I got two B's second semester junior year of high school. How much does that ruin my chances of getting into a good school?

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US domestic
  • State/Location of residency: California
  • Type of high school: Public High School
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Female, white
  • Other special factors: N/A

**Intended Major(s): Anthropology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.2
  • College GPA (for transfers): N/A
  • Class Rank: 25 out of 601
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1530 SAT, 35 ACT

Coursework
*(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s)): 11 AP classes, 5 College courses, 3 Honors classes (By end of senior year)

**Awards: Local Speaking Competition Finalist, Scholastic Art Competition 2 Silver Keys, Speech and Debate Impromptu Finalist, GATE Program

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Speech and Debate: President
Anthropology Club: Founder/President
French Honor Society: President
Gender-Sexuality Alliance Club: Club Officer
National Honor Society: Member
MUN: Member
Intern w/ Senator: Researcher

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
  • Match
  • Reach

The title pretty much says it all. I got two B’s second semester junior year of high school in math honors and AP Bio. This brings my unweighted gpa to a 3.9, my weighted gpa to a 4.2, and my overall class rank to 25 out of 601. In the past I’ve also gotten a B in math honors my sophomore year, but other than that I’ve gotten all A’s. I’ve tried to take on as many advanced classes as I am able to and I have also taken several college courses which I have gotten A’s in. Aside from academics I have decent extracurriculars (I’m president of three clubs at my school and a club officer in another). How much will these B’s affect my chances of getting into schools such as Boston University, Boston College, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, University of Washington etc.? Thank you for the help!

**I have also filled out some of the template above for additional information such as some of my most important extracurriculars as well as the major I intend to apply for.

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What is your budget? Have you run the NPC on BU, BC, and Notre Dame and shown the results to your parents?

You certainly should be able to get accepted to very good universities. Whether it will be UC Berkeley I am not the right person to answer since I am from the opposite side of the country. I know someone with similar stats who was accepted to BU but at full pay it was not affordable.

What do you want in a university? Do you want a large school, small school, big city or small city or more rural or suburban location?

I will admit that I do not really know what people do after getting a degree in anthropology. What do you have in mind?

3

You are allowed to get B’s… No one wants perfection. If your challenging yourself and getting B’s that great. I wouldn’t worry at all. Write an essay to match your profile and you will be fine.

2 Likes
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I disagree with your premise. There are thousands of good schools - and I’m sure you’ll get into a great one.

Your list - and it depends on major - but most likely you’d be in at UW - the rest, it depends - could be, may not. Partly depends on major.

You don’t list if costs is a factor - but there are wonderful merit opportunities - Arizona, for example, where you could do Honors.

You need to add some target schools - so while you have BU, how bout a U of Pacific or U of Denver, etc. Where you have BC, how about Santa Clara, etc.

Good luck.

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Thank you for the response! I’m still talking over cost and that kind of thing with my parents, which is why I haven’t listed any specifics down as a factor. I also have a list of some target and safety schools that I plan on applying to, however, I was just worried after getting the B’s last semester that I ruined my chances at some of my reach schools.

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They are reaches. You apply. You see. As long as you have a balanced list you will get into a great program.

Everyone applies to the top schools that make it difficult for even the best performing students.

Your grades are your grades - don’t worry about it. If you get into a top school great, if you don’t you don’t.

Get ahold of your financial situation and what your parents will contribute and check back.

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I don’t think it’ll make a huge difference. If you took the AP exam for either class and did well on it (which you don’t know yet), it could help to report those scores.

Overall, your record is strong. Definitely make sure you keep your grades up senior year. Remember that as you move through high school, the classes become closer to the ones you’ll take in college, so they signal more to a college about your ability to do the work at college than freshman classes do.

For your part, since you are obviously a strong student, think about why you didn’t do as well in those classes. Use this as an opportunity to learn about how you learn. Did you rely too much on memorization? Do you need a better way to figure out if you really understand concepts? Are you focusing on the right things when you study and prep for tests? It can be hard to focus on mastery when grades seem so important but you have a chance to fine tune your study and learning skills!

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The B’s won’t impact your results, but because your reaches are highly selective, you’re more likely NOT to get in. You have what it takes to pass first cut, the rest isn’t in your hands and depends on institutional priorities (ie., what the college needs).

