<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was reviewing my transcript and last year I took a student leadership course that was marked pass/fail. I passed the first two quarters yet failed the last two. How does that look on a transcript when applying to colleges? I missed .5 to get the Pass and the reason I did not pass was because of transportation issues. Does this look terrible? I’m thinking of applying to one Ivy and a few other selective schools for journalism. It reflects 1 SEMESTER PASS AND 1 SEMESTER FAIL.</p>
<p>Yes, it looks terrible.</p>
<p>If the “transportation issues” were legitimate reasons for failing, such as a death in the family that required your attendance and support throughout the semester, then you should ask the teacher and/or a school administrator to include a letter with your transcripts explaining the circumstances. </p>
<p>However, if you only have excuses (my car wasn’t reliable; the bus was always late, etc.) you are best to simply hope adcoms overlook it. By the way, arguing that you “missed .5 to get the Pass” is quibbling and makes the situation worse.</p>
<p>A pass is a 70 percent and I got a 69.5. I live 30 minutes from school and my parent’s can only make one trip with my sister’s who also go to school hence why sometimes I was late. I’m trying to get it removed altogether but if I can’t, I’m thinking of using as the basis of my Common App essay question “describe a time in which you’ve experienced failure” How does that look? I’m a very well rounded student with top notch grades, i’ve consistently won awards at my school for my grades and amazing extracurriculars. I’m one of 4 juniors this year to be taking 4 AP classes at my College Prep school. Juniors are only allotted 3 but we’ve shown tremendous grades to obtain 4. So in the end I have 4 AP’s (English, Spanish Language, Psych, and US History) and 1 Honor’s Class (Chemistry). We have one mandatory religion class and in my Algebra II class I have a 110%.</p>
<p>If you had a legitimate transportation issue, ask your guidance counselor to explain it - that will sound much better than you doing it. And, for goodness sakes, do NOT use this as the basis of your Common App essay!</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip. I’m still talking to the counselors and director of education. It looks like i’ll be able to remove it altogether. My issue was legit and although i couldn’t make it to the meetings i was there for all the functions and if you ask anyone they’d say that i was an excellent leader.</p>
<p>Congratulations on the good outcome! :)</p>
<p>And, sheesh, I’d tend to agree that it seems more than a little unreasonable to penalize you for not being able to get to special meetings that (I’m guessing) were outside of normal school hours. My kid has transportation issues, too, and if his school were to schedule something he couldn’t possibly get to, I’d consider that the school’s problem, not his.</p>
<p>That was my main argument with the counselors. The student leadership team was comprised of about 50 people and about 20 passed both semesters. The other 30 failed. However, even though I failed I had a legit reason why i couldn’t make it to the 7:15 meetings (Transportation, No license, 40 minutes from school, etc.) the other students had no reason. Most would get there at 7:15 and would rather go to starbucks or the breakfast place down the street. Their excuse, they saw no one in the meeting room. It truly is the school’s problem. I’m fine meeting afterschool or during lunch but before school is terrible. Plus, the addition of making it a grade truly excludes some students have some issues like me from joining asb altogether</p>