So. I messed up senior year. Big time. From Freshmen to Junior year, I was mostly an A student with 2 B’s per semester, sometimes 3. Before Senior year, my UW GPA was a 3.64 and UC GPA was 3.91.
And then senior year came along. And no- my bad grades weren’t due to some life altering issues and what not. It was simply that the courses were too hard for me. I’m getting a D (68) in AP Calc, a C in AP Chem, and maybe a C in Physics. A in everything else though.This brings my semester grade down to a 2.81 UW I think. a 3.1 UC weighted
I messed up my senior year schedule essentially. I was never a really STEM guy to start out with, but since I wanted to do a major related to science (health policy), my CG recommended me to take physics. With 3 of the hardest science/math courses on my campus, I was destined to fail, but I remained naive and kept on trudging through.Now my GPA is going to be a 3.5 something (for UW privates).
My question is:
Is there a way to make sure that the colleges don’t reject me right off that bat and might still consider the rest of my stats? or should I just not bother anymore (that’s honestly what I feel like doing right now, with no game plan at hand).
My CG is essentially useless, saying “go to community college, it’s ok.” That’s the easy way out. I’m not giving up without a fight. I know I just contradicted myself.
Extra info:
Ethnicity, school: Asian, Notoriously competitive high school in the Bay Area ( School GPA avg 3.5 UW, 2100 SAT)
SAT 1: 2220 (super score) 2180 (one sitting)
Sat 2: 750 Bio/750 Chem/ 680 Math2
AP: 5 Psych, 4 Bio, 4 Stats
Extracurricular and essay and rec and etc. As far as I’m concerned, they’re really good. Quality and quantity ecs.
Planned major: Something along the lines of health/bio. Also, second major/minor in music: oboe
Applied schools: UCLA/SD/D/I/SB, BU, Case western, Colgate, Grinnell, NYU (my friend got accepted with 2 C’s ED lol), Northeastern. I’m not even going to bother mentioning my reach schools.
You could apply to more safety schools, there are schools that are still taking applications. I can’t really see any way to to improve your current apps other than trying your best at improving your grades.
Since you’re a California resident, the community college to UC route might be best, but I do think you would have to spend the first 2 years at the CC. If you definitely want to start at a 4-year school, you’ll probably need to apply to a few safeties. There are plenty of out of state flagships and private colleges/universities still accepting applications. Some of the private schools which practice holistic admissions may be willing to overlook the grades in your difficult STEM courses this year and be happy to accept a student with your SAT scores and GPA prior to senior year. You should probably target schools at which your stats place you in the top 10 to 25% of the student body.
When you send in your 1st semester senior year grades to the schools to which you have applied, you need to send a letter of explanation - one that acknowledges that you over-reached and when you got into trouble, you didn’t address the problem and then talks about what you are doing to fix the situation. It’s not a crime at 17 to be immature. If you own it, some of the schools might give you a chance.
If you don’t get in anywhere, then community college with a transfer to the UC system is one answer. Another is to take a gap year. (Read The Gap Year Advantage). If you get your grades up second semester (dropping into lower level classes and asking for help when you need it), your GPA won’t take such a bit hit. Some time off to focus on an EC, earn some money and/or do something to further your interests in a particular area, and to mature an extra year, will differentiate you when you reapply. The gap year is, in my mind, a better solution than community college.
A gap year is certainly one possibility. I can’t imagine that this student couldn’t get in anywhere, though maybe not at the schools to which OP has already applied. Many midwestern, western (not California), or southern flagships would be possibilities, as would many private universities. If a degree from a nationally-known, prestigious university is important, community college then transfer to a top UC is probably the way to go. If not, there are many possibilities at less well-known but still excellent schools.
Just so you know UC’s don’t consider Senior Year grades at all. They only look at them AFTER you get in. Except for Berkeley and LA, you won’t get rescinded as long as you have a 3.0 weighted GPA during senior year. Seeing that you have a 3.1 weighted GPA, you will be okay for SD, D, I, SB, etc. For LA, you need at least a 3.0 unweighted GPA, so you might be rescinded from LA if you do get in. However, you can always try to explain your situation to the admissions office. Good luck!
@collegelife101 Wait really? I thought UC’s auto reject if you have a D or a < 3.0 UW gpa.
Thanks for the tips! I have already written my letter of explanation (main focus was around me trying my best but the class was too difficult) and plan on sending it once I request for my mid year report to be sent next week to both UC and privates. And no, I don’t plan on applying to any other schools.
Just be careful with the ‘doing my best’ line if doing your best didn’t include seeking out the teacher early and often for tutoring. One of the red flags for colleges are students who, when they have dug themselves into a pit, don’t recognize it and ask for help. This isn’t about how hard you worked. This is about recognizing when you had a problem and not getting help in time. If you don’t own it, the letter isn’t going to help.
Not necessarily. If the D or F grade isn’t in an A-G required class, you might not be rescinded! I’ve heard of several instances in which they didn’t rescind someone for getting a D or F in an AP class. However, you do need to contact the admissions office.
@tguan916 Just an fyi, I think you should limit the amount of info you put in your stats. I stumbled upon this thread, and it just so happens to attend the same “Notoriously competitive high school in the Bay Area.” In fact, I believe I will be seeing you tomorrow in one of our classes. Next time just say that our high school has an API of ~950.
Anyways, I’m sorry to hear about your struggles. Don’t give up hope. I have the same issue with a low GPA, but my college counselor said that she talked with an admissions officer specifically about me. UCSD admissions officer said that my internship could POSSIBLY outweigh the problem, and I believe that would apply to you as well.
Don’t get discouraged. You’re intelligent and ambitious. I wish you the best of luck in your college decisions.
I sure hope collegelife is right and that it will all still be okay for you. If it does turn out to be problematic, would you consider going to an OOS school like U. of Utah? It is on my radar screen because their deadline is in April after we know all the outcomes and we can send an app at the last minute.
The UCs don’t ask for mid-year reports, but you need to notify them of your D. Its not an automatic rejection, but they do say they can rescind people for a D.
I wonder if the trouble is due to your study skills? Your SAT (which is pretty strongly correlated with IQ tests) is strong, and you have good AP scores and SAT II tests. Many students at large publics get by on their native smarts and have never learned to study effectively. They get into a tough class and they spend more hours doing the same thing they’ve always done, but more or a poor approach won’t fix things. After they go over the material a few times it seems familiar and they think they “know” it, confusing recognition with recall.
There are tons of websites you can visit for advice and also books. Two links to get you started are [On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student](On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student - Cal Newport) and [How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport) There are books for most classes in a series called Problem Solver. For example, the “Calculus Problem Solver” by REA. You go to the chapter matching what you are studying in class, cover up the answers, start working the problems. If you actually know the concepts you’ll be getting the answers right, if you aren’t there are worked solutions. There’s no confusing recognition with recall here, as you immediately find out whether you can solve the problem or not.
Update: I received a B in Physics! That brings my UW to 3.0 flat and W to 3.333.
@mikemac Thanks for the tips! I will be emailing the UCs and privates at the end of next week after going over my letter of explanation with my CG to see if my wording is satisfactory. As for calc, I might end up dropping to CP Calc. If not, I will have to find a new strategy to approach the class using the links that you have provided.