Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:49
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for your responses. Her narrative/intended major is not STEM necessarily; she's really undecided but has considered Econ or Biology.
I feel like a C is attainable, but there's likely no way she's able to get a B-. If admissions does inquire, there's no excuse othere than "it's hard!". Maybe they'll appreciate her honesty lol.
Awww. I feel for you both - super stressful!
Encourage her to talk with her teacher and work with him or her do everything possible to prepare better to get that C. Sometimes that degree of laser focus on a short-term goal can make all the difference!!!
If it helps, I was in the same situation with Calc 2 during spring semester of my freshman year of college. Just completely in over my head and embarrassingly late slow to recognize it. I finally started going to office hours (ALL of them) and got a tutor to help prepare for the final.
Going in, there was a real possibility I could fail the class (and have to take it over at CC during the summer?) but I worked my butt off and pulled a B- on the final and a C in the class overall. To this day, I’m more proud of that C and any of my A’s in college. Calc was REALLY hard for me in a way that other classes just were not. Encourage your DD to finish strong - she can do it! 👍
Exactly! There’s still at least another month for the 3rd quarter.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:48
Subject: Re:Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:Just always keep up with the materials. Whenever she has questions, ask the teacher right away. It’s pretty difficult to get a C in high school, unless she doesn’t bother at all.
Ridiculous. My DS had a first time calculus teacher and worked hard to pull Cs in the first and second semesters. A lot of the students dropped. He got a Wyzant tutor as suggested here towards the latter half of second semester.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:47
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Econ is out as a major unless the reason for bad grades is shirking. Econ is mathy now.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:45
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for your responses. Her narrative/intended major is not STEM necessarily; she's really undecided but has considered Econ or Biology.
I feel like a C is attainable, but there's likely no way she's able to get a B-. If admissions does inquire, there's no excuse othere than "it's hard!". Maybe they'll appreciate her honesty lol.
She should not consider majoring in Econ if she thinks HS calculus is too difficult. Econ uses a lot of math. Biology less so.
This is not true at all!
OP - Do not,under any circumstances, allow your DD to be scared off from Econ or anything else based on her experience with HS calc!!!
We’ve seen strong high school math students struggle with college math, and we’ve seen the reverse, as well.
So much depends on the teacher/professor, the kid’s state of mind at the time (their priorities/focus), and their “why” (why are they taking the class - does it matter to them or is it merely a means to an end (maintain rigor in HS or meet a distribution requirement in college) vs. connected to a true academic interest or applied to a topic or set of issues they care about.)
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:42
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Usually you have to bomb multiple classes for it to be an issue. At this point, colleges don't care if you are struggling in one class. They want to know if you've totally checked out.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:41
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for your responses. Her narrative/intended major is not STEM necessarily; she's really undecided but has considered Econ or Biology.
I feel like a C is attainable, but there's likely no way she's able to get a B-. If admissions does inquire, there's no excuse othere than "it's hard!". Maybe they'll appreciate her honesty lol.
She should not consider majoring in Econ if she thinks HS calculus is too difficult. Econ uses a lot of math. Biology less so.
She will be fine. But she should choose a major that doesn’t require calculus. Calculus 1&2 is a required course for Biology major.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:37
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for your responses. Her narrative/intended major is not STEM necessarily; she's really undecided but has considered Econ or Biology.
I feel like a C is attainable, but there's likely no way she's able to get a B-. If admissions does inquire, there's no excuse othere than "it's hard!". Maybe they'll appreciate her honesty lol.
Awww. I feel for you both - super stressful!
Encourage her to talk with her teacher and work with him or her do everything possible to prepare better to get that C. Sometimes that degree of laser focus on a short-term goal can make all the difference!!!
If it helps, I was in the same situation with Calc 2 during spring semester of my freshman year of college. Just completely in over my head and embarrassingly late slow to recognize it. I finally started going to office hours (ALL of them) and got a tutor to help prepare for the final.
