Damage Control

[ExoticTeacup]

I just bombed my last course. Okay, I didn't really completely bomb it, but I did get a C in it, which is the lowest grade I've ever gotten as an undergrad (I'm a perfectionist overachiever). Now I want to know what I should do about it. I absolutely gave it my all, but there were a lot of things that came up this semester that were outside of my control, and I'd prefer to find a way to handle this that does not involve sending a sob story that just looks like a list of excuses to anybody at my future grad shool.

I am very nervous because this grade will be the last grade listed on my transcript, and when I send my final transcript, I do not want to be sent packing. However, I am not sure just how much they will care about that class anyway. This semester, I only took one class. It was the first time I was ever a part time student, and I did so because 1) I only had one class left, and 2) my undergraduate stipend and scholarship had run out in December, so I had to work to pay for the course and support myself. When the people in my department see that I was only taking one class, they will probably logically figure out that I was working at least one full time job, right? I mean, nobody takes one class and sits on their ass for the rest of the week, correct?

Also, the course was in my major, but very far outside my field. I am also changing departments (my field can really be housed in any of three departments), so this course that I just barely passed isn't something that this new department would even be interested in. I am just really worried because it is the only representation of my work this semester, and it is technically a course in my major. Will they just overlook that since I really aced everything directly related to my field?

I know that the grade does not reflect my normal work, and it doesn't make me question my ability to do quality graduate level work, but I am worried that my graduate department will see it differently. I do have verifiable reasons for why I did not perform up to my normal standards this semester, but those involve things like being overworked at two jobs and having a close friend pass away a month and a half ago and ending up in counseling because of that. Obviously I don't want to bring this up if I don't have to, and I don't want to draw attention to the grade if they would otherwise overlook it, but I also don't want to ignore the elephant in the room by just not addressing the grade if it does bother them.

Should I wait and see if they say anything to me? Or should I be proactive and send some sort of a message acknowledging that this semester was not up to par, and that if they wish to address it with me, I would be willing to talk about it. I really don't know what I should do, and I'm terrified that no matter what I do, I'll lose my spot!

[KevinM]

Sorry but this is a bit pathetic. If you acted "proactively" by mentioning this to them it would not look good in my opinion. This is not something to be concerned about at all.

[hubris]

Calm down. Sure it sucks, but you are already in and did not do something horrible, like failing everything.

You will be fine.

[oldlady]

This is not something to be concerned about at all.

You will be fine.

Yes to both! Let it go and move on...

[TMP]

Let it go. If you've been admitted already, the program won't even look at your final transcript. The only place that's getting your final transcript is The Graduate School to confirm that you did get your BA/BS. That's it. This is your last chance to bomb something for the heck of it