7 Ways to Explain a Bad Grade on Your College Application

“Bad” can be a very relative term, particularly when attached to high school grades. For a high-achieving teen with their eyes on gaining acceptance into a prestigious college, an A- or a B might feel like the onset of Armageddon. For an average high school student, a “bad” grade may mean an objectively poor outcome like a D or an F. In reality, two students can receive a C on the same day and pass each other in the hallway, one crying tears of joy, the other crying tears of despair.

If you have received a bad grade, should you address it on your college applications? And if so…how? Read on for our best advice.

What qualifies as a bad grade?

To ensure that this article is of relevance to you, whoever you happen to be, let’s define a bad grade as one that is significantly lower than your typical academic performance, a relative blemish on an otherwise consistent record of achievement. For example, let’s say you’ve always received straight As in math and science, but suddenly receive a B- in junior year trigonometry. Or, let’s say your grades drop from As and a few Bs to a few Bs and mostly Cs. In both cases, admissions officers will notice a disruption to the normal pattern and wonder why.

An important clarification before we go further: We are talking about final grades, not a singular bad grade on a test or paper. Your prospective colleges will never see those, so they are irrelevant to this conversation. One assessment or assignment does not determine your marking period grade. Further, many high schools submit transcripts that don’t even display marking period, semester, or midterm/final exam grades—they only show the final grade. Even if you received a poor grade in one marking period and the college can see it, they will likely ignore it. Again, it’s the final grades that they are interested in.

I received a bad grade. Should I address it?

It depends. If everything in your life was business as usual and you wound up with a C simply because you decided not to do the final project worth 30% of your grade, then probably not. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can say that would significantly improve the situation.

However, if your poor grade was a direct or partial result of an extenuating circumstance, you should absolutely address it. Otherwise, admissions officers will be left to come up with their own explanation, which likely won’t be in your favor.

7 Ways to Address a Bad Grade on Your College Application

Now that we are all on the same page about when you should—and shouldn’t—address a poor final grade, let’s dive in to how you can address that grade:

1. Use written responses wisely.

The writing sections of your application offer an opportunity to explain the circumstances behind the grade in question, so take full advantage of them! In these areas, you’ll want to share more about the factor(s) that contributed to your poor grade, whether you had just been diagnosed with a learning disability, ADHD, or chronic illness; your parents were going through a separation; you were adjusting to a recent move; etc. Even if the reason is unspectacular, it’s worth highlighting if it gives insight into you as a human being.

But which writing section should you use? If at all possible, avoid using your personal statement to discuss a poor grade. Instead, use the additional information or “challenges and circumstances” area to do so. Alternatively, certain schools, like the University of Washington – Seattle, MIT, the UCs, Texas A&M, and Rutgers University, offer optional spaces where you can address any extenuating circumstances or academic difficulties in greater detail.

Finally, avoid mentioning your bad grade in multiple written responses. If you address the grade in your additional information section, there’s no need to re-address it in a college’s supplemental essay. Doing so will not only feel like overkill but also be a missed opportunity to share something important about who you are beyond your GPA.

2. Solicit explanatory recommendations.

Specifically, you’ll want to target letters of recommendation from those who are familiar with the challenge(s) you faced (your counselor may be ideal) and can speak to your growth process. Colleges expect that, within their own rigorous and challenging environment, you will experience a setback or two over the course of four years. How you responded to adversity in high school can impress an admissions officer who is looking for students with grit and resilience, both of which are factors that predict collegiate success.

3. Accentuate your strengths through AP exams.

If you score well on standardized tests in AP English and AP U.S. History, your poor precalculus grade will be less noticeable, particularly if you are, for example, a future political science major (more on this in a moment). Contrarily, if you feel like a lower grade was attributable to factors such as a poor rapport with a teacher or even a sheer lack of effort, use a standardized test as a way to prove that you know the material. You may have gotten a C- in biology in part because of a fraught relationship with the instructor, but your 5 on the AP Biology exam shows a prospective college that you still mastered the concepts.

4. Put things in perspective.

Did you receive a poor grade in a subject that won’t be your primary focus moving forward? Great news—when asked to share your academic & career interests on your application, you can minimize damage even further by simply being authentic. For example, let’s say that you aced AP Computer Science and AP Calculus but bombed a history elective. By selecting an intended major in electrical engineering—and sharing your excitement about engineering in your essays—you’ve already reduced the importance of that unrelated elective mishap. The same goes if you are a prospective journalism student who struggled in trigonometry.

5. Study extra hard for the SAT/ACT.

If a bad grade (or three) has dropped your GPA below the average levels of current freshmen at your target schools, balance this out by scoring above those colleges’ mean scores on standardized tests. This will take some intensive preparation, but could pay off in a major way. Should your SAT scores go up to the 75th percentile of accepted students at your target institution, that wart on your transcript is suddenly way less damaging to your admissions prospects.

6. Target schools that allow for imperfect transcripts.

As hard as we try, perfection eludes most of us. Some schools are more forgiving of a hiccup or two than others. For example, at Stanford University, the average freshman GPA for the Class of 2028 was 3.94; only 4% of enrolled students had a GPA lower than 3.5. Freshmen at Purdue University possessed an average GPA of 3.76, but a much friendlier 18% of admits had under a 3.5. Both schools accept students with exceptional records of achievement; one is forgiving of a blemish, the other is not.

Students with amazing but imperfect transcripts should not be compiling a college list full of Stanford-like schools, hoping that they win the admissions lottery. Rather, target stellar universities that have a proven record of, at least sometimes, taking students like you.

Read: Best Colleges for “B” Students

7. Don’t let things snowball.

We recognize that this is less of an actionable step than the previous six entries, but make no mistake—it is no less important. Just as in the rest of life, we cannot let one small setback derail our ambitions or render us without hope. It’s easy for high school perfectionists to fall victim to myopia, believing that one out-of-character grade will crush their dreams: “Now that I won’t get into an Ivy League school, I might as well just give up.” Break out of this pattern of thinking, seek help if you need it, and then move forward in working toward your core goals.