Am I on the right track? (Sophomore)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hello! I’m going into junior year next year! Just wanted some advice on things I should do/keep doing as I continue my high school journey! :slight_smile:

Junior Year Schedule
AP Lang
AP US History
Got promoted to Accelerated Math (1/2 sem Math Analysis, 1/2 sem AP Calc AB) because of my high Alg 2 grade.
AP Chemistry
Volleyball
Academic Decathlon

This year I took all honors and one AP, AP Environmental Science. I got a B last semester(my only B), but I’m semi confident that I will get an A this semester (upwards trend? :slight_smile:
Anyway, my big issue here is that I did not pass Spanish 2 (I got a D). However, I am doing summer school to replace that grade, and I’m on the right track to pass the class as of now. Will this completely destroy my chances at any top 50 school? (Excluding ivies, top 10 etc) My dream is UCLA, which I believe is out of reach, but I have fallen in love with NYU, Boston U, and Duke etc. (very STEM centered schools, I believe)
If you do not count my nauseating spanish grade, since I am doing summer school to replace it, I believe my GPA would be about a 3.83, UW.
My freshman GPA was a 4.0 UW

EC’s
I have played piano for 10+ years, with minor competitions and recitals, and I played in an award winning symphony orchestra for 1 year in my old high school. (I switched schools last year)
I am an avid hiker and rock climber (not sure if this matters on a college app, but I’ve logged over 150 hours hiking, it’s something I’m very passionate about)
I am on a gold medal winning academic decathlon team, and I currently hold a leadership position at the moment, and I am hoping to be president my last two years.
I am in a volunteering club where I organize events for the members to go to soup kitchens and homeless shelters
I am part of student council, and I will run for a leadership position next year, and hopefully get on the council board my senior year.
I volunteer at a local hospital 4 hours every week, I think I will have over 300 by the end of this summer.
I was selected to participate in a medical seminar/camp this summer through a local hospital (take about 140/500 students)

I feel very intimidated by this site (bad or good thing?) but I feel that if i post some of my stats (although they might be embarrassing…) I can get constructive feedback from intelligent people my age on what I should do and keep on doing. (Yes, I know, my spanish grade is in the hole, but I really hope it doesn’t kill my chances completely…oh well. Gotta move on)

Also, SAT, I got a decent score on the PSAT, and I’m taking classes, so I will most likely break 2000. Hopefully. Thanks for reading this, I appreciate every single comment :slight_smile:

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Also, I am trilingual, so hopefully I can show my strength in foreign language some other way. #:-S

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bumppp.

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Extracurriculars are really nice! Keep your upward trend. SAT IS VERY IMPORTANT especially to balance your low beginning grades. Get leadership positions. demonstrate passion! Essays are a crucial aspect so make sure you develop a passion in anything so you can evoke that in your essays.****Build strong relationships w your teachers need year!!!
and don’t let this site scare you, you do you! Lol but really, just work hard, have passion, and give it your all. Hope this helps!

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Thanks so much! Assuming I get a solid SAT score, keep on that nice upward trend, would schools be somewhat forgiving of my spanish grade? (I am trilingual, but my languages are not offered as SAT 2’s, which is why I’m not sure if i want to take a CC course in my language) @samantha3

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Of course I can’t say for sure, but most colleges do holistic approachs to addmissions. With that being said, I think if the rest of you application is solid (leadership, SAT, other high grades, gpa, rank, recomendations, essays etc) the colleges you’ll want to go to are in reach. Please keep in mind what I said about passion. There are many students that don’t get into their top choices yet have near perfect grades and test scores. What they lack is passion. You need to stand out from all other applicants, and you do this through your essays.

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Thank you so much! I really appreciate it :slight_smile: @samantha3

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No problem!