Chances at Ivies with a few B's?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a junior in high school, and unfortunately I've been used to A's most of my life, but last year, being at a new school, I slipped with two B's in chemistry and math both semesters (honors, there was no AP offered), and this year I had to go to another school, and my grades (I have 3 AP classes, 2 honors) have slipped to 4 B's, due to difficult classes and circumstances I could not control.
Weighted as of now, 4.042, unweighted: 3.83.</p>

<p>I plan to redeem myself next semester (would it still be okay to get one or two B's?) and plan to take 4 AP's senior year, as well as summer classes and before-school classes...</p>

<p>I have a good amount of extracurriculars and outside interests/activities/abilities however: </p>

<p>goalie of lacrosse team, drummer in local band that's releasing an album, compose piano and orchestra music, part of Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra for percussion, play percussion in church ensemble with adults, rigorous art student with regular commissions for graphic arts projects and logo designs, was hired to create a website for an aeronautics program, I was published in a national book in 9th grade for a huge contest, currently working on a novel, have won state and regional awards for literature and art, am heavily involved in community service, am the highest rank in Girl Scouts for a troop that has been together for 11 years, plan to achieve my Gold Award (Eagle Scout project for GS), ride horses, have been a part of the extremely competitive drumline at my school for 3 years, I plan to go to Mongolia with a high school program for 4 weeks this summer and live with nomadic people to compose a report on their culture for a potential college essay, plan to try out for the national lacrosse team this spring, gained my black belt in Tae Kwon Do, have been an editor of the school literature magazine for 2 years, have excellent standardized test scores, and have always been taking the most rigorous courses offered (AP's, honors)</p>

<p>I'm not even in the top 10 at my school--more like the top 14%, but, my school is extremely, extremely, ridiculously difficult and competitive and nationally ranked for academics: #1 or #2 in the state of Georgia, it's an absolute pressure factory and the absolutely crazy, messed-up kids who skip lunch to take classes and have 4.6 GPA's--they can't be beaten!!</p>

<p>What's my chance for top schools like Princeton, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Cornell, etc. if I have 4 B's my junior year, had 2 B's each semester sophomore year, and possibly two or so more next semester?? I'm just so busy with my life and everything that's going on that I simply can't get 100's in all my classes, obviously! I have not taken the SAT yet, but with a potentially high score on that and a fantastic college essay, what schools could I pull off? With a lacrosse scholarship or a music scholarship?</p>

<p>Also, what other info do ya'll need from me?</p>

2

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<p>There are thousands of students out there who are busy with their lives and get top GPA’s. </p>

<p>Also, the Ivies do not give athletic and merit scholarships.</p>

3

<p>Gold Award means a lot. That and decent SATs could help you some.</p>

4

<p>The extracurriculars are all great and the difficulty of the school works in your favor. Also, make sure that you include the fact that you changed schools so many times while in high school. That should help give you some leeway when it comes to decision time for the colleges. However, make sure to buckle down this semester in case one of the schools asks for your seventh semester transcripts.</p>

5

<p>Suppose you get a 2100+ in SAT, and keep steady progress in GPA, I’d say you will be admitted by at least one Ivy. Your Awards and ECs are great - remember to write good essays.</p>

<p>Chance me?<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1575443-chance-me-my-ed-ea-hyp-mit-please-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1575443-chance-me-my-ed-ea-hyp-mit-please-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>So basically it’s awful, right? It’s true that excellent colleges even accept people with lower GPA’s for their general merits, but I suppose I should lower my expectations, yes?</p>

7

<p>gawd i just laugh at the angst over a B or two. If a school doesn’t want you because of that…then trust me you don’t want them…if you have any backbone that is.</p>

8

<p>TomofBoston: True that there are thousands of kids who get straight A’s. Your point? All I know is that it takes a mix of folks to populate a school and a decent diverse life. Schools full of students that bailed on everything in order to pull straight A’s are dreary places indeed.</p>

9

<p>^WOW preach. so true. any school that quantifies you with the letter “B” is a school you don’t want.
apply to the schools you like and see what happens you never know till you try. GL</p>

10

<p>if I were an admissions counselor I’d take you any day over these robotic kids you compete with in your school. you seem to be well rounded, have fun, and are personable. heck I’d rather sit next to someone like you in a 10 hour plane ride than a boring lackluster carbon life form that priorities school over LIFE.</p>

11

<p>I’m not actually sure my unweighted GPA was higher than yours when I got into Harvard. It might have been 3.79 but I don’t remember.</p>

<p>You (and other commenters here) are probably underestimating how huge a Gold Award is for adcoms, especially combined with other strong ECs.</p>

<p>No one can say for sure whether anyone will get in or not to an Ivy-level school. But you should apply to one or two, plus some safer bets.</p>

12

<p>If you’re good enough to try out for the national lacrosse team, then you’re good enough to play for an Ivy League team. They don’t give athletic scholarships, but if they recruit you for sports you can have a much lower GPA, etc. and get in. There was a guy who went to my school who had a C+ average but still got in to Harvard because he was an amazing swimmer and they wanted him for their team.</p>

13

<p>Odds are 1:10 to start with. The Gold Award will definitely help and should come first in your list of EC’s.
For the rest, it’s totally unpredictable. You are NOT out of the running because of the B’s, but you can’t know ahead of time.
You have your dream schools. Now, focus on finding two safeties that you like and can afford. (These have to be sure things, so, nothing with selectivity rates below 30-40%; ideally those would be schools where you’re above the 25% mark for stats or qualify for the Honors College.) Then, add 3-5 match schools (your stats are near the top but not top 25% necessarily, and admission percentage is 25+)</p>