Worried

A_High_School_Kid

5-Year Member
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Oct 28, 2010
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Recently I had the pleasure of receiving an Appointment to the USMA class of 2015. To say the least I was, and am, thrilled. This is the culmination of four years of hard work and I have achieved my goal. However there is one sticky situation for me. Math has never been my strong suit and I am having trouble with my AP Calculus Grade (C-). I am working hard to correct this but I am worried that my Appointment could be withdrawn. I am really not that terrible at math (all A's until this point, and a 680 SAT). Should I be worried?
 
Recently I had the pleasure of receiving an Appointment to the USMA class of 2015. To say the least I was, and am, thrilled. This is the culmination of four years of hard work and I have achieved my goal. However there is one sticky situation for me. Math has never been my strong suit and I am having trouble with my AP Calculus Grade (C-). I am working hard to correct this but I am worried that my Appointment could be withdrawn. I am really not that terrible at math (all A's until this point, and a 680 SAT). Should I be worried?

First of all, congratulations on your appointment! Concerning your AP Calc grade, I believe as long as you are doing well in your other classes and AP Calc isn't totally tanking your overall GPA, you should be fine. Besides, once you get into USMA, you can retake Calc again if you feel you didn't do so well in high school.
 
Congratulations on the appointment! My son (now a Yearling) was in the same boat. Wound up w/ C+ as final AP Calc grade, but had the appt. He retook calculus plebe year and aced it. WP typically does not withdraw appointments for HS grades unless the candidate is blatantly dropping the ball.
 
Don't feel like you're the only one - I'm getting a C in AP Calc and I'm working my butt off. I have A's in all my other classes but I still feel like a failure! I'm understanding the material well though and I feel like I'm progressing. So I think as long as you're learning, the grade will follow and it will only help you later with math at WP.
 
I am in the same situation, but I love AP Calc! The thing im affraid of is my Honors Lit. I try my best, but the class isnt what I expected it to be and I was never the best at literature =[. Everything else is all good (95+). Your posts ease my worry.

Thank you!

Oh and congrats on your appointment! I do hope we will see each other in the summer!
 
Ahhh! I just have to say that I'm on the same boat. Except I have not received an appt yet (just LOA and my nom)
but AP calc and AP chem are really trying my luck.
 
I received my appointment as well. I had a C+ in AP Calculus first semester of senior year. It's now second semester, and I have a C-, despite working my butt off in the class. I'm not bad at math per se, and my standardized test scores show it.

I'm extremely worried about having my appointment rescinded after the final transcript is sent out before Beast. What happens if I were to get a D?

Does USMA rescind appointments for one bad grade during second semester senior year?

Thank you.
 
Well I am glad I am not the only one. I managed a 75 last semester (plus 7 points) for an AP class and that was a miracle to me. I have a tutor who has been helping me weekly and my grade is slowly improving. AP Calc is killing me though. I feel so dumb in that class. I think its partly because my teacher is terrible at explaining thoroughly, which my tutor does.
 
Oh man IB spanish is so hard for me I am happy to come out of the class with a C. (I am on a 7 point scale so we dont have A-,A,A+) I am especially worried though because I decided to cram so much stuff into my first semester that I came out with 3 C's. These are not my final grades but they do go on my transcript for the time being but 2 of the grades are 1 point away from B's and with my grades right now, I should only come out of the year with 1 C. I am still worried though because the 3 C's show on my 7th semester transcript.
 
Same issues here, except it's for AP Chem. That class is the bane of my existence. I managed a natural 75 (my school adds 10 points to AP grades) first semester, now I'm struggling to just pass the friggin' class.
 
I am also taking AP Calc and it's kicking my butt. I ended up with my first non-A on my transcript last semseter (it was a C). I talked to the director for my region and he said as long as you maintain a C you'll be okay. D's and F's will get you in some trouble. But I think as long as the rest of your transcript shows that you are still working hard, you should be okay. That's just my opinion, not a fact.
 
Yeah, a C here and there is acceptable. The question remains: what about a D?

No response from my MALO yet. Anyone know for sure?
 
You're asking the same question in two different threads.

Since you're concerned, I would try talking to your teacher. In the one class I'm having difficulty in I was told to focus on learning the material and the grades will follow. Only your MALO can really advise you if you think the possibility of you getting a D is imminent. I'm assuming you're in your second semester, so there's really no point in not trying your hardest in Calc since you're bound to see it again, unless you're trying to see how much you can slack off.
 
I would agree with AKH. Go after school and talk to your teacher. Make an effort to show him/her that you really care about your grade. Show them that you are working hard and explain that you want to do everything in your power to raise your grade as much as possible.

In my experience, 95% of the teachers I have approached about a grade were willing to work with me. However, you have to show them that you actually care and are working hard. If you mess around in class or don't do all your work, don't expect them want to help you.

As always, having a good relationship with your superiors makes life better for you in the end.
 
laxfan is right. I had the same problem with calculus AP earlier this semester, but going to my teacher really helped, along with showing her i really wanted to understand. The effort really helps, and make sure you tell your teacher why you're so worried about it, and they're sure to understand. I got my AP Calc grade pulled up to a solid B, mainly because of my teacher's help.
 
Thanks laxfan and cmccollum, you articulated exactly what I was thinking!
 
Sounds good, thanks everyone!

The only thing is, my teacher is extremely unreasonable and refuses to have additional instruction. I've tried the above :(

I liked the quote though, I'll just have to go with that for now!
 
If the teacher really does refuse to give you additional instruction, which is really odd, then talk to other math teachers at your school. Get a tutor. Get help from your friends. Don't blame all of your problems on their personality or teaching style, it should just make you want to work even harder to do well despite that obstacle.
 
My cadet had a high school chemistry teacher like this. After a couple of useless meetings with her, we found a chemistry teacher at a different high school who agreed to tutor him. Best money I ever spent! She was a great teacher/tutor who could really explain things well and he ended up doing great in the class and has done well in chemistry at WP.
 
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