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Articles / Applying to College / Will Colleges Rescind Acceptances for Quarter Grades?

Will Colleges Rescind Acceptances for Quarter Grades?

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | May 4, 2020

Question: I have always been a good student, A’s and B’s. However during my senior year a couple of my AP classes got tough. During first quarter they were fine and I got acceptances into several universities. But for second quarter the two classes have dropped down to D’s. One is AB Calc and the other is Stats. I’m wondering if colleges will rescind my acceptances based on quarter grades. I have a tutor and I’m working to pull up my grades but I am still worried that they might rescind anyway. These colleges are not Ivy League schools and I got a semester grade last year of a D for pre-Calc and they still accepted me. Should I contact them about it or will they only look at semester grades which should be fine. My gpa is about a 4.27/5.3.

Colleges will not rescind acceptances based on quarter grades. Keep plugging away and working with your tutor and, hopefully, your D’s will become C’s (or better). It’s possible that your colleges could rescind if you end the year with D’s in two classes  as final grades. But in the unlikely event that this happens, you can appeal the decision by providing documentation from your tutor and your teachers showing that you did try hard and weren’t just suffering from “Senioritis.”  In addition, because you already had a “D” on your record BEFORE you were admitted, the college folks shouldn’t be shocked to see yet another D on your report card … as long as it’s not two of them! It isn’t necessary to contact the colleges at this point, but if it would make you feel better to do so, you can certainly send an email that explains to them what you’ve already told “The Dean.”

 


Written by

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

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