AP calculus
I might end up with a B in AP calculus this semester ( I'm a junior and my goal is to go into applied math and masters in data science) and this would be my 2nd B on my transcript ( I had one in freshman year, AP human geography but I did get a 4 on the AP exam). I'm not sure how this would impact my chances of getting into colleges like UC Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell and UPenn?
Hi @amitha!
How your grades impact your chances is usually based on how they affect your GPA. Some B's here and there won't lead to rejection. If you have mostly A's, your GPA won't go down significantly. However, if your application is considered with respect to your major, things get tricky. A "B" in AP Calculus AB is a good score, but not good enough for the colleges you listed.
A 4 on an AP exam translates to a B, so your AP exam for human geography doesn't make any difference to your grade on the course.
For 2021-22, 48% of accepted UPenn applicants, 44.6% of accepted UCLA applicants, and 67% of the accepted UC Berkeley applicants DID NOT have a perfect 4.0 GPA, which means they had one or more B's on their transcript. So, it is not uncommon to be accepted without straight A's.
Use "holistic admissions" to your advantage. Almost all the applicants will have transcripts similar to yours, so you need to distinguish yourself from them through extracurriculars and essays.
Hope this helps!
Oh ok! Thank you so much! I've been really stressed out due to AP calc AB for the past week and I'm not sure as to whether my extracurriculars are "good enough". How would you go about identifying what extracurriculars are "strong" and which ones aren't ? I'm the secretary of sports medicine even though I'm not going into medicine, I truly enjoy as a hobby. There are other clubs and activities I did but I'm not sure if they're enough.
Fill out your extracurriculars in your CollegeVine profile and then use the chancing simulator to see how "strong" your extracurriculars are for different colleges.
Your chance of acceptance
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