Got a D in PE Junior year of HS, am I SOL?

[JermaAteMyCat]

My school does PE a bit differently where the grade for PE is purely based on attendance (out of 53 days). I went 47 days thinking that 47/53 = 88% = B+ . Turns out, it’s graded differently and 47 days out of 53 gets me a D.

I have very good grades otherwise and I’ve been taking dual-enrollment college classes since my freshman year. The majority of the classes I took Junior year were honors or college classes. I received As in all of them (of course except PE). Even with that D, my weighted GPA for the year is a 4.1 out of 4.3.

I know how important fitness is as a metric for USNA admissions and I don’t do any sports besides when I was junior varsity for tennis my sophomore year but that was it. I have an A in PE for the other years in High School. I haven’t taken the CFA yet but I’ve gone to the gym 4-5 days a week for the past year so I expect a decent score.

With all that said, does that D in PE sink my chances in spite of my strong academics? Would the Naval Academy / Congressional Nomination Sources understand if I explained the circumstances of that grade?

 

[MidCakePa]

What USNA likes most is students who take the hardest classes their school has to offer — especially in STEM and English — and excel at them. They’ll have your school profile and your transcript to work with.

So how will they view a D in PE? Hard to say. But if you were my kid, I’d advise you to not bother trying to explain it. Saying that you were hoping to do just enough to get a B+ doesn’t put you in a good light. Neither does getting a B+ for a course whose only criteria is showing up. You’re competing against students who don’t take that approach.

I’m not in admissions, so I don’t know for sure, but I don’t believe USNA uses PE grades as an indicator of physical fitness. That’s what the CFA is for. As for athletic participation — especially team sports — it’s given great emphasis because of the role it plays in developing discipline, leadership, teamwork, commitment, perseverance, resilience and responsibility. So make sure you can show how you’ve gained those characteristics outside of athletics.

As for the nom, each MOC is free to run their process as they choose. So if a MOC’s criteria puts great emphasis on PE grades, then you’ll have to deal with it.

 

[justdoit19]

At the very least, you will likely have to explain it in interviews. That’s a weird outlier. I, personally, would want to know why.

For me, reading your post, brought out a concern more with the methodology of only showing up for something to meet a bare minimum standard for rewards (a B+). That’s the issue for me. @MidCakePa hit it on the heard that you’re up against kids that DONT think that way. And that ‘do the least I can, for the best outcome’ attitude might be a bigger issue. FYI.

Idk about a D wrecking your chances. It could, in the big picture of your competition for NOMS and and appointment. Bc you are competing against kids who didn’t receive a D. And then it may not. No one here can ever predict an outcome for anyone, ever. BC of the unique process and all it’s nuances.

The standard is, 100 pct of the kids who don’t apply, don’t get in. So, the only way to know is to apply.

Good luck to you!

 

[JermaAteMyCat]

At the very least, you will likely have to explain it in interviews. That’s a weird outlier. I, personally, would want to know why.

For me, reading your post, brought out a concern more with the methodology of only showing up for something to meet a bare minimum standard for rewards (a B+). That’s the issue for me. @MidCakePa hit it on the heard that you’re up against kids that DONT think that way. And that ‘do the least I can, for the best outcome’ attitude might be a bigger issue. FYI.

Idk about a D wrecking your chances. It could, in the big picture of your competition for NOMS and and appointment. Bc you are competing against kids who didn’t receive a D. And then it may not. No one here can ever predict an outcome for anyone, ever. BC of the unique process and all it’s nuances.

The standard is, 100 pct of the kids who don’t apply, don’t get in. So, the only way to know is to apply.

Good luck to you!

I don’t really have a better excuse than that I got complacent and decided that, given how the rest of my grades looked, I could afford to “take it easy” with PE and be fine with what I thought would be a B+. In the end, you reap what you sow and I only have myself to blame.

 

[gniyji]

Are these missing days of PE excused ? It is not fair if excused missing days would contribute this D grade. Otherwise, if you have attendance problem, this might be worse than D grade itself.

 

[justdoit19]

And that’s exactly how you address it. Take ownership of it. You cannot go back. Lesson learned. Move forward.

