I’m currently a sophomore in high school and plan on taking the most challenging courses available at my school. Freshman year did not go well for me (Weighted GPA: 3.829 >_<) , because there was this one course that I did poorly in (which I have reasons for). I’m planning on explaining why I did badly in that class in my application essays, but I still feel like it’s going to put me at a disadvantage. I went to TJHSST (for those who don’t know: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, magnet STEM school in Alexandria, VA). I decided to transfer out of the school after a few months of sophomore year and am currently attending an IB School. My current school is definitely not the best and is not even close to having as many opportunities as TJ, but I personally felt it was unhealthy for me to stay there (not just health-wise, like my GPA would have been trash if I stayed). I think that I can get all A’s in my classes from here on out and have been doing well in my 3 AP/IB courses (IB Chemistry, IB Biology HL 1, and AP US Government and Politics). I also plan on self-studying and taking AP exams in AP Statistics, AP Computer Science, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry. My original goal was to go to Yale, because I visited the campus in middle school and have been researching the school ever since and I really really want to go. Now, because of how freshman year went, I’m scared about getting into UVA or VT (University of Virginia or Virginia Tech). I don’t know what to do for extracurricular activities to stand out either; I did debate and computer security last year but those aren’t mind-blowing. I seriously don’t know what to do. PLEASE HELP!
The only thing you can do is to make sure you get the best grades possible in your other years of high school and to participate in extracurriculars that you enjoy. Having an upward trend is favorable.