Hi! I’m currently in my sophomore year of high school and my grades are just looking so bad and don’t know what to do…
Here’s what happened: In my freshman year I got a 89.3 as final Gpa for the year, all my classes are honors except English. I couldn’t do much now with that so I decide to work hard in Sophomore year, BUT
For the first semester in sophomore year, I got 1 C in Algebra 2 and 6 Bs on other classes (mostly major classes like Chem H, APWH, Spanish H and English 10R) so it’s about a 88 or 89 for Gpa (I think) .Now it’s almost the end of Q3, which is half way through the second semester, my grades is still not looking good. Nothing seems going into my brain, even I tried to listen and learn still I couldn’t remember things during tests. I tried to pull myself together and want to work as hard as I can from now on and all the way to Q4, but every time when I come to think of my grade now and freshman year it just feel like impossible…I’m so scared that maybe I’m screwed already. I don’t know if it’s too late or not, or if I’m going to make into any of the top schools. I do have ECs such as DECA and NYSSMA opera, I was going to take the Lv 6 test this year but the test was cancelled. And I was Vice President for school’s anime club.
Here’s my grades for sophomore year so far, the Q3 are estimates:
APWH: B B+ B
Chemistry H: B A- B
Spanish 10H: A- B+ A
English 10R: A B+ A
Algebra 2 H: C- B B-
College Law: A A A
Studio art2 : A A- A
Algebra is my biggest fear now, Q1 I got a C, Q2 I got a B and the progress report for Q3 said my current grade is a C. I had a fever on the day of my math midterm but I still took the test cuz I don’t know that my temp was high. I end up getting a 74 which count as two regular test towards Q3. After this there are two more test and quiz that I got around the same grade. I felt I’m so behind now and when I want to start working hard I don’t know where can I start. Same goes for Chem and APWH I feel like after the school year I learned almost nothing…
I understand that this a long post, but I really really needed help right now. Did I screw my chance of going to top colleges? Can I still make them up by taking lots of Aps and work extremely hard next year? If I want to save my Q4 grade, how can I do that? Please help me and reply, thank you so much T T
Just study a little harder, but keep in mind that “top colleges” shouldn’t be the goal anyway. Even perfect students routinely get rejected. It’s more a lottery than a competition. Just focus on getting the best grades you can and go somewhere you can afford. Most employers recruit locally and regionally, because it’s more cost-effective.
What’s your definition of “top school” ?
Definitely agree with coolguy40. But colleges also like to see an upward trend, so try your absolute best now. If you’re struggling, get help. Study and complete your tests+assignments the best you can and effort will be obvious. Also, when applying to colleges, not only add the “dream”/top colleges to your list (if you improve now and have interesting extracurriculars+college essays, still try giving your top schools a shot!), but also be realistic about where you’ll be more likely to get into and apply there. Have a few different safe schools and target schools, both private and public. I had some B grades at the start of high school, but I improved as the years went on. I didn’t get into Ivies, but I’m happy with the schools I got accepted into. And! Always remember that you can be successful whether you go to an Ivy or another school. Yes, some schools have the trademark name and are more recognized that others, but ultimately if you are motivated in college and always work hard towards you goals, you can stand out.
thank you for the replies！！And I understand that top schools are not the only choices…it’s just most of the time the sense of “I have to get into schools like Ives or else I’m doomed” kind of feeling? It’s weird, but maybe also because I grew up in an Asian immigrant house hold. And the Q3 just ended yesterday as well… I really don’t think things are looking well, I asked my prep teacher about these things, feels like he kinda give up as well (originally he wanted me to major in Engineering cuz my SAT math score was really high). The thing with bad grade that just tells me no Ives kind of pushed me back from the motivation to keep studying…ik it’s not a good thing and it’s not so realistic, still I just feel so uncomfortable and stressed with all these feelings.
My math teacher send me an email saying there might not be a change in my recommendation for pre cal next year, for a great chance I’ll be in Pre cal R. And I don’t know the update for my AP physic placement as well.
reply to Xavier, The tops schools basically means Ives.
Another problem is I don’t know what I want to major in and future careers… it’s hard to explain cuz I think it’s because of my personality. Plus my parents were “threatening” me if I can’t do well in high school they are not going to let me go to college, instead they send me straight to work.
Don’t know if anyone is still looking at this post…I’m just really feeling down and lost of what direction should I take. If there are still people who can reply to this, I’ll be so thankful…it means a lot to me.
You are doing well and will get into college (although likely not an Ivy because most people dont get in).
Did your parents both go to T20 colleges?
No, and also my parents and I are all immigrants. They don’t really understand how school systems work here in U.S. I am usually the one who’s taking care of all the school related matters.
I think you got this! Try to work on the upward trend and attend extra help sessions if you can. Build a good relationship with your teachers and let them see that you are trying your best and that you want to improve - they’ll really appreciate it. If you really feel like you can’t keep it up, try to work on an extracurricular that you enjoy and that you can get far in (leadership, award, etc), and that might lessen some pressure because you’re doing something you enjoy. Don’t give up!! I relate to your point with the Asian immigrant household, but there have been extremely successful people who didn’t go to an Ivy. Good luck!
Start thinking and planning on non-ivy schools. There are hundreds of great options for you but you and your parents have to be realistic. Read some of the Ivy threads and look at the number of kids with perfect grades, perfect test scores and perfect ECs who got rejected. My daughter dreamed about going to Brown since she was a little girl. She has great stats and ECs but the reality was they weren’t close to what was required for an ivy. She found the perfect fit for her (Northeastern) and is beside herself with joy to be going this fall. Use your guidance counselor to help you find good matches and start preparing your parents now. Good luck