<p>I am a junior in high school. The high school I currently am at is my 4th. My last high school, I moved there in March of 09 and stayed until June. I am not the best person in math and science. I failed my math class and now I am a year behind. My GPA is a 3.2 because now I am doing terrible in Chemistry. I am in two AP classes, also when I moved in March I was in APWH and the school didn't offer that class so I lost the extra points for that.
I really want to raise my GPA to atleast a 3.7. Im trying really hard to do better in math and science but Im weak in both and both extra helps are on the same day. Next year ill be taking about 5 APs.
I know for a fact that if my family hadn't moved in March my gpa would have atleast been a 90, no questions asked. I really want to get into Fordham.
Please tell me how much of my GPA can I get raised, I have a full schedule so 8-9 classes in total. Alot of clubs and community service.
My only other option is to get my mother to teach at Fordham which Im having trouble convincing her. If my family stayed in Chicago I would've gotten a free education at Loyola Uni. </p>
<p>Please tell me how I can raise my gpa to a 3.7 by the end of this year or beginning of next. Only one quarter has passed by and because of Chem my average was very low. Im doing all I can to do better in both those classes. Also, I heard your GPA changes with every quarter? So what if I get a 95 average 2nd quarter and get higher averages 3rd and 4th?</p>
<p>Doing much better the remainder of the year can significantly raise your GPA. I don’t think anyone on here can tell you specifically what you need to do to get better grades. Everyone has different difficulties when it comes to school. You need to think about what you are having trouble with and figure out what you need to do to fix it.
To get into Fordham though, I would say anything 90 or higher is great. If below that, I would say you need to shine in other areas, such as SAT/ACT, EC’s/leadership, volunteerism, etc.</p>
<p>Does your school allow “do-0vers”? ie, take the courses you didn’t do well again at summer school, replacing the bad grade? Summer school is usually much easier, but not all schools allow this.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for your reply! I was waiting for somebody to write back.
Ohboi, its crazy how hard I am trying to fix my Chem grade but Chem and I, we dont click and its not just me, the teacher is an AP Chem teacher with only two regents classes, she treats us like her AP students many are doing bad but I am off the charts with my grade, I was actually studying for my chem test tomorrow when I stumbled onto here lol.</p>
<p>merryecho - Im pretty sure they do, but for the summer I really want to do Fordhams Pre-college and a couple of other things I got “invited” to like People to People and NSLC, also I want to intern or volunteer at UNA-USA and ACS. I was thinking about re-taking the classes that I am bad in such as Chem and take the math class I am supposed to be taking and recieve credit for it so next year I can catch up. There is so much I want to do but not enough time. Also, I heard that it is only for people who failed the class, Im not sure but I will def. find out. Suppose I do take it again, will that change my GPA? I mean I cant go back in time and undo my family’s move but that was the reason my GPA is what it is. I was calculating my grades from 9th and 10th grade and just giving myself random grades on how I think I would do the next three quarters of 11th grade and my GPA was coming out to an 83? Its an 82 right now. I really need to take some extreme measures to push it up significantly.</p>
<p>Also, I wanted to add, I just realized most kids in graduating class, majority of them are in easy classes with easy 100s such as art or chrous for all 4 years. My high school years I took all Social Science electives because thats something I am interested in, not just getting easy 100s but I wanted to actually learn something. It also sucks how that how my grades in English and Social Studies (global, us history, psych, criminal law, international law) are top-notch and to me that matters most because down the line I want to be a lawyer, it sucks that my math and science grades will be focused more on than those. I guess those are the things you put on your college essay?</p>
<p>Hm, your situation sounds like my Political Science class this year. My teacher is really bad at teaching. I had him last year for APUSH and got a 2 b/c we basically didn’t learn anything last year (somehow I got a 98 on the regents…idk). This year, he’s just being ridiculous and inconsiderate, such as assigning 60 pages of John Locke (single-spaced, size 10) over Homecoming weekend, and giving a quiz on it that day after. I’m getting the worst grades I’ve ever gotten in that class. I could understand more so it if it was an AP class, but it’s not. It’s an honors class. I have had trouble with social studies since I entered high school, but I still got good grades in like AP World History if I studied hard enough b/c my teacher then actually could somewhat teach, even if she is crazy. Now it’s like, try really hard in Poli Sci, still get poor grades, and to worse in my other classes from neglect; or I can try harder in the classes I can actually do really good in and cover up my poor Poli Sci grade. Which do you think I chose? That latter of course.</p>
<p>And no, you do not put things like that in your college essay. You college essay should reveal something about your personality, background, and/or experiences. You want to avoid an essay about things that can easily be inferred from the rest of your application. You can talk about your desire to be a lawyer, but don’t try to justify it with like your grades and stuff. Admissions officers can already see that. It is tough to come up with a top, but it can actually be fun once you get stated. The essay I sent to Fordham was about my indirect experience with Hurricane Katrina and how it hit close to home. Just be sincere, creative, and you. It can be serious, funny, exciting, you name it. Just avoid cliches and general college app essay don’ts.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for that, lol now I know what NOT to do.</p>
<p>It makes sense for me to work harder in the classes Im already good in and do much better and try to cover my chem grade.
I was with my counselor today and she said if she had to guess my GPA would probably go up to an 85 or 87 something like that by the end of this year.
There are no do-overs so that stinks. I just really want to know how much I can improve it, which Im guessing wont be alot because after two years, one year wont make a huge difference. Where Im trying to get to is unrealistic, theres no way I guess I can get a 90 by the end of this year. </p>
<p>Supposing I have a 85-87 GPA by the end of this year and do really well first quarter next year like a 98 average or something will that be good enough? I saw on collegeboard that about 31% of the students admitted had a GPA from 3.0-3.49. Pretty small percentage though =/. According to my counselor Ill be somewhere in top half or top quarter of the graduating class.</p>
<p>Actually, that can make a big difference. Excel your junior year, and the first semester of your senior year. Admissions officer love to see an upward trend. I mean, if you went from like a steady 70 average to a 90 average in a quarter, they’ll probably think you were just being lazy until the reality of college hit you. But you’re in the mid to upper 80’s. Boosting that to a 90 will look great. That’s not to say that it will cover up for having poor grades, which you don’t, but it look good.</p>
<p>I wish I could send applications after 1st semester ends of next year but deadlines are probably before that. Atleast 1st quarter will go so hoping to do well on that and the rest of the three quarters of jr. year I have left.
Its also good that instead of like in my old school where APs are weighted 5 points, here they are counted 10 :). Just gotta do really well and cover up my chem grade. Yeahhh I doubt my GPA can get to a 90 by the end of this year, my counselor said next years 1st quarter average doesnt go toward the GPA which sorta got me confused because I thought every quarters average went toward the GPA?</p>
<p>Most of the schools you apply to RD will see your 1st semester grades and will use them when deciding you admission. Even though the deadline is before the semester ends, most schools ask for a Mid-year report.</p>