<p>Im a Junior. I had a bad freshman year of high school but im back on track and by the end of my Junior year I should have a 3.3 or a little higher, my school doesnt weight honors classes. Only AP's, which your only allowed to take your junior/senior year and they only give you a .5 for them. I have had a big grade improvement trend. 2.75, 3.57, 3.85 so far. Im African-American, and going to be a first genereation college student(parents were born in Africa). Im in numerous honors/AP classes, with a tough schedule.
SAT's should be around 2000, with math score really high. Im an intelligent kid but I had a lot of problems my freshman year, which I will explain in my essay.
My EC's include: FBLA(Chairman/Tresurer) National Business Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Senior Math Team, Freshman Basketball (Co-Captain), JV Basketball (Co-Captain), Varsity Spring and Winter Track for 11th and 12th grade(Captain). Technology Student Association. Tutored for a little bit. I am also volunteering at my church as an assistant teaching a 1st grade sunday school class, and im also a volunteer in the church office and have been doing so since last summer.
I want to be an Investment Banker and Cornell is my dream school, might apply ED if I can. I want to major in Economics/Finance and minor in Engineering. I live in VA. What are my chances for....
Cornell, UVA, Virginia Tech, James Madison University, Fordham, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, and Pittsburgh.
Are my chances good?, How important are Freshman Grades? Thanks</p>
<p>I think you look very good for many of these schools. The only 2 I would be unsure about are BC and Cornell. Its hard to tell without your scores but your rising trend in gpa is a huge plus and you look solid all around. If you do get around a 2000 you will probably be in excellent shape for all these schools.</p>
<p>anyone else have thoughts?</p>
<p>first generation/african american will benefit you immensely by the way.... For example, I have two very close friends, whoe virtually did almost the exact same ec's, and their marks( SATS and GPA) were almost the same. However, one of them was a 3rd generation university applicant, and the other was also a first generation, african american. My african american friend was accepted and also given a huge academic scholarship. The school was Columbia btw. Go figure. and I wouldnt worry too much about freshman grades, if your going to cover your explanation for low grades in your essay, it shouldnt be too much of a problem.</p>