Does dropping down from Honors to College Prep look bad on college application? Answered
Hi! My name is Melanie and I am currently a Sophmore. This week is the start of course selection. As I predicted, my Honors Algebra II teacher has recommended that I go to College Prep Geometry next year. I figured this would happen, and I'm mostly fine with it. I am in all Honors classes and have been since last year. I feel like I will do better in CP. Technically this year I should've been in CP Algebra II but my Honors Algebra I teacher didn't really say anything. My Grades have been Ok this year. Beginning with the first quarter of this year I got an 84 and 87, and it is now the third quarter and I have a 78 (I might be able to bring it up to an 80 before the quarter ends, which is on Friday.) I had this downward spiral as well last year. I went from a 91, to an 82, to an 83, to a 76, and my final grade for the year was 82. My grades, in general, have been a little bit lower than last year. Do you think this will look bad on my College Applications? NYU is my dream school and I'm thinking of applying to other schools like Villanova, Penn State (Main Campus), Temple, Howard, and more. My school does a weighted GPA and my current weighted GPA is 4.58. They don't do the regular unweighted GPA so I'm not actually sure of it, but according to College Vine's GPA calculator, I should have about a 3.54 unweighted GPA. Just to add another tidbit, I am not in any AP classes. I applied for AP lang for next year, but I got rejected. Hopefully, I can get into AP Lit for senior year. My school only has about 13 AP Courses. Thank you! (hope this wasn't too long)
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3 answers
Hi,
To be completely honest I started middle school with normal 6th grade math and in the middle they put me in Pre-Algebra online both of which I did good in I got As all year. 7th grade I took Algebra 1 which was a bad year for me because I didn't apply myself at all I spent more time messing around so I ended up with a B barely. 8th grade was Geometry this was better and it ended up with me having a B that class was online. 9th was Algebra 2 which was easy cuz I had a tutor that year. 10th was Pre-calc which was terrible my teacher was so bad but I ended u with a B. 11th currently I have AP Calc AB which is a disaster I'm doing the exact same as 7th and not paying any attention but the moment that I do the class is super easy. Overall, Im one of the only kids in my grade whos had to do this so I can say as long as you are willing to put the work in any class is possible. I don't think that CP would be bad for you and as long as you do well you should be fine and it shouldn't hurt you at all.
Simeon
P.S. Grades are not the only thing colleges look at as long they are not terrible :)
Hi Melanie!
Dropping down to a CP from an honors class is not the end of the world and should not be stressed about. If you are doing lower in a class then you had hoped and think that going to a CP class would be easier on you and your grade then you totally should. With your other honors classes you having one CP course is not a big deal. Yes, colleges look to see if you are pushing yourself and taking challenging classes, but if the grade isn't following then I would strongly consider going to CP.
Mono
Generally colleges (especially the ones you are considering) are going to want to see students challenging themselves academically which typically means taking the hardest courses available to them. A general rule of thumb to think about is, if you think you can score above an 85 in an honors/AP class, you should probably take it. You're right on the cusp of that it seems but I think the CP class will be better for you. Shoot for an A to improve your GPA and it won't be a big deal. Something to keep in mind is that schools will look at your profile in the context of what is available to you. For the schools you're shooting for you're going to want to load up on as many APs as you can for 2nd semester junior year and for senior year.
And like @SimeonF said, grades aren't the only things schools consider. You're going to need to score well on standardized tests and have a strong EC profile too. Try to balance your course load to allow you to spend time on ECs while pushing yourself academically as much as possible.
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