I would suggest, when you get to the point of completing your application, that you reach out how to address. IOW, is it better to perhaps mention this outlier in the ‘additional info’ section? Or not? IDK what I think definitively about it at this point. Other wise posters will chime in.

SA’s use a whole candidate score approach. They look at the big picture. You, as an applicant, are the sum of your parts. This is only one tiny piece. Everyone has a weakness in their application. All aANYONE can do, is put for their BEST package.

You are not ‘SOL’ as far as applying. You will be looked at in total. Against your slate of nominations.

BTW….some would argue that using your time, garnered from an already satisfactory class, for something else productive, is a good strategy…..

 

[BBMomma]

I don’t really have a better excuse than that I got complacent and decided that, given how the rest of my grades looked, I could afford to “take it easy” with PE and be fine with what I thought would be a B+. In the end, you reap what you sow and I only have myself to blame.

This is exactly what I'd tell them and explain what you learned from it. Complacency will bite you in the butt, but ownership and being able to explain not only what you leaned from it but how you applied this knowledge later on will be a great way to show your growth.

 

[THParent]

I shouldn't be surprised at things I read here anymore, but I was today.
Good advice from those in before me.

 

[A1Janitor]

Study hall, Lunch, and PE were my favorite classes. Times have changed.

 

[Dr. Strange Love]

.
What is your mile time? What are your SAT/ACT scores?

In a lot of schools, HS athletes aren’t required to take PE … I think they might have to take the Health part for maybe a semester per year thru their Sophomore year?

A lot of districts have the Health/PE part that can be done Online/At-home during the Summer breaks …. DD got it out of the way during the 8th/9th & 9th/10th summer breaks … she also did Drivers ED class during the Summer …

I wouldn’t worry about the D grade …. Knock your CFA out of the park and show really good mile time(s).
.

 

[OldRetSWO]

.
What is your mile time? What are your SAT/ACT scores?

In a lot of schools, HS athletes aren’t required to take PE … I think they might have to take the Health part for maybe a semester per year thru their Sophomore year?

A lot of districts have the Health/PE part that can be done Online/At-home during the Summer breaks …. DD got it out of the way during the 8th/9th & 9th/10th summer breaks … she also did Drivers ED class during the Summer …

"A lot of Schools" / "A lot of Districts"
Is this based just on what you see around you or is this from some authoritative source.
Due to moves, my kids attended school in 3 states and what you're saying was true in none of them.
.
Most of their High School was in NJ and the rules there are very simple - PE every day all four years
except for the short time during the year when the class goes to Health instead.
4 Yrs PE, 4 Yrs Health - no excuses or "get out of class free" cards for athletes or other entitled folks.

 

[severn]

My school does PE a bit differently where the grade for PE is purely based on attendance (out of 53 days). I went 47 days thinking that 47/53 = 88% = B+ . Turns out, it’s graded differently and 47 days out of 53 gets me a D.

I have very good grades otherwise and I’ve been taking dual-enrollment college classes since my freshman year. The majority of the classes I took Junior year were honors or college classes. I received As in all of them (of course except PE). Even with that D, my weighted GPA for the year is a 4.1 out of 4.3.

I know how important fitness is as a metric for USNA admissions and I don’t do any sports besides when I was junior varsity for tennis my sophomore year but that was it. I have an A in PE for the other years in High School. I haven’t taken the CFA yet but I’ve gone to the gym 4-5 days and I asked week for the past year so I expect a decent score.

With all that said, does that D in PE sink my chances in spite of my strong academics? Would the Naval Academy / Congressional Nomination Sources understand if I explained the circumstances of that grade?

Rhetorical question ---> Do you really want to attend USNA?
If yes, here are my suggestions (as if I'm advising my DS).
* Your post mentioned a D. This D will raise a big red Flag with Admissions/MOC/BGO. You can't hide a D. I recomputed your GPA, 3.6 is my estimate.
To mitigate this high risk, talk to your teacher/instructor and you have to be very honest of your plans to attend USNA. Simply, a D will not cut it. Explain the reason (s) of those absences. This is a practice run when you have to explain this to Admissions/ MOC /BGO.
**Sports participation only in sophomore year. Need to have more in your resume. Call the cross-country coach and ask if you can join. When filling the USNA application, you can then list tennis (sophomore) and cross-country (senior).
***Missing CFA status. Take it and self-evaluate. With your D and sophomore tennis, the CFA could be challenging for you.

