ruin my application at schools that I could potentially have a chance at. I didn’t think about Pitt! I’ll apply there. I believe Iowa State is also rolling, so hopefully the B will stop stressing me out :slight_smile:

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Will it look like I took IB Math because I got a B in calc 1? My IB Math class is a two year long course, and I took calc 1 the summer in between to help with my IB math class (my teacher said it could be helpful since I had no calc background). How could I explain this to colleges?

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This is great. If you do well in your current math class most universities are likely to overlook one B. For the highest ranked schools such as Princeton it is very hard to predict acceptance, and even very strong students are routinely turned down.

Taking math online seems tough to me, although I will admit that I never tried doing this. I do think that I gained a lot by having good math teachers and professors to learn from in person.

UMD is a very good university. When I was in graduate school (master’s at Stanford) one of my good friends was a UMD graduate. He was quite a good graduate student also. Since you are in-state if it were me I would be tempted to apply. You can decide where to attend in March or April, but it is good to have a few affordable admissions to choose from.

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Purdue is grade sensitive, especially for math courses. I do think the combo of the B and an unreported AP test could be a red flag. Do your absolute best to get As this year in your math class!

Also, Purdue and UIUC won’t come in under the budget that you posted in your initial chance me, and are tough admits for OOS applicants applying to engineering. I think they are too unpredictable to be considered targets.

Be sure that your safeties all fall under budget. My D applied 8 years ago with similar stats, with a 4.0 and no Bs, and Clarkson was still in the mid $30s/yr even after their stacking scholarships.

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Do not try to explain that B since it’d draw attention to it.

Colleges that know the IB curriculum will know that the IB Math AA HL is exceedingly difficult for a HS course and if you’re getting an A/likely to get a 6 on the exam you’re a solid math student. If your teacher thinks you’d get a 5 or 4 though it may become more of a problem for your targets and reaches.

Reinforcing previous calc content and preparing for Level 2 IB AA Math makes sense by the way (if you truly feel you need to talk about it, you can just indicate it was recommended by the teacher as a review&transition course for the calc portion of HL2 Math).

In short, don’t worry about it.

I second the suggestion of applying to Pitt. As an extra safety, apply to UMBC ASAP (instate costs, very strong for STEM, likely scholarship). You want to make sure you have 2 universities that will for sure be under budget.

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OMG - you have a 3.9+. You got a B. You don’t explain anything. That’s what you got. You don’t make excuses.

But you should retake Calc when you get to college (in my opinion). You rushed through it and that’s not good - even if you’re taking it again.

My son got a 5 on the Calc AB test. At Colorado School of Mines student panel, the students suggested he take again (really any major class). He didn’t - and he had to withdraw.

As for your chance me, have you considered budget? Some of these schools are $50K+ and you’ll get no aid most likely?

The list works if budget is no issue. It doesn’t mean you are getting in everywhere but you have a chance and you’ll get into some for sure - but if you can’t afford those some, it’s irrelevant.

So that’s the first question - what is your budget? Iowa State is excellent btw - but there are closer schools if you don’t want to be 30 minutes from Des Moines - like Ohio State, Pitt, Delaware, SUNYs.

But first need to verify affordability - PSU is over $50K.

Curious - why GW?

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The student took the AP exam without taking the course - the AAHL is a 2-year program that goes further than Calc BC along with Discrete Math & Statistics. So results on the AB exam aren’t strictly indicative of what this student should do in college wrt Math Placement.

I agree affordability is a big issue.

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You have one B grade? Please don’t stress about this. It is one B grade. Believe me, you will likely see other B and even C grades in college. The point of the courses is that you learn the material, and can move forward.

In math, in particular, a strong foundation is essential. If you had asked here before you took the online calculus course in the summer, my opinion would have been to wait and take it at your school.

Most college applicants do not take any summer courses at all.

Why? This is an excellent SAT score.

And maybe it’s me, but if you did a chance me/match me thread, it would contain all the pertinent information in a more readable and concise format.

I agree you should add Pitt to your list.

Are the out of state colleges on this list going to be affordable for your family for four years?

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OK - I just looked - so you have a $30K budget:

No to Iowa State (run the NPC) - it’s also difficult to get to. You can use WVU as a sub.

Clarkson - you can try but wouldn’t count on it.

No to Penn State. You can try Pitt - but highly unlikely to come in.

Yes to UMD and you’ll get in I think.

No to Purdue and no to UIUC. GW - would need to get a ton of money but I suppose it’s possible. Run the NPC.

If the NPC shows Princeton at $30K - yes. Ga Tech not happening unless you win Stamps - so you can apply - but you’re not going.

No to UT, Michigan. Time wasters.

If the NPCs work for Rice, UR and JHU - yes. If not no. You might check UVAs NPC too as they meet need.

It’s Civil - I wouldn’t worry about the where.

I’d apply to UMD and then for safeties - look at schools that will 100% make budget - WVU, Alabama (will be $20K-ish with $30.5K auto merit), UAH, Mississippi State. You can try Florida State - if you get an OOS waaiver. Maybe some SUNYs.

When you have a budget, you build a list for the budget. Period, end of story.

You built a list for ranking - and that will potentially leave you homeless.

I would remove the “top” school - it’s Civil Engineering - there’s a lot of great schools.

But in your case, admission (which will happen at some) is not the goal. Admission at a school you can afford is the goal.

Good luck.

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Great school…

@aunt_bea

https://engineering.buffalo.edu/civil-structural-environmental.html#:~:text=The%20Department%20offers%20an%20advanced,practicing%20and%20future%20bridge%20engineers.&text=UB’s%20civil%20engineering%20program%20was,best%20in%20the%20North%20East.

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Why should the OP take single variable calculus a third time after doing well (B and A grades) the first two times? (Not even counting the unsuccessful self study of the AP exam.)

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If it’s the third time or they’re past, then not necessarily.

I jumped on the I took it in summer, online - that’s not a way to get the breadth.

If he’s gotten it after, then I stand corrected.

He will be placed regardless.

But calculus is not one to fall behind on.

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Not counting the unsuccessful self study of the AP exam, the OP will have had single variable calculus twice in class, once in the college summer course with a B grade, and then again in IB math AA HL, currently getting an A grade.

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