So I just joined college confidential after using it for years to answer my high school/college questions. I’m going to be a junior in HS next year and I am very worried. Please let me know if I’ll be okay.
To start off, I was the perfect model student in elementary school and middle school with nearly perfect grades. Then I went to HS to the pre-IB program offered in my district, and yea it wasn’t that hard but it did hit me hard. Freshman year I had A’s, B’s, and C’s all evenly distributed. In Sophomore year I improved a bit but still didn’t work to my full potential. I got A’s and B’s (mostly A’s, 2-3 B’s). In 9th grade I had no idea what happened to my work ethic and afterwards had lost all motivation in myself and I truly believe if I had worked harder my grades would’ve been significantly better. This summer just started and I am very motivated to work hard the next half of HS. I’m joining a SAT prep class and hope to do very well and possibly qualify for National Merit. I’m also going to be an IB student and feel I will do better because I got to choose my classes (HLs and SLs) unlike these past 2 years where we were forced to take certain classes for credit. If I study for them and do nearly perfect and get my GPA to improve will I be okay? I used to aim for ivy leagues back in MS but now I’m aiming for UT Austin (and maybe top tier schools like NYU or UCLA). If worst comes to worst, I’'ll settle for less. My GPA is 3.93… I know… it’s so embarrassing. I am so ashamed of myself and what I’ve become these past 2 years.
As for EC, I took choir (however I will be quitting it because it’s only on a 4.0 scale and will ruin my GPA), am excelling in debate, will be junior representative of a national competition club next year, part of Spanish club, and hope to join model UN next year. Also, I love writing and hope to compete in this as well.
All in all, if I have a drastic upward trend these next 2 years, do you think I can still aim high?
Point of clarification- a 3.93 weighted or unweighted? If it is a 3.93 unweighted, then you are totally fine! Top tier schools, while preferring perfect transcripts, have little problem with a few B’s as long as the rest of your application excels.
With 2Bs after 2 years in HS, it is still possible to get 3.93 uwGPA, but not very likely with 3Bs unless he has more than 7 units per semester. But he main question is not GPA but the home state. UT Austin from OOS is very competitive as most of the seats were filled by in state pre-admit. Only 7% students are from OOS (not including international).
No no no. I am worried because freshman year I had a mix of As Bs and Cs while sophomore year I had As with 2-3 Bs. And weighted 3.93… that’s why I’m very worried. And actually, I live in Texas that’s why my highest aim is UT Austin after doing this bad… I’m hoping I’ll significantly improve the next 2 years but idk. Do you think a huge upward trend and great extra curriculars and possibly being national merit will help me get into top tier schools? Sorry for being unclear.
Then your uwGPA is likely too low for top schools. You may want to recalculate your uwGPA.
Some schools disregard your freshman year GPA, which would help you a lot. Make sure your EC’s set you apart as much as possible. You mentioned that you love to write- Enter your writing in competitions or submit to literary magazines!