Does USNA look at your first semester grades from your senior year? The reason why I'm asking this is because I'm probably going to get a bad grade in pre calc this year as our teacher is very hard, but do well next year. I'm not making any excuse whatsoever and take ownership of my grades, however, just for context, my friends who have had all A's freshman and sophomore year got C's junior year pre calc, but got A's during Calc AB with the other teacher, and the case will probably be the same for me as well. However my teacher does know I'm working very hard to do well and will probably give me a good teacher evaluation. Any adivce and tips is helpful thanks
First Semester Grades
- Thread starter seb.g.b
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Aldo.dector
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They definitely will, explain it in your interviews and or your “other” essay
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Are you a junior? If so, stop trying to rationalize your performance and instead kick it into high gear. Regardless of what others have done, there’s no guarantee that you’ll turn mediocre performance in Pre-Calculus this year into stellar performance in AP Calculus next year. The best way to do well in AP Calculus is to prepare well by excelling in Pre-Calculus. A nice letter from your teacher this year won’t likely offset a poor grade.
Remember, it’s a competition, and your competitors aren’t settling for “wait ‘til next year.” Right now, seems like you’re banking on “hope.” Unfortunately, as many know, hope is not a strategy. Take charge, be proactive, get it done!
Remember, it’s a competition, and your competitors aren’t settling for “wait ‘til next year.” Right now, seems like you’re banking on “hope.” Unfortunately, as many know, hope is not a strategy. Take charge, be proactive, get it done!
Yes I am a junior. I do understand your point whole heartedly and agree 100%. However, I want you to know that I am and have not only been kicking it into high gear, but even past that. Last night I studied 6 hours until 3 am for a quiz today, not even a test, a quiz. I spend the same amount of time on math as I do all my other classes combined. So in response to your comment, while I do agree, I am trying the hardest I possibly could. Almost any free time I have is dedicated to studying for math. I'm getting help from my teacher multiple times a week, and am constantly trying to watch videos to help myself understand. You're right, they're not waiting for next year. Neither am I. All my other grades are fine, this is the one subject I am having big trouble on, but at the same time, I am putting 110% into trying to understand and do the best I can.
I admire your commitment! Just keep doing everything you can to master the material, but work just as hard on keeping a positive mindset. Believe that you will be the exception with this teacher! It's still early in the year...You can do this!!
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That implies that there is something wrong with your teacher. I propose that the math is hard, not the teacher.seb.g.b said:
That is my inferential argument.
And that is my proof.seb.g.b said:
Just grind it out and do your best. That's all anyone can do.
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If you're having trouble in a subject, especially one with a pretty established curriculum like math, don't hesitate to add alternative voices to your instruction. Try Kahn Academy to see if that explanation makes more sense to you. Learn to learn from the textbook. If there's a part of the day where math teachers are available to help students go when another teacher is on duty. Find other exercises that give additional examples of how to solve problems. You can't only do more of the same thing and expect a big change. Keep working with your teacher and assignments, but add angles and approaches that might give you a better look at the problems.
Old Navy BGO
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First, to answer OP question .. Admissions will defer a decision and look at First Semester Senior grades if there is some anomaly in Junior Year grades, question about your academic performance. The scenarios described (anomaly grade in pre-Calc) is such a scenario. I would agree with the comment above ..talk to your BGO, and he/she could put a note in your file.
> This comment is directed to all kids, not just OP - Do not equate staying up late, or expending a lot of time on something as "working hard" or the ticket to success. In many cases, you are simply spinning your wheels, and staying up late can be counterproductive. If you work smart, and use your time wisely, there is no need to stay up late. (Sorry, pet peeve of mine ..... I know the "all nighter" is a right of passage for kids, and I struggled to disbuse my own daughters of the notion that grinding on a project of studying for hours for a test is a good thing; it takes time and experience, and little confidence to realize that you should tailor your efforts to the task at hand, and that overkill is not a good thing).
> Blaming a teacher is dangerous. You are going to have good and bad teachers throughout life, including at USNA. How you deal with it is more telling about your capacity as a student and scholar than what grade you get. Yes, math is hard ..I struggled with Calc at NAPS until the light bulb kicked on. Get a tutor, use additional resources, etc, but don't blame the teacher (even when they are bad !)
> This comment is directed to all kids, not just OP - Do not equate staying up late, or expending a lot of time on something as "working hard" or the ticket to success. In many cases, you are simply spinning your wheels, and staying up late can be counterproductive. If you work smart, and use your time wisely, there is no need to stay up late. (Sorry, pet peeve of mine ..... I know the "all nighter" is a right of passage for kids, and I struggled to disbuse my own daughters of the notion that grinding on a project of studying for hours for a test is a good thing; it takes time and experience, and little confidence to realize that you should tailor your efforts to the task at hand, and that overkill is not a good thing).
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Agree with St Paul and OldNavy: You may find a different method or source of studying helpful. You said you are putting in the time. So if the outcome isn’t what you are expecting with the time put in, maybe try something different. Wyzant is a source for one on one....different fee structures for different abilities to pay. But you could do a one hour face to face online session and see if maybe that’s helpful?
Another idea, is there another teacher you could speak with? Back in the day, my oldest connected with instruction from his engineering teacher about math.
I would advise my own child to try something DIFFERENT if what you are doing isn’t helping. My current youngster had to reach out for some different tutoring methods at USNA this semester.
Work smarter, not harder.
Another idea, is there another teacher you could speak with? Back in the day, my oldest connected with instruction from his engineering teacher about math.
I would advise my own child to try something DIFFERENT if what you are doing isn’t helping. My current youngster had to reach out for some different tutoring methods at USNA this semester.
Work smarter, not harder.
It could go both ways. While yes, the math is hard, the teacher also gives hard problems especially on tests. For example, other teachers may only give regular numbers as test questions while he may give us exponents, logs, fractions, rads, etc. But I get your point.