<p>Does a bad freshman year ruin my chances? or is it overlooked by Stanford?</p>
<p>How bad is it? And no, upward trends are highly appreciated!</p>
<p>Its real bad. I really bombed it pretty badly. A few D’s. This year I got 4.0 Unweighted but didnt do anything extra, just a little voulenteering.</p>
<p>My chances seem dead, and I think they are but will it hurt to apply?</p>
<p>Well, obviously, the better grades you have, the better your chances are (up to some point). But it certainly doesn’t kill your chances – grades are only part of the equation, and there are a lot of other ways to counter-balance your application.</p>
<p>This makes a good essay topic. What led to your transformation from Ds to As?</p>
<p>You know, I don’t really know. Last year I was quite afraid of not being the best, so I got scared of the disappointment of working and not being in the top of the class or #1. Its weird to me. I know its rediculously stupid to have a fear like that, but I had it.
Now, how would someone describe me? My transcript shows no slow growth, more like an inconsistent 2.0 to 4.0 UW.</p>
<p>i don’t think that would be a great essay topic at all. i think if would be something your counselor should cover in his/her rec, but for you to waste an essay on this is a bad idea.</p>
<p>having said that, i think of all the top universities, stanford is the most likely to ignore your faults whatever they may be if they really believe in you. i don’t know if that makes any sense but that’s just the feeling i got during my own application process and from talking to kids who got in.</p>
<p>How exactly does Stanford take into account of what you really did or didn’t do as in EC’s. Clubs don’t go into your records( at least not here), so is it just an honor thing? </p>
<p>What kind of clubs and positions would be great for Stanford, or for any big university?</p>
<p>Actually, I’m pretty sure Stanford doesn’t count freshman year grades :)</p>
<p>Also, it would have been (and still may be) a good essay topic if the OP had some major change in personal outlook. I could write an essay about how the OP was too pressured freshman year of high school, but eventually came to an epiphany on the matter that few of his peers could come to, thus exposing a societal flaw. I read an essay that explained a change in personal outlook, which also explained vast grade improvements in the process, and it was a fantastic essay.</p>
<p>Oh, thats good to hear, but if they take class rank into account then I guess I’m not good there. Also, my SATS…I don’t even know where to start ! What materials should I get to study?</p>
<p>Also, is it a good idea to get started on my essay now, as a sophomore?</p>
<p>No, don’t start on essays yet. That would be a terrible idea. Your writing will improve a lot and you will personally change a lot in 1.5 years.</p>
<p>Just get a good SAT book. No reason to start studying now, though.</p>
<p>So, its no good to start studying my SAT’s and such? What about the subject test for the SAT’s?</p>
<p>How much do those matter for college?</p>
<p>its definitely not good to be worried about the specifics of getting in to a certain school two years before even applying (other than maybe seeing if you’re taking the right required courses). Stanford will see right through that.</p>
<p>just do what you like doing - be it science, humanities, whatever - and do it with passion.
if you truly do that, actually applying will be easy.</p>
<p>Going by my experience, class rank and even GPA are not very important, as long as you have a decent reason for having low ones. For example, I went to Roxbury Latin in Massachusetts and made all B’s my freshman year. Then, my dad got transferred, and we moved to another state out west, where I have made all A’s at a large public school. However, because of that unweighted 3.0 freshman year, and the fact that my current school includes my 9th grade grades in their GPA and class rank compilation process, my class rank and GPA are in the toilet, despite my weighted 4.8 (band is on a 4.0 scale, and dragged it down) at school here. Nevertheless, I still got accepted into quite a few top schools, including Stanford.
So don’t worry about it! Stanford is more concerned about how smart you are now, and how well you will do at Stanford, than how smart you were 3 years ago. : )</p>
<p>Going by my experience, class rank and even GPA are not very important, as long as you have a decent reason for having low ones. For example, I went to Roxbury Latin in Massachusetts and made all B’s my freshman year. Then, my dad got transferred, and we moved to another state out west, where I have made all A’s at a large public school. However, because of that unweighted 3.0 freshman year, and the fact that my current school includes my 9th grade grades in their GPA and class rank compilation process, my class rank and GPA are in the toilet, despite my weighted 4.8 (band is on a 4.0 scale, and dragged it down) at school here. Nevertheless, I still got accepted into quite a few top schools, including Stanford.
So don’t worry about it! Stanford is more concerned about how smart you are now, and how well you will do at Stanford, than how smart you were 3 years ago. : )</p>
<p>I see it a little clearer now, I guess it is a little too early to be focusing on things too far away.</p>
<p>My course load for next year is:</p>
<p>AP Chemistry
AP(or Honors) Physics
AP U.S.History
AP English III
AP Calculus AB
Spanish III
And an Art class ( Pass/ Fail, Has no effect on GPA)</p>
<p>So, am I on the right track guys?</p>
<p>Hello, one important question.</p>
<pre><code> Do my records need to be submitted in my app?
</code></pre>
<p>Hello? please.</p>
<p>records? like athletic school records? Or a transcript?</p>
<p>You definitely have the looks of a rigorous schedule (at least at my high school). Start in AP Physics and drop down/out if needed. I’d recommend the same thing for calc; start in BC. I had the exact same schedule, except with Calc BC instead of AB and honors bio instead of AP physics and without an elective course (art, in your case) and it was pretty brutal, especially at first, but I eventually handled it all. </p>
<p>And, even getting all As with that schedule can’t guarantee you anything.</p>
<p>Like, what fees I owed, and driving/ car crashes, fights, misdemeanors and such.</p>
<p>Not that I’ve gotten into anything that serious but I do have fees for books and such which I’ve paid with the exception of one fee.</p>
<p>Also, I want to take Calc BC but our school has a pre-req system where taking certain courses have to come before others. AB before BC, honors before AP(with exceptions).</p>
<p>Heh, nothings a sure deal for me since I screwed up so badly last year, I think in my case, Stanford is a dream rather than a reach.</p>
<p>Also, if Stanford does not look at freshman grades, how do they take account of the ranking? It just doesn’t seem like they’d take all that time recalculating GPA’s and rankings(which seems impossible or very time consuming). and for EC’s, do I state when I did them or just how many hours ect.( These questions apply to other schools also).</p>