I messed my Chemistry Grade

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Excellence

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Jun 1, 2022
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I'm a rising Junior, and I took Honors Chemistry and finished off with a ''D''. The class isn't weighted, but I think my chances are slim now to get into USMMA
 
I had a C in trig. I retook class at a local college during the night and not only earned an A, but it also set me up to do well in Calc 1. Use this as a learning experience. Think about why you did not do well in it. Although it will still show on your transcript, it doesn't hurt to retake it. I actually wrote about it in my nomination essays and was told it was looked favorably upon. Never say never. Good luck. :)
 
One grade is not likely to derail you. Overall grades are a big deal. And, as @acpacesetter said, use it as inspiration to find a way to improve.

Those who get into SA's don't all earn 4.0 GPAs while in attendance. It's how you handle the poor grade and seek alternative ways to learn the material and excel that matters.
 
Heatherg21 said:
One grade is not likely to derail you. Overall grades are a big deal. And, as @acpacesetter said, use it as inspiration to find a way to improve.

Those who get into SA's don't all earn 4.0 GPAs while in attendance. It's how you handle the poor grade and seek alternative ways to learn the material and excel that matters.
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Right, I currently am at a 3.3 rising Junior. I'll take AP chemistry this time around and hope to succumb that overall honors chem grade.
 
Like what you probably heard hundreds of times on these forums: you make them tell you no. If you were able to improve your grades from this point on in your last two years of high school, even if you are not a straight A student, I believe the effort will show something about your character, work ethic, and motivation to improve yourself. You can talk about your growth in your essays and interviews. Besides, it's your total GPA that is considered. Yes, a D is very discouraging, but staying down is a choice. If attending USMMA means a lot to you, don't let this grade decide your future. Pretend you are starting Junior year on a blank slate. Even if you don’t get accepted the first time, you can always reapply and work on yourself in college. It’s not over yet unless you quit.
Reflect on it and ask yourself why you got a D. I got a C in AP Comp Sci first semester, but worked hard and ended with an A. If you can, try to retake the class. For the rest of high school, strive to be the best student you can be. Also, work on being well-rounded with leadership and athletics, with your primary focus on academics-especially in the STEM-focused subjects. Most importantly, only take the classes you know you can handle next year. Don’t dump all these hard classes in your last two years for a GPA boost, if you think you will struggle. Don’t give up and best of luck.
 
acpacesetter said:
I had a C in trig. I retook class at a local college during the night and not only earned an A, but it also set me up to do well in Calc 1. Use this as a learning experience. Think about why you did not do well in it. Although it will still show on your transcript, it doesn't hurt to retake it. I actually wrote about it in my nomination essays and was told it was looked favorably upon. Never say never. Good luck. :)
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Yes, and be able to take responsibility for the D and not blame anyone else. Retake Chem and get a good grade and use the experience to your benefit.
 
Not sure if this might help but in my first and half of second marking periods (my school splits semesters into 3 marking periods), I finished off both AP Chemistry and Calculus with a 70/75 with a very unpleasant grade. But I was able to ask for extra help, go to tutoring sessions, and do more practice and self-study to raise it to a B. So even though I started off very poorly, by the end of my first semester, I finished off with a B-. Just make sure that you show growth throughout your grades. One grade will not kill you.

Maybe while improving your grade, you could get closer with your teacher. The teacher that taught the class that I struggled with 0the most in my opinion wrote one of my better recommendations and became my friend.
 
dakiti~ said:
Not sure if this might help but in my first and half of second marking periods (my school splits semesters into 3 marking periods), I finished off both AP Chemistry and Calculus with a 70/75 with a very unpleasant grade. But I was able to ask for extra help, go to tutoring sessions, and do more practice and self-study to raise it to a B. So even though I started off very poorly, by the end of my first semester, I finished off with a B-. Just make sure that you show growth throughout your grades. One grade will not kill you.

Maybe while improving your grade, you could get closer with your teacher. The teacher that taught the class that I struggled with 0the most in my opinion wrote one of my better recommendations and became my friend.
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The thing is my Honors chemistry overall was a D.
 
zico said:
The thing is my Honors chemistry overall was a D.
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I would say that taking AP Chem is not a very good idea until you learn exactly WHY you got a D. Although AP Chem is not as "hard" as AP Physics C or AP Calc BC, if you do not have a basic understanding of the material, you will most likely fail again. See if you can take a summer course at a college or community college in chemistry and make an effort going to office hours and doing all optional work. If you are rising junior, you should be able to take AP Biology if it is offered as opposed to APES. Or, take honors physics if you are comfortable with basic calculus.
 
acpacesetter said:
I would say that taking AP Chem is not a very good idea until you learn exactly WHY you got a D. Although AP Chem is not as "hard" as AP Physics C or AP Calc BC, if you do not have a basic understanding of the material, you will most likely fail again. See if you can take a summer course at a college or community college in chemistry and make an effort going to office hours and doing all optional work. If you are rising junior, you should be able to take AP Biology if it is offered as opposed to APES. Or, take honors physics if you are comfortable with basic calculus.
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This is huge in any class or test or homework you didn't do well in: review the work, find out what was wrong and what the right answers are. You can learn more from a bad grade than a good one because it exposes weaknesses in your knowledge, not just whatever you memorized. So before you tackle that AP class go back to your old chem teacher and have a talk about what didn't work and what to change.
 
acpacesetter said:
I would say that taking AP Chem is not a very good idea until you learn exactly WHY you got a D. Although AP Chem is not as "hard" as AP Physics C or AP Calc BC, if you do not have a basic understanding of the material, you will most likely fail again. See if you can take a summer course at a college or community college in chemistry and make an effort going to office hours and doing all optional work. If you are rising junior, you should be able to take AP Biology if it is offered as opposed to APES. Or, take honors physics if you are comfortable with basic calculus.
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I did take Honors Bio freshman and got a 97%
 
The key thing is to LEARN FROM THIS. Almost everyone experiences a time in HS or College where their usual studying method no longer works and they start getting a bad grade.
You got a D because you did not do well and also did not do anything differently once you saw you didn't do well. That is called "magical thinking"...if I study more I will do better! But your method of studying isn't working!

When I was in college I had a course in Telecommunications where their would be quizzes out of 6 points and if you got something a bit wrong the ywould take off a point or two...all of a sudden you have a C grade! However in this class, after homework or quizzes were handed back they would have a complete solution to every problem. So my grade was not doing well so to prepare for the final I re-did everyone problem that has a solution shown (some we had done on quizzes, some not) and ended up with an 85%. I saw that how I studied wasn't working and I needed to do many practice problems.

  1. GO TO CLASS, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
  2. Go to Teacher’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
  3. If you have problems with the homework, go to Teacher’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or any thing extra, go to them.
  4. Form a study group with other kids in your class.
  5. Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or chemistry whatever. Watch online videos (e.g., Khan Academy) about the topic you are studying.
  6. If things still are not going well, get a tutor. Your National Honor Society will have some. Or ask a teacher for a referral.
  7. Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
  8. For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your guidance office.
  9. How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? Is it enough? Do you need to drop some extra curriculars?
  10. If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the guidance counselor and talk to them.
  11. At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The teacher may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
  12. Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the teacher wants).
  13. If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
  14. If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the teacher’s office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
  15. Take advantage of any “re-do” tests you may be able to take…your teacher wants you to learn the material. Future material depends on it so you need to have the foundation. By explaining what went wrong you really understand it. Take advantage of this.
 
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