Will a very low mark in 10&11 gym matter for admission?

Applying to College
1

I’ve wanted to go to Yale since forever, and I’ve tried my best in everything not just for the university but for myself: 1590 SAT, 98.5 average this year (grade 11), international competitions for biology and environmental sciences, pursuing a fashion portfolio with a mini handmade clothing business that hosts summer pop -ups and has become decently successful. 7 APs, fashion and biology research internships, executive positions, school awards. we do valedictorian for grade 11 too here (prep school) and I was valedictorian.

The problem is, I basically failed grade 10 and grade 11 gym with low 70s and 60s. Hear me out- I’m not unfit, I do competitive dance and I love running. The reason I was failing was a) while I’m really good at individual sports and arts, I suck at team sports cause I naturally have HORRIBLE reaction times and literally cannot catch a ball for my life. I’ve tried every single thing ever (classes, trying to join teams, sports with friends) and let’s admit it, some people just aren’t meant to be athletic. being athletic and being fit are two very different things. b) I have had a lot of health concerns and I missed a couple days of assessment.

My school is very much a cutthroat prestigious prep school who cares far more for about performance than effort whatsoever- you’d think that with all the personal health problems and my several attempts to talk about how I’m trying my best, I participate, etc. and anxiety that stems when I bring the team down and the teacher just stares at me like I"m an idiot the school would help… it’s a prep school, they don’t care.

So, will this matter for universities? I have no idea how to make this better…

2

The 98.5 is without gym by the way. first term we didn’t have gym, so i had somewhere around a 98.5-99 average without it.

3

Usually colleges look at your GPA in core courses and would not use gym in their calculation anyway.

4

While my first thought is that your own guidance counselor certainly knows the admissions history for students applying to your target colleges and universities, and is able to tell you whether or not your gym class grades would matter, that person’s hands might be tied by a school culture that emphasized team ball sports over individual sports like running and sports-equivalents like dance. So go have a meeting with your counselor and press a bit on this issue so that you can get a sense of where the truth really lies, rather than just getting another round of “gee if you only try harder you will get better at sports and after all you know they really matter in school and give you skills for life”.

And the next time you miss a couple days of assessment for medical reasons, make sure that you are assessed appropriately on alternate dates. Surely your school can arrange that if you ask for it.

Have your parents weighed in on the gym grade and assessment issues? Sometimes bigger guns are needed.