How much will this hurt my college apps?

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johnjohn320

johnjohn320

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2001
7,572
2
76
Hey all,

I'm a junior in high school, and thus am naturally thinking about college applications about now. Here's the scoop: I'm a pretty good student, all A's and B's in all honors and AP courses. EXCEPT one incident my sophomore year: 2nd semester I got a D in Honors Algebra II. I have no idea why that class was so difficult for me last year, but I'm retaking this year and getting A's. There's a whole slew of pausible causes, lots of factors that could have contributed to that dismal mark, but that's another thread. ;)

I'm planning on applying to the school of music at a lot of state universities around the midwest. Obviously, this will include an audition. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, but don't I have to get into the university first (grades) and THEN go for the school of music (audition)? If this is the way of it, do you think that one D is going to significantly hinder my chances of getting into the universities?

(please say no please say no;))

Thanks.
 
T

tarheelmm

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2002
1,207
0
0
one should not affect it and if you are retaking the same class i would think it would cancel out the lesser of the two
 
johnjohn320

johnjohn320

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2001
7,572
2
76
Originally posted by: tarheelmm
one should not affect it and if you are retaking the same class i would think it would cancel out the lesser of the two
Click to expand...

Actually I'm told that it doesnt cancel it out, both appear on the transcript. :(
 
A

AgentEL

Golden Member
Jun 25, 2001
1,327
0
0
I wouldn't think it would severely hinder your chances of getting into a university.

For one thing, you got a D in an Algebra class. If you are applying under music, then that should not make that much of a difference. I don't know what the system is like in the midwest, but at my university, I had to get into the specific college (in my case, College of Engineering). So, my Calculus and science grades/AP scores weighed much more.

Also, your transcript will show an improvement over the last time you took it which will do nothing but help you.

Well, good luck in any case. I don't think the D will hurt that much in the long run, IMHO.
 
C

Codewiz

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2002
5,758
0
76
Originally posted by: johnjohn320
Originally posted by: tarheelmm
one should not affect it and if you are retaking the same class i would think it would cancel out the lesser of the two
Click to expand...

Actually I'm told that it doesnt cancel it out, both appear on the transcript. :(
Click to expand...

Damn man unless you suck on the SATs or ACT then you have nothing to worry about. I scored 1380 on the SATs and had a 3.1 GPA and get into every school I applied to. I had quite a few D's and F's from 9th and 10th grade.

Don't sweat it.
 
Y

yobarman

Lifer
Jan 11, 2001
11,642
1
0
one bad grade really won't effect your chances.. i failed a class(only class i ever failed) in senior year, so it didn't really matter cause i already got in.
 
H

Hoober

Diamond Member
Feb 9, 2001
4,385
34
91
As long as your GPA overall is strong and you do well on either the SAT's or ACT's (or both) then you shouldn't have too much to worry about.
 
X

xuanman

Golden Member
Oct 5, 2002
1,417
0
0
if anything, your grades will show improvement, which is a big plus for a lot of admissions officers. as for whether you apply to the university first and then the music college, you should probably check with the individual schools to figure that one out.
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
106
It won't kill you. In fact, if you have to do an essay with your application, you can discuss how that experience helped you be more determined, etc. etc. Turn a negative into a positive.
 
johnjohn320

johnjohn320

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2001
7,572
2
76
It won't kill you. In fact, if you have to do an essay with your application, you can discuss how that experience helped you be more determined, etc. etc. Turn a negative into a positive
Click to expand...

Hey, that's a not-half-bad idea!

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
Yeah that D could really hurt your prospects of being a bum. ;)
Click to expand...

Damn! ;)
 
Deeko

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
81
Originally posted by: johnjohn320
Hey all,

I'm a junior in high school, and thus am naturally thinking about college applications about now. Here's the scoop: I'm a pretty good student, all A's and B's in all honors and AP courses. EXCEPT one incident my sophomore year: 2nd semester I got a D in Honors Algebra II. I have no idea why that class was so difficult for me last year, but I'm retaking this year and getting A's. There's a whole slew of pausible causes, lots of factors that could have contributed to that dismal mark, but that's another thread. ;)

I'm planning on applying to the school of music at a lot of state universities around the midwest. Obviously, this will include an audition. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, but don't I have to get into the university first (grades) and THEN go for the school of music (audition)? If this is the way of it, do you think that one D is going to significantly hinder my chances of getting into the universities?

(please say no please say no;))

Thanks.
Click to expand...

1) You are going for music. They aren't all that interested in your math schores
2) Overall GPA is more important
3) Strength of senior schedule is more important.

shouldn't cause a problem

 
D

DoNotDisturb

Senior member
Jul 24, 2002
842
0
0
Originally posted by: johnjohn320
Hey all,

I'm a junior in high school, and thus am naturally thinking about college applications about now. Here's the scoop: I'm a pretty good student, all A's and B's in all honors and AP courses. EXCEPT one incident my sophomore year: 2nd semester I got a D in Honors Algebra II. I have no idea why that class was so difficult for me last year, but I'm retaking this year and getting A's. There's a whole slew of pausible causes, lots of factors that could have contributed to that dismal mark, but that's another thread. ;)

I'm planning on applying to the school of music at a lot of state universities around the midwest. Obviously, this will include an audition. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, but don't I have to get into the university first (grades) and THEN go for the school of music (audition)? If this is the way of it, do you think that one D is going to significantly hinder my chances of getting into the universities?

(please say no please say no;))

Thanks.
Click to expand...

depending on your school, they may take it out, but since u said they wont (works the same way in my school) it stays there. It will look bad in the application process hindering your chance getting into a university. if you live in california, get top 4% and you're guaranteed to be admitted to a university (in my case, Irvine will admit anyone in the top 4%)

 
T

tk149

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2002
7,253
1
0
Way back when I was going to college...

It was a well-known fact that the SAT scores of the Music School students were substantially lower than the average SAT scores of all other students at my school (Northwestern U).

 
P

PsychoAndy

Lifer
Dec 31, 2000
10,735
0
0
I know a girl who got accepted to UF, since she's really good with a cello, but had crappy scores and got a D in AP Calc. She majored in music, and then switched, just to get accepted. You shouldn't have a problem.
 
N

Novgrod

Golden Member
Mar 3, 2001
1,142
0
0
seriously, don't worry about it. These people go through a whole slew of applications every day, and they're looking for big stuff--SAT, GPA, class rank, extracarriculars, ethnic background, work, criminal record, etc.

Depends on the school, but for your usual schools first you get in, then everything else (including auditions) comes.

A D in a single class will only come up if you're a borderline case.
 
C

cchen

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,062
0
76
If you're applying for music, your grades typically don't matter at all. It really depends on your audition tape as well your overall audition... (ex-gf is a piano performance major)
 
EvilYoda

EvilYoda

Lifer
Apr 1, 2001
21,198
9
81
I dunno, you might just want to worry completely about the music school admissions, since UMich has had a pretty weird track record of who they accept and who they don't. As for the one bad grade, you'll be fine transcript-wise, most likely...I assume you're applying to UM, since you're doing music and you said midwest...
 
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