Going in, there was a real possibility I could fail the class (and have to take it over at CC during the summer?) but I worked my butt off and pulled a B- on the final and a C in the class overall. To this day, I’m more proud of that C and any of my A’s in college. Calc was REALLY hard for me in a way that other classes just were not. Encourage your DD to finish strong - she can do it! 👍
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:26
Subject: Re:Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Just always keep up with the materials. Whenever she has questions, ask the teacher right away. It’s pretty difficult to get a C in high school, unless she doesn’t bother at all.
Absolutely untrue at my DC’s DC private. If you do average work and average effort you definitely get a C.
Agree, at our FCPS kids are busting their butts and have Cs and Ds. Calc with the wrong teacher can be terrible. My own DC dropped AP Calc after the second month at the beginning of this school year because they were clearly either not going to pass or get a D. All worked out b/c applied ED to a fairly selective school with non-AP calc (have an A) and all is well.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:22
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for your responses. Her narrative/intended major is not STEM necessarily; she's really undecided but has considered Econ or Biology.
I feel like a C is attainable, but there's likely no way she's able to get a B-. If admissions does inquire, there's no excuse othere than "it's hard!". Maybe they'll appreciate her honesty lol.
She should not consider majoring in Econ if she thinks HS calculus is too difficult. Econ uses a lot of math. Biology less so.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:09
Subject: Re:Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:Just always keep up with the materials. Whenever she has questions, ask the teacher right away. It’s pretty difficult to get a C in high school, unless she doesn’t bother at all.
Absolutely untrue at my DC’s DC private. If you do average work and average effort you definitely get a C.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 10:07
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:She will not be rescinded for a C in one class. Or even for a D.
Depends on the school.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 09:49
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:OP, this situation is not at all uncommon, especially with calc. Life happens, senioritis happens, less-talented calc teachers also sometimes happen.
Rescinding depends on the college, but most privates will be fine with a C. My oldest kid was admitted to a T30 private and got a D second semester calc (personal issues took over life at that point) and never even heard a peep from the college. One of my other kids got a D in second semester calc for failing to turn in any homework and got a letter from his T80 school about on campus help/resources; got a 5 on the exam and started in multivariable in college.
Once a college has admitted and enrolled a student, they really don't want to rescind. It's interesting, because had the same poor grade come prior to admission, it may have been much more significant.
Just try to get it up to a C and then there will be less to worry about. Highly selective schools may want an explanation for a D.
I thought colleges only see the overall grades on the transcript? Your kid likely got a grade better than D on the transcript? My understanding is that a D is considered not passing the class!
Anonymous
02/13/2026 09:24
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
OP, this situation is not at all uncommon, especially with calc. Life happens, senioritis happens, less-talented calc teachers also sometimes happen.
Rescinding depends on the college, but most privates will be fine with a C. My oldest kid was admitted to a T30 private and got a D second semester calc (personal issues took over life at that point) and never even heard a peep from the college. One of my other kids got a D in second semester calc for failing to turn in any homework and got a letter from his T80 school about on campus help/resources; got a 5 on the exam and started in multivariable in college.
Once a college has admitted and enrolled a student, they really don't want to rescind. It's interesting, because had the same poor grade come prior to admission, it may have been much more significant.
Just try to get it up to a C and then there will be less to worry about. Highly selective schools may want an explanation for a D.
Rescinding depends on the college, but most privates will be fine with a C. My oldest kid was admitted to a T30 private and got a D second semester calc (personal issues took over life at that point) and never even heard a peep from the college. One of my other kids got a D in second semester calc for failing to turn in any homework and got a letter from his T80 school about on campus help/resources; got a 5 on the exam and started in multivariable in college.
Once a college has admitted and enrolled a student, they really don't want to rescind. It's interesting, because had the same poor grade come prior to admission, it may have been much more significant.
Just try to get it up to a C and then there will be less to worry about. Highly selective schools may want an explanation for a D.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 09:09
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
A kid at my child's HS (class of '25) had to take a gap year due to lower grades post ED admission.
It really depends on the school.
It really depends on the school.
Anonymous
02/13/2026 08:47
Subject: Getting Rescinded, when to worry, calculus 😬
Anonymous wrote:She will not be rescinded for a C in one class. Or even for a D.
Depends on the school. DD’s very clearly stated in the offer that a D would be an automatic recision.