Something you CAN control is what major you’re applying for or what college it’s part of: at universities that select by major or by college, what you apply for will matter. There are only so many seats in some majors. Fortunately Anthropology isn’t as impacted as other majors.
What it means is that if you’re applying for CS, your odds drastically decrease. If you apply for Biology and related, they decrease a lot, too. (Most students apply for these majors, as a result even if you have a strong record, there simply aren’t enough spots for all who would qualify).
If you apply for a foreign language, especially if you have experience in it and a strong record to demonstrate linguistic ability, your odds multiply. If you apply for History, your odds increase if you took APUSH and other AP or college-level reading/writing intensive classes, and got an A.
A premed who’d apply for Anthropology would have better odds for college admission than applying for biology and would have no problem with med school applications (all other things being equal, ie., a biology major with a 3.8= an anthropology major with a 3.8 as far as med schools go).
So, that major is a good pick, and pretty versatile, too.

For Anthropology, Beloit is a must - it’s one of its areas of strength, the college is strong overall, and it probably doesn’t get too many CA applicants, so you get a geographical diversity boost to boot! However you’d have to express interest by filling out the “Request info” forms ASAP.
Same thing for Eckerd, also a good safety for your stats that has a solid Anthropology dept. as long as you show “interest”.
Clark and Brandeis would be low match and match, respectively.
All have good merit aid and also good need-based aid.
Run the NPC with your parents and decide if these are within budget.

DO apply to more than UCB (I hope that’s what you’re planning to do!) UCD and UCSC should be on your list and would be likely/safety based on your GPAxRigor.

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Start thinking more about what you are looking for and make a list of 25 plus schools. What appeals to you about Notre Dame and BC? If there are elements of a Catholic College that appeal to you? Then take a look at Villlanova, Holy Cross, Georgetown, Santa Clara, Fordham? Are you drawn to Boston? Look at Tufts, Northeastern, Brandeis. As mentioned by other posters, you should be looking at most of the UC schools as well

Dive into the schools Anthropology programs, how large is the program? Is there a specific field you are interested in Forensics, Museums? Are there internships available?

In the end you are not looking for the best college based on some artificial ranking you are looking for the best college that fits you. Best of luck, and happy hunting. Post updates as you get some clarity around what you are looking for. I’m sure you will get lots of great advise and end up in a place that is a great fit!

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How do your EC’s relate back to wanting to Anthropology.? (i.e. you started Anthropology club, but are there others?). When you write your essay(s), its going to be key to show who are you are and in some cases why you are a fit for XYZ college and their programs. A few B’s is not going to make a difference, but what is going to distinguish you from other candidates?

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Can you pay for these schools?

Look at some other CA publics…and get a firm number from your parents regarding costs. Some of these colleges are more than $70,000 a year. Are they affordable…or not?

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Thank you for the suggestions! I am planning to apply to other UC’s (UCD was on my list and I’m still looking into UCSC), I just listed UCB because it’s one of my dream schools. I will also definitely look into Eckerd and Beloit!

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Thank you! I’m still working on my college list, but I will post updates once I have a better idea of which colleges I plan to apply to!

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For UCs, particularly now they are test blind, Bs do matter and your grade trajectory is down not up. You’ll be evaluated in part against others who have applied from your high school in the past. For my daughter’s high school, admits had a gpa avg of 4.21 for Berkeley and 4.27 for UCLA. You can find that here:

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OP still has a good weighted GPA so I agree she should still consider Berkeley. However, I disagree with the approach you suggest — it disregards fit and sets up kids for needless rejection. Applicants need to evaluate if their grades and scores make them competitive as a crucial indicator of fit.

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Do you know if the gpa’s on the website are based on overall gpa (9-12) or the UC gpa (10-12)? If it only counts my 10-12 gpa that would bring my weighted gpa up to a 4.33, but my unweighted gpa down to a 3.83… I’m not really sure how that might affect my chances. Do you also know how my downward trajectory in gpa might affect my chances at the other schools I listed? Sorry for asking so many questions! Thank you for the help!

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GPA’s published on the UCOP website is the Capped Weighted UC GPA with a maximum of 4.4.

10-11 grades with an 8 semesters weighted Honors/AP/IB or DE points cap.

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Yes, it’s the UC weighted capped. As stated by another poster, the Bs could raise questions about your performance in college. You could ask your counselor if you should address it on your application. In my opinion your test scores and recommendations will help for your private options, but grades are king, and especially at the UCs.

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