Will a bad GPA ruin my chances here?

fineartsmajormom
Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:16:54 +0000

OP…calm down and re-read the responses that people took the time to send you. You asked for feedback…accept gracefully or ask for clarification if something doesn’t sound right. If you don’t like the responses, you can ignore them, but there may be some gems of advice in there that may serve you well.

AP spanish IS a tough test and particularly tough for non native speakers. It is easy for my daughter because she is a native speaker. She and S went to school abroad and S took the AP spanish and spanish SAT II without any class or prep precisely to get (what is for him, the easy high scores). AP English for him was a nightmare for the same reason it will be a walk in the park for you. Frankly, these tests are like some type of rigged game and you have to figure out the strategy and combination of tests that presents you in the best way and still meets the university or program requirements. For example, at our school, they advise the non-native spanish speakers to be very well prepared and cross their fingers when they take the spanish SAT II…or take english lit if they need a high score on an SAT II.

The math/stats remark was not a personal insult (you need to read these responses carefully!!!) …it is just reality. Quite a few universities and programs do not treat stats as a math class. Many do. All the advice you are getting from here is check carefully the requirements of the university and the program you are applying to. If you don’t meet minimum requirements, you need to either have that addressed by your counselor (extenuating circumstances) or apply elsewhere.

As a PhD economist with a specialization in econometrics, I live and breathe stats and it is not math (lots of math symbols and numbers…but a different discipline entirely). Whatever the college says…math is not stats and stats is not math. When you return to taking calculus in college after a year hiatus from math it will be a shock. Thus, if you want to study engineering or physics or even economics, there may be some concern about not finishing calculus in high school since the program may be looking for AB calc at a minimum. CHECK with your college or program. Your preferences were not clear in your post in terms of the colleges you were thinking of applying to so if the advice was not appropriate to your goals…well, ignore or clarify…smile and nod and learn to be gracious in accepting help (even when you don’t perceive it as helpful). This advice will get you further than anything related to standardized tests…