<p>To be honest, if you don’t work hard starting now your chances are pretty much 0. I’m from a very competitive public high school in a competitive area in general. Nearly 20 people applied to Harvard from my high school. One got in. She got all As, was val of her grade, and concertmaster. Two other people from my area/city that I know of got in. One was a nationally ranked tennis player. Another, a nationally ranked ice skater. All three were hardworking Asian girls that worked hard since they were young at their talent and their academics to make it.</p>
<p>Do you have a talent that sets you apart, something you’ve been doing for a while and love? Are you a sports star? Did you find the cures for AIDS? (Ha, ha, I’m funny.) If not, you’d better get all As for the rest of your high school career or kiss your most remote chances goodbye. (Unless you’re an URM. Are you a URM?)</p>
<p>I’m an incoming sophomore myself, and I’ve been raised with the if-you-don’t-get-into-HYP-you’re-going-to-be-disowned stigma. My high school is full of kids like me. We’re all going to apply to Harvard: all As, violinists, 500000000 volunteer hours. Chances are, we’ll be lucky if one of us gets in.</p>
<p>If you don’t have anything going for you other than that GPA, you need to fix that. Get involved, volunteer. But seriously. Raise that GPA and you may have a fighting chance – Ivy League admissions is pretty much a lottery.</p>
<p>Back to your original question, if you’re looking for colleges well known for their academics but aren’t as “hard” to get into as Harvard, I’d look into Vanderbilt, Cornell, Notre Dame, maybe NYU? Those names are pretty well known. However, they’re still very selective (except maybe for NYU, which has a 30% acceptance rate or something), so you won’t be guaranteed a spot.</p>
<p>Keep everything in perspective. Do the best you can since you screwed up freshman year. Take challenging classes, get As. Know that this late in the game there will be more qualified applicants everywhere. Harvard may be a pretty big reach, but there are plenty of other colleges with awesome academics and great opportunities. Good luck!</p>