Gratisfaction

Thanks a lot guys! Your advice is encouraging and motivating — much appreciated. Is there any sense in trying to get this noted by an academic advisor or someone else? I don't want to make excuses and realize that the next 3 years will make up for this one shortfall, but I would like it to be somehow noted that the grade reflects a situation I couldn't really rectify. Thanks again for the help!

Hey guys, Beyond lurking accepted threads (probably too many) and other subforums, I don't really have any experience with TheGradCafe. However, some things of concern have come up. So here goes — if I'm posting in the wrong section, someone please give me a heads up! I recently finished my first year of undergraduate studies at a medium-sized, state-supported institution in the States. The first semester went swimmingly and I found myself exceeding all expectations I put forth for myself. Good grades, meaningful involvement in stuff I care about, etc. I decided to take on a bigger challenge my second semester, enrolling in two upper-level courses, continuing a job (10 hours a week), and taking on another huge time commitment (10+ hours a week). While my academics took a knock, the constant challenge excited me more than anything, though I decided early into the semester that I will not be continuing my job next year. The day before the beginning of finals, I got a call from my parents informing me that my grandfather had passed away. He was in another country so I was unable to attend the funeral. His death came with no warning (he was old but showed no signs of illness) and totally shook me up. By the time I had received the call, the Dean of Students office was closed and I had both a paper and an exam the next day. Both were for my upper-level classes. I was ultimately able to defer the paper one day, but I had no idea how to deal with the exam. It was past working hours for professors, the Dean of Students was closed and I had less than 12 hours before an exam I was in no mental state to take. Panicking, I decided to continue studying as effectively as I could and take the exam the next morning. The class was made up of three tests, counting towards 100% of the grade. Needless to say, I didn't do so well in the final exam and I ended with a B- in the class. My GPA is now a 3.4, dropped from a 3.76. I go to a tough school, so my GPA is still above the school's average but it's below the standard I hold for myself and below a competitive GPA for top grad schools. The class was not in a major I plan to declare (I took it out of interest/thought I could handle the challenge) but I do plan on going to a professional graduate school (law, b-school, or gov't school) and I want to go to a good one. So... how do I deal with this? I am thinking of retaking the class, but from what I understand, this is frowned upon by graduate schools. Is there some way I can talk to my advisor and have the circumstances noted? I was obviously not thinking straight at the time and dealt with the situation to the best of my ability, but I don't want this holding me down in the long run. Maybe I am crazed because I used College Confidential religiously when I was in high school, but I feel like this could sink my hopes even though much of what happened was beyond my control. For now, the most I can do is look forward to killing my next three years of College (I know someone is going to offer that piece of advice) but what else can I do? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!! TL;DR: A death in the family before a final that determined 1/3 of my grade caused me to end with a B- in a class. How badly will this hurt my chances at a top graduate school and what can I do to rectify it as best as I can?