I just finished my freshman year and my GPA is a 3.1. I’m really mad at myself because the first half of the year I really slacked off and didn’t do well. The second half of the year I got honors both terms but really what is really dragging me back is latin which I finished with a 76 in and I have to take it next year to fulfill the language requirement in my school. (Without It I would have something like a 3.6 GPA). What are the chances that I can still make a school like Boston college, duke, Villanova or Amherst College and what grades/classes would I need for the rest of high school to make it happen. For extracurriculars I am on the soccer team and do robotics club. Any tips for Sophomore year would be appreciated. Thanks.
I think that the best plan is to do as well as you can, then see where you stand when it is time to apply to universities. I am reminded by Bill Belichik’s advice “do your job”. In September your job will be to be a high school student, and keep ahead of your classes and do well. To me soccer and robotics seem like good ECs, and if you like them then you should continue (some consistency in ECs is probably better than a “shotgun” approach).
If Latin is your weakest subject, another thing that you can do is to study Latin over the summer and try to catch up and get ahead. There are probably resources on-line, although to be honest it has never occurred to me to try to study Latin.
Finally, I could mention that an increasing GPA trend in high school is a good sign, so your next two years will be more important than the year that just ended. There are in fact some universities that don’t care at all about your freshman year of high school (I have heard that most of the various Universities of California are in this category, along with universities in Canada).
However, you are a long way away from needing to worry about university admissions. At this point “do your job”, which means plan to do well next year.
I might add that I think that you are in decent shape, and a 3.1 GPA for one year is not a severe problem (much worse has been reported on College Confidential). Better grades next year will put you in a better position going forward.