Am I Screwed?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I recently had a talk with my dad about my grades, and they never usually end well but this one ended up pretty bad. Going on this forum, I couldn't help but to notice how nobody has anything lower than an 85 GPA. </p>

<p>Well, here I am.</p>

<p>I'm a sophomore in High School, and I screwed up my Freshman year's GPA. I didn't fail, but I believe it's somewhere between an 84-86 weighted (only took 1 honors class). I had a mindset that if I cruised through High School with Bs I'd be 100% fine and it would be smooth sailing from there. Somewhere toward the end of the road, I learned that I was very wrong.</p>

<p>The main reason for my low Freshman year GPA was the fact I got a 79 in Latin. I really struggled in the class in the beginning, and almost gave up toward the end. This year, I've almost completely turned that around- but we'll get to that later.</p>

<p>Basically, the first Marking Period of High School sophomore year I geared up and did the best I could: Here are my grades:</p>

<p>Physical Education: 100
Latin II: 98
U.S History I: 99
Chemistry Honors: 82
English 10 Honors: 88
Algebra II: 90
Communication Tech: TV Pro (Elective): 100</p>

<p>So my GPA for the first marking period is definitely 90+. I was pretty thrilled but my dad was not.</p>

<p>Basically, he has this philosophy that if your grades are not good enough to get into a top tier, ivy league school, or if your grades aren't good enough to land you a free ride at a 2nd tier school, it doesn't matter what you do, because you're screwed.</p>

<p>He also goes on to say how you can't achieve any of the above unless your combined GPA for Freshman, Sophomore and Junior year is above a 94-95+, and your SAT score above 2300. </p>

<p>He continued, and said that if I have a B+ or A- GPA, I will not be able to get into any college worth mentioning, nor will I get into a college with a price tag worth mentioning.</p>

<p>My E.Cs are fair. I did Mock Trial Freshman Year, Model U.N (Going on to do it all 4 years) and Youth and Government (Going on to do it all 4 years). I won an "Excellence in Debating" award for Youth and Government Freshman Year, hope to get one again, and I believe I have a fairly good shot at landing the leadership position for MUN or YAG freshman/senior year in my school.</p>

<p>I'm Half Caucasian and Half Chinese, but I have a Caucasian last name (Father is Caucasian, Mother is Chinese).</p>

<p>What I'm asking here, is if I really AM screwed. I know it's too late to try and shoot for Ivy-League schools at this point, but I was looking at colleges like CUNY Hunter, NYU, Northeastern, etc. but it's really de-motivating to hear that wherever I get into is irrelevant if I can't get merit-based scholarships to a 2nd tier school or if I can't get into a top tier school.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I think that your father’s attitude might be waayyy to pessimistic. Those seem like pretty fair grades, and if you keep going well, you’ll have a close to “solid” application. As I understand it though, the “solid” application your father wants isn’t really as desired anymore. I’d focus on activities and things that make you UNIQUE. There’s a surplus of perfect GPA, 35 ACT students; if you have lower grades, but do something really unique, and have a great attitude, you might actually stand a BETTER chance than those “perfect” students.</p>

<p>TL;DR No, you can still do a lot to get into a good school.</p>

3

<p>Hey, man, I don’t know your dad and I’m not the person to judge him, but based on what you’re saying, he’s coming down too hard on you. You have awesome grades for the most part and I didn’t see your SAT/ACT score(s), but I bet they’re pretty good, too, if not great. He’s right to say that there are a lot of schools that you should pretty much not consider going to (community colleges and a good few 4-year universities are below your capability for sure). But to say that non-Ivy League schools are basically worth not mentioning is ridiculous. Ivy League schools probably are better in many ways, but there are so many great public universities and other private ones, like NYU would be great I think.</p>

<p>So if the case is that you think your dad is just coming down too hard on you (like I think it must be), just don’t sweat it. Go to the school that you think will give you the most benefit with what you want to do. Hope that helps.</p>

4

<p>The only person that is screwed-up is your father.</p>

5

<p>I would say that your father has a rather limited vision of the world. There are plenty of people who are very successful attending third and fourth tier schools. Ultimately, it’s what you make of your opportunities.</p>

<p>We’ve just moved to the northeast from Texas and I’ve been amazed at the attitudes towards any education that isn’t “local.” We’re here because my husband was hired in the health field for an Ivy related institution. He’s here with his pathetic 2.7 undergraduate gpa (which he would not recommend anyone doing) and has found the practice in his field in this region to be significantly behind other parts of the country. The sad thing, is that a lot of the people he works with don’t know it because they don’t think there is any reason to see what people in fly over areas are doing.</p>

<p>I know this isn’t specific to your situation but you are doing well and should know that there are plenty of opportunities outside the Ivies. You’re taking hard classes and getting good grades. The Ivies are a dice roll for anyone and there are plenty of Ivy grads who are working for those with lessor educations. If your father can’t expand his horizons, you need to work on expanding yours.</p>

6

<p>that’s unreasonably harsh. You’re doing great!</p>

7

<p>Your father seems like a Tiger Parent. Does he happen to be in a job where school prestige is important (e.g. law, investment banking, management consulting)?</p>

<p>Lots of people go to mid-level state universities, do well, and get satisfying jobs and careers, so going to a mid-level state university is not the end of the world (though a B+/A- GPA is likely to be good for the upper-mid-level of universities, assuming non-disastrous test scores). Some students even start at community college, transfer to a top-level state university, do well, and eventually go to top graduate schools in their major to study to their PhDs.</p>

8

<p>Seriously. Your freshman year grades generally are the LEAST important factor in college admissions. Some schools don’t even factor them in. Like, for real. You are nowhere near “the end of the road.” Don’t even worry about it. Anyways, everyone loves an upward trend! :)</p>

9

<p>Yeah, they’re right, your dad is overreacting.
Also, I’m not too familiar with the 100 point gpa scale, as we use a 4.0 scale here, but if you do something to make yourself truly stand out, it’s probably not even too late to aim for ivy league schools.</p>

10

<p>You will be fine. Your father is speaking from his prospective and what he had seen happen to people who didn’t achieved the best. He is actually looking out for your best interest. He wants you to be the best, maybe he should have taken a different approach, but please do not judge him. Some of us wish we had a father to push us to succeed. Good luck to you and your family.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the reply guys, the consensus here has really lifted my spirits!</p>

<p>I’m not unhappy toward my father at all, I’m very grateful to have him in my life, but I still think his views on grades are a little pessimistic. I talked to him about this, but he’s very convinced that I don’t have ample academic achievements. </p>

<p>If Freshman year GPA is not stressed, that would be fantastic, as it is borderline impossible to end with an average GPA (Freshman, sophomore, and junior year) of an A or an A+, but I strive to make an A- GPA average by the end of Junior year. I am also planning to take some AP courses and many more honors classes Junior year. </p>

<p>Thank you for all your assistance guys!</p>

12

<p>Yu could have perfect sat scores and perfect gap and not get into an ivy. Many dont. Just keep at it and you will be fine</p>