<p>I'm a 9th grader, and right now I have a B in Honors Geometry, and there is a slim chance I might get one in Journalism or Spanish as well. Are my chances gone if I get a single B, two, or three? Also, how important is the essay?</p>
<p>Nope, just get A’s from now on. UPWARD TREND (increasingly higher grades as you progress throughout High School) :-)</p>
<p>The essay is incredibly important, because it’s the only first-hand part of the application where the admissions officers can actually see how clear your thinking and how interesting a person you are when you have ample time to flesh out your ideas.</p>
<p>You’re in 9th grade. Seriously, don’t freak out about a B. Plus, it’s only November. You’ve got awhile till the end of the year, who’s to say you couldn’t pull it up to an A?</p>
<p>By the way, one (or two or three) Bs, ESPECIALLY in 9th grade, won’t kill your chances. I promise.</p>
<p>^ Slightly different question here…what about a B in senior year, guys? I had a 4.0 (all 94s and above) in every class every year until one 87 this year. I know junior grades are the most important, but when you send in the midyear report with senior grades, do they use it evaluatively or just to see if you’re “on the right track” and not getting major senioritis?</p>
<p>One B won’t hurt you, especially if it is an AP, or difficult class (AP Calc, AP English, AP Physics, Chem or Bio.)</p>
<p>ARE YOU JOKING ME??? One B won’t kill you. you’re a freshman, you have years to make Bs. I’ve made loads of Bs and I’m not worried about it, you should focus more on advertising yourself as a unique person who has lots to give to Harvard.</p>
<p>I’m also very impressed about the fact that you’ve started the college process so early.</p>
<p>That’s not impressive, that’s disgusting.</p>
<p>^ yeah I agree. Take it easy man, I didn’t even start to think about colleges until towards the end of Junior year. </p>
<p>It’s taken me over mentally =(</p>
<p>yea man you are done for. a b in freshman year equals bomb in college. just give up now and go relax.</p>
<p>^ lolz. don’t say such things to impressionable fish. They’re so naive and gullible to sarcasm haha</p>
<p>don’t worry about one or two Bs… especially since it’s in 9th grade</p>
<p>and also, don’t think about college… you have too long to start thinking about college now… enjoy high school while it lasts… i’m a senior, and i can’t believe i’m almost out of high school… wait until the beginning of your junior year… that’ll give you one full year of college searching/visiting and then you’ll be perfectly set for your senior year and applications</p>
<p>just relax</p>
<p>I heard Harvard admissions folks laugh every time they see a B on a transcript, because they are amused that you are even thinking about Harvard.</p>
<p>Seriously man, it is only 9th grade. You dont have to have 4.0 to get into H.</p>
<p>^ heck, there are people with 4.0s that get denied and those with 3.8s that get in</p>
<p>GPA and test scores are not all it… they do matter quite a bit, but they’re not everything to your application</p>
<p>My son got B’s (well B+'s really) in English every year, but senior year. He still got in. It really depends on what else you bring to the table. My son coupled those English grades with an 800 on CR. He had pretty stellar grades everywhere else. He also had a strong academic interest where he had gone WAY beyond what the high school curriculum offered.</p>
<p>Well, if you are getting B’s right now, will you be able to pull off A’s when you have harder classes later on?</p>
<p>mathmom is right–it’s about the whole package. Everything good will help you, and everything bad will hurt you. But how it all adds up is what makes the difference.</p>
<p>To answer the original question - no, one B won’t kill you. Nor will two or three. However, classes only get harder from here on out.</p>
<p>Harvard isn’t looking for A+ English students.
'nuff said.</p>
<p>Also, some of you guys are being really harsh…why is it a bad thing to start thinking about colleges in 9th grade? I started thinking about colleges (very lightly, of course) when I was in middle school. Well…really more in the sense of planning out my 4 years of high school courses to get as many things as I wanted in there while keeping some degree of sanity. Now I have a very enriching schedule, I don’t feel stressed about the college application process to the degree of everyone who “chillaxed” freshman year.</p>
<p>Starting early really does make your life better come junior/senior year.
Kudos to you :)</p>
<p>Because, only freaks whose ultimate goals are to get into THE college start before middle school. And no, I doubt that it really helps to get focused on college early. There are much better things to spend time on ie: Living. The secret to success is to enjoy life. Obsession over freshman grades is sickening, and if you think that it will help you to think about college before you are out of diapers, you are wrong. The applications process is easy. You just write down what you did and talk about yourself and BOOM! you’re into college. But what if you’re thinking about college throughout your entire career. Well, let’s see. I bet you picked your activities based on what “looks good” and chose classes that “looked good.” No college is interested in people who chose things only to get into college. I swear, the most amazing, talented and incredible people I have met-- those who are truly walk on water candidates (as in 2 minors at an ivy league before graduating highschool)-- are those who just do what they want to do. If you are always thinking about “will this look good?” or “are these grades good?”, then you really don’t have time to do what you want to do.</p>