 

[USMCGrunt]

As of a 2016 study: https://study.com/academy/popular/states-that-require-physical-education.html

 

[A1Janitor]

Rhetorical question ---> Do you really want to attend USNA?
If yes, here are my suggestions (as if I'm advising my DS).
* Your post mentioned a D. This D will raise a big red Flag with Admissions/MOC/BGO. You can't hide a D. I recomputed your GPA, 3.6 is my estimate.
To mitigate this high risk, talk to your teacher/instructor and you have to be very honest of your plans to attend USNA. Simply, a D will not cut it. Explain the reason (s) of those absences. This is a practice run when you have to explain this to Admissions/ MOC /BGO.
**Sports participation only in sophomore year. Need to have more in your resume. Call the cross-country coach and ask if you can join. When filling the USNA application, you can then list tennis (sophomore) and cross-country (senior).
***Missing CFA status. Take it and self-evaluate. With your D and sophomore tennis, the CFA could be challenging for you.

Count New York in this.

My daughter missed a few PE classes and had to make them up one year. They refused to allow her to count her varsity sports practices and games which blew my mind. They allowed her to do a few cross fit classes instead.

 

[Dr. Strange Love]

"A lot of Schools" / "A lot of Districts"
Is this based just on what you see around you or is this from some authoritative source.
Due to moves, my kids attended school in 3 states and what you're saying was true in none of them.
.
Most of their High School was in NJ and the rules there are very simple - PE every day all four years
except for the short time during the year when the class goes to Health instead.
4 Yrs PE, 4 Yrs Health - no excuses or "get out of class free" cards for athletes or other entitled folks.

.
NoVA (Northern Virginia) … Loudoun County … Leesburg … I believe it’s true in Fairfax County as well

PE is not required in 11th/12th grade where we are in NoVA …

We had our DD take 9th & 10th grade Health/PE in the summer thru the Loudoun County Online program …. Motivated kids/parents do this to get the low level requirements done and out of the way

She does Lacrosse, Track & XC …
.

 

[justdoit19]

I saw a news report about a school district that allows their kids to mow lawns of disabled/elderly people for their PE credit. I thought that was pretty neat.

My boys were 3 sport athletes. Football/wrestling/track at the varsity level. Plus summer and winter track (club). They could exempt PE. Had to fill out fill out records and have them signed off. I never really gave it much thought. They were physically active for hours, after school, at a very intense level.

 

[Dr. Strange Love]

.
There are a lot of parents like us that prefer to have the Health component of the curriculum done in a private more controlled setting … a setting that we are comfortable with … and that setting is at home ….

The Online 9th/10th HE/PE summer courses allowed us as parents to see the content up close and personal …
.

 

[StPaulDad]

Study hall, Lunch, and PE were my favorite classes. Times have changed.

Back in the day my brother used to call study hall Honors Cards. And our late year JROTC classes after the Annual Federal Inspection and the Spring Twilight Parade also fell deeply into that category, though for that we were sent outside to waste time whenever the weather allowed. I'm not sure how much that has changed given the introduction of smartphones.

 

[THParent]

As of a 2016 study: https://study.com/academy/popular/states-that-require-physical-education.html

Wow. That was an eye-opener. Some states (N. Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, S. Dakota, and Nevada) only require P.E. in grades 9-12. By 9th grade, those kids are already fatbodies.

Alaska, Arizona and Colorado are the only states that do not have any P.E. requirements for students at any grade level.
Shame on you, Governors Dunleavy, Hobbs, and Polis!

 

[Georgia Hokie]

"A lot of Schools" / "A lot of Districts"
Is this based just on what you see around you or is this from some authoritative source.
Due to moves, my kids attended school in 3 states and what you're saying was true in none of them.
.
Most of their High School was in NJ and the rules there are very simple - PE every day all four years
except for the short time during the year when the class goes to Health instead.
4 Yrs PE, 4 Yrs Health - no excuses or "get out of class free" cards for athletes or other entitled folks.

True across Georgia. PE/Health 9th grade and then you can exempt out 10th grade if active on teams. No PE 11/12th grade regardless.