<p>By far my 9th grade year was a disaster...I was immature transfered to a school I didn't want to attend, paid more attnention to navigating myself through the murky social wates and it was a bomb. Thankfully I got myself in gear in 10th grade, when I went back to my old school and have been on a steady incline ever since. I know everyone says that all colleges prefer to see a "comeback kid" moving up then someone who did really well and has deteriorated as they moved into their senior year. Question is how much will this 9th grade hurt me?
Is this something I should address anywhere in the common application? If so where would you put it and how in depth would you go? i am at a loss as to where and how to put it.
Anyone with solid advice, this would be most appreciated.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Ohh, we are essentially in the same boat. I guess you could say we matured in terms of education a bit late than some others, which resulted in mediocre freshmen year grades. The first 3 terms of freshmen year for me were terrible, and in the last term it was excellent, and of course, since then I've essentially had straight A's in challenging courses. </p>
<p>I've wondered if I should explain this in the additional info area, or offer some sort of explanation. I mean, essentially, I wasn't a great student in middle school (for much of the same reasons you said, social life, friends, peer pressure, and all that other immature stuff) and it carried on for part of freshmen year, and then I had an epiphany. :P</p>
<p>Colleges should see through that even if you don't specifically explain it...but if you really wanted to, you would put it in the additional info or the essay.</p>
<p>I have a similar problem, only without a "comeback." I started middle school as a below-average remedial student, and worked my way up to almost all honors classes, an AP class, and college courses over the summer. (BTW, my school uses college textbooks for honors classes. Is this weird?)</p>
<p>My counselor said that my lack of AP courses shouldn't hurt me because of how much I have strived, and how I have taken college classes over the summer. (At the local 4-year honors college. I stayed there for 3 weeks in a dorm) It really worries me though. For example, in freshman year I was in pre-Algebra, but now in my senior year, I am in Honors Calculus. (ZOOM!) At the same time, I made sure to take Physics to help me along, because I heard that was a great class to have. (Got an A, and was recommended by the teacher for AP Environment, which I of course took. You have to be recommended at my school by a teacher before you can take an AP class, unless you sign a waiver of school responsibility for your possible future performance in the class. In other words, "We're not responsible if you fail this class.") Its just that I'm worried if the colleges I am applying to will still deny me because of my lack of APs. (New College, University of Florida, University of Miami) My counselor is having me write about the reason I was so far behind by the time I entered middle school. (Trust me, there is a valid reason I'm not sharing here) I just also worry that in my essay it sounds like I am bragging about my performance, which with only a transcript looks lackluster.</p>
<p>hmmmm.... looks like it's the same situation as me....</p>