Will a UC reject me because of one D?

[123456654321]

<p>During my junior year of high school I got a D in my first semester of AP calculus. During the second semester I raised that grade to a B. I got a 2 on the AP test for calculus which I know is not good. But I passed all my other AP tests.</p>

<p>My other grades were mostly A’s with a few B’s. My GPA was over 4.0. I have awards including AP scholar, National Hispanic Recognition, CSF lifetime membership, and a few other less important ones. </p>

<p>I heard that UCs don’t accept any D’s. Am I going to get rejected?</p>

<p>I’ve been accepted to other schools and got into their schools of engineering. But I’d like to go to a UC.</p>

[Erin_s_Dad]

<p>What was your final grade? That should be the one that counts.</p>

[drusba]

<p>The issue is not alone a D but also whether the course is needed for you to meet an A-G course requirement, in which case a D can prevent admission to any UC unless rectified in another way. (Go here and start exploring the UC requirements [A-G</a> courses | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/index.html]A-G”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/index.html) ). You need 3 years of high school math (the C course requirement from the A-G courses) with grades of C or better to meet the math requirement. However, that three years can include high school level courses (e.g., algebra, geometry) taken in junior high. I suspect that since the course you have is calculus, you may have already met the three year requirement with C’s or better in prior math courses you have taken. One can also meet the entire math requirement by scoring 570 or better in the math 1 SAT subject test or 480 or better in the math 2.</p>

<p>These rules are simply ones that go towards determining whether you qualify for admission to “a” UC, not necessarily one of your choice. If you meet the minimums required for admission (see, e.g., [University</a> of California - Statewide path](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html]University”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/index.html) ), you will be admitted to “a” UC, often Riverside or Merced, but that D can be used against you for admission to other UCs, such as Berkeley, UCSD or UCLA.</p>

[mikemac]

<p>

The issue is not alone a D but also whether the course is needed for you to meet an A-G course requirement, in which case a D can prevent admission to any UC unless rectified in another way.

This is true, but the UCs also have screwy rules including a concept called “validation”. And lucky for you, validation is going to give you credit for that year of math. “What is validation”, you might ask?

UC Faculty recognizes the completion of a higher level (advanced) course with a letter grade of C or better, in areas of sequential knowledge as demonstrating proficiency of lower level c oursework in the same subject area for the purpose of satisfying two of the UC freshman admission subject requirements.
<a href=“University of California Counselors”>University of California Counselors

</a> </p>

<p>

The math (“c”) subject area is one of two subject areas where a grade of C or better earned in the second semester of the course can validate a grade of D or F received in the first semester. This validation rule pertains to all levels of math courses, including Geometry.</p>

<p>Using a second-semester grade of C or better to validate a D or F grade earned in the first semester will not replace the deficient grade calculated into the UC GPA. Only if the first semester of the course is repeated would the repeated grade replace the original D or F in the UC GPA.
[University</a> of California - Frequently asked questions](<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/a-g-requirements/c-mathematics/faq/index.html]University”>http://www.ucop.edu/agguide/a-g-requirements/c-mathematics/faq/index.html)

So you may end up rejected because of your GPA. But not because you haven’t satisfied the A-G requirements.

I heard that UCs don’t accept any D’s.

What you heard is wrong.</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>For the “c” (math) requirement of the a-g requirements, "A grade of C or better in the second semester of a mathematics course validates a D/F in the first semester. " In addition, if you are in calculus, you have presumably taken precalculus and trigonometry, which validates the entire math requirement if you are applying for fall 2014.</p>

<p>However, the D grade in junior year will still be used in calculating your GPA (and you would not get an honors point for the semester with a D grade).</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.calstate.edu/sas/publications/documents/csu-uc-a-gcomparisonmatrix.pdf[/url]”>http://www.calstate.edu/sas/publications/documents/csu-uc-a-gcomparisonmatrix.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[ucbalumnus]

<p>

@mikemac

This is true, but the UCs also have screwy rules including a concept called “validation”.

</p>

<p>Actually, those rules make a lot of sense – a student who shows proficiency in a more advanced level course which depends heavily on the lower level course is assumed to know the content of the lower level course. This is mainly applied to math and foreign language.</p>