<p>First of all, thanks to anyone who reads this and takes a moment to respond, it means a lot.
I'm about to finish my Freshman year of high school, and am a bit worried that I've ruined my chances at the Ivy League. </p>
<p>Grades: I'm finishing Freshman year with a 3.17 GPA. (6 B's and 2 A's). I was in honors L.A and Social Studies this year, but academic science and algebra 1b. I'm in my school's gifted program, but chose not to be next year. As a sophomore I'll be in all honors classes, except French, and am taking AP European history. As a junior I plan to take all honors courses, and at least 3 AP's</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: This year, I was a founding member of my school's robotics team, I was also a member of FBLA and the Computer club. This spring I ran for student council secretary, but didn't win. Next year I will participate in all of these, plus the school newspaper, boys cross country, and the math club. As a junior I would like to get involved in NHS, run for an officer position in FBLA, and start a club of my own.</p>
<p>Outside of school: I will be participating in next year's Google science fair, making arrangements to start a club in my junior year, and applying to become a Davidson Fellow. I would also like to participate in the Intel science fair as a junior.</p>
<p>Despite all of this, I'm worried that the Ivies won't be able to overlook my average Freshman year. What are your thoughts on this? Would a strong upward trend save me? any feedback is greatly appreciated!!!</p>
<p>I suppose that if you fix the GPA with an upward trend, you could actually get admitted to top-tier schools. Colleges like seeing upward trends. Good scores/EC’s/Awards could also make up for the GPA.</p>
<p>Several top schools don’t even include freshman year in their GPA calculation (they do consider it in a holistic sense when viewing transcript). Your grades in later years are far more important, and your listed freshman GPA does not exclude you from getting into an ivy.</p>
<p>Your best bet would be to apply to schools that either do not look at freshman year or place very little weight on it. There are plenty of great schools that do not look at freshman year including Stanford. Focus on improving your grades and taking more challenging classes (top schools generally get applicants who take more then two honors classes a year).</p>
<p>A. You’re a freshman. Stop worrying so much; you have two more years of high school left before your college application is set in stone.</p>
<p>B. Your freshman grades aren’t Ivy-competitive, but at my school, we have a saying: “Everyone is on the same footing after freshman year. It’s in the next two years that the gap appears.” This is somewhat of an exaggeration, but you get the point – if you can show an upward trend in grades in your sophomore and junior years (easier said than done, but very impressive if you succeed), and have some decent test scores and extracurriculars to boot, then you’ve improved your chances.</p>
<p>C. There ARE top-tier schools that don’t look at freshman grades. Stanford is one that I know off the top of my head. Don’t lose hope yet.</p>
<p>D. Research, research, research. WHY do you want to go to Ivies? Is it because you want a name-brand school to boast about and to write on future applications? Or do you have a genuine passion for some field that can be only/best satisfied at an Ivy?</p>