<p>Okay so the school year is finally ending for me and considering how nervous I was for my high school freshman year, I think that I did pretty well for myself - as far as grades go anyways. </p>
<p>My final grades just got put in and they are:
Advanced Algebra II - A+
World History I - A+
Latin III - A+
Chinese II - A+
Biology I - A
English 9 - A-</p>
<p>I know that my grades this year are pretty good but is this good enough for extremely selective universities. </p>
<p>I happen to go to a high ranking public school in Massachusetts that is known as a "Harvard-feeder" since we have about 20 kids get into Harvard every year and right now I am a little bit concerned about my A- in English because many of my senior friends who got into Harvard never got anything below an A with the exception of a few kids who got only one A in an AP class. </p>
<p>I'm just using Harvard as an example here because that is not necessarily the school that I want to go to but I think that it offers a picture as to what other really prestigious universities look for and it's making me worried that my freshman year grades may not be good enough. </p>
<p>Your grades are fine. It’s good that you were in Advanced Algebra II this year, as well as Latin III and Chinese II. Just make sure you continue to take a rigorous courseload, and you should be fine.</p>
<p>If you’re looking at HYPSM you probably should be getting a 4.0 all throughout high school. Many do. Is that what you wanted to hear? Boston Latin or not, your grades are perfectly fine, and you know it. Relax. Like I’m SURE that attending a top feeder school yourself, you know that matriculation rates to top schools are generally around a quarter of students, and that getting <em>one</em> A- freshman year won’t kick you out of the top quartile of your class. </p>
<p>I’m just hoping that you don’t come across as bland in your essays a couple years down the line. Sorry if this was harsh, but I’m getting really fed up with all the freshmen freaking out over nothing on here. Good luck! </p>
<p>If they reject you with the A minus, they would have rejected you without it too. In most cases your GPA needs to be really close to 4.0 unweighted, but never getting anything other than an A isn’t necessary and it definitely isn’t sufficient.</p>
<p>Yes your grades are good. Stop worrying about the unimportant little details and focus in what actually matters. Yes grades are important, but getting an A- won’t black list you from the top schools.</p>
<p>@Coriander23 No you weren’t harsh at all! I realize that I posted this question at the risk of sounding like a freshman who cares way too much about every single thing. I have actually never been one to stress over grades but freshman year really has a way of making people self consious about every little thing. This is especially true of Boston Latin because I’m constantly surrounded by people who are even smarter than I am and I just started feeling insecure that everyone seems to have gotten straight A+'s so while I know that my grades are by no means poor, they just aren’t the best either. And I’m someone who tries be near the top but it’s hard to stand out in a school where so many people are already overqualified in just about everything. </p>