Do I still have a chance to get into an ivy league?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I know that there are many universities and colleges that are still great and maybe even as "good" as an ivy league. But, i really want to go to one... it's been a dream! I go to one of the top ten high schools in the United States and going to start my second semester of freshman year in a week. It's a charter and IB school, by the way. Anyways, my first semester of freshman year of high school, I basically screwed up BIG TIME! I was too focused on how popular i am (sounds conceited i know) and my friends, basically my social life. Man, i'm really ****ed at myself as in reality i'm really smart. </p>

<p>My grades:</p>

<p>AP US History C
Biology Honors C
English 9 Honors B +
Adv. Geometry Honors D + (im going to retake the class in an online program in the summer)
Fine Arts Connections A
P.E. A
French II C</p>

<p>Community service hours logged: 32 </p>

<p>I basically want to go and shoot myself. But, I'm a positive person and I really think I still have chance. What do you think?</p>

<p>I mean I will get a 4.0 GPA every SEMESTER! I have to, to make up for my mistakes. Plus, it is mandatory in my school to take all honors classes and APUSH in 9th, AP Lang and AP World in 10th. I'm most likely going to graduate with an IB diploma. So, I will have many college credits from AP and IB classes. I will study really hard to get great scores in the ACT and SAT. I actually took the SAT in 7th grade (as part of a talent search) and received a 1500. The ACT in 8th grade and received a 23. As you can see, I will probably get good scores when i take it in 11th based on my past scores. Also, I really have a passion for helping others and am a great friend with a local librarian (whom i aid the summer). Thus, I will be logging in a ton of community service. In my summers, I will also do language immersion or study abroad programs. </p>

<p>My extracurricular activites:
three clubs at school: student council, global volunteers, and conservation club
taking piano lessons since 1st grade
track (i will be on the track team from 9th - 12th grade)
yoga
a little dance
art lessons </p>

<p>My hobbies and interests:
fashion journalism, photography, reading</p>

<p>My future career interests:
??? No idea... but I do have a slight interest medicine (my love of saving others) and maybe law </p>

<p>Additional details:
I'm female
I'm Asian (Indian to be specific)
Money is not an issue</p>

2

<p>You definitely still have a chance, but it maybe a little bit harder, especially considering the fact that you don’t appear to really have a huge hook to get into one of those schools. Plus, a 23 in 7th grade through the talent searches isn’t really that remarkable. I didn’t even receive the top awards through northwestern’s talent search when I got a 29 in 7th grade. There’s no doubt you have a chance to go to an Ivy League still, but you’re going to have to work pretty hard.</p>

3

<p>unfortunately, the reality is that no, you do not have a very good chance of going to an ivy league. sorry to burst your bubble, but to be honest, ivy league students have PERFECT records and they do not accept any mistakes. you have potential to do well, so just try your hardest and try not to let your past affect your future, because you could still go to a good school, just not an ivy. good luck!</p>

4

<p>You are an ORM with not one A for the semester (you have to remember that schools will recalculate your GPA without electives). So if we are being honest, unless you have an amazing excuse, your chances are far from good at this point. This will lower both your cumulative GPA and class rank and only have three semesters to up your cumulative (remember the GPA you submit to college only goes through second semester junior year).
I don’t mean to he harsh, but you have no aspect that is where it should be (there is no guarantee that your test scores will be what the need to be, I am assuming your GPA and class rank are low and your ECs are extremely average and you are lacking community service and leadership).
So while you probably won’t get into an ivy you need to remember that there are tons of other great schools out there…</p>

5

<p>Long story short, you need f***ing amazing ECs or awards.</p>

<p>Here I am worrying about my 3.8whatever…</p>

6

<p>I would agree with artsy girl, the only way it’s happening is if you work some magic and are the model applicant for the rest of your high school career.</p>

7

<p>What other schools could i get in? Do i have a chance at Vanderbilt, UCs, Emory, Northwestern… etc.?</p>

8

<p>Those too are looking pretty low. The UCs disregard freshman year, but the others look at it. I doubt vandy, emory, or nothwestern take many kids who get ANY Cs in high school, let alone Ds. You will just have to get used to lower expectations.</p>

9

<p>Are any of these semester classes, or all year-long? How much can you bring them up by the end of the year? You could potentially pull the English grade up to an A, but there’s not way to bring the others all the way up - if you do A+ work second semester, you might end up with a B in History and Biology, and maybe B- in Geometry, which would at least salvage your transcript, but that’s going to require significant effort an a bit of luck. Did yo at least understand what you were learning?</p>

10

<p>I think there’s always a chance, if you work really hard and maybe write about how you overcame the things that held you back freshmen first semester. If there were ever a semester that colleges disregard, I would assume its the very first months of your highschool career, many freshmen make similar mistakes.
Some schools dont take much stock in freshmen year. I don’t think carnegie mellon does and thats a great school and well respected
finally, perhaps the stupidist thing you’ve done is set your expectations on an ivie (versus messing up a little first term), ivy league schools are great but they don’t guarantee some sort of extremely luctrative career etc. you dont need to think about it as lowering your standards, simply re-defining what’s important to you in a college. What about the campus life, if you’ve been so focused on your friends, you certainly seem like the kind of person to care about the other people at your college. I’m not saying these are easier but in the opinion of most people veiw colleges like Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WashU, Standford equally with the ivies. don’t get cuaght up in names.
other cc people, I don’t post a lot, don’t be to critical of what i’ve said, I just wanted to give my general opinion on the topic!</p>

11

<p>If you apply to a school that doesn’t consider freshman year and seriously work harder, like any UC, Carnegie Mellon, McGill, then you have a chance even if your grades aren’t as good. Look at other great schools that view applications more holistically as well, that is if your grades improve. Always remember that you don’t need to go to an Ivy to succeed, and you still need to work hard to succeed if you go to an Ivy. Best of luck!</p>

12

<p>Too much pessimism. </p>

<p>Quite a few colleges do not look at freshman year grades. Princeton and Carnegie Mellon come to mind. However, if Princeton does not look at fresh year grades, I’m sure there are other ivys that do not. Easier said than done getting all 4.0s after a terrible freshman year (I’m smart and I told myself that too, got 1550/1600 on SAT, but that won’t help much). Even if you are smart, lagging behind will make things much much much harder.</p>

<p>Tips:
1)Apply to Ivys that do not look at fresh year. eg. Princeton.
2)Get straight A’s, much easier said than done, study and work during weekends and summer. I don’t believe that you can get straight A’s and turn things around. It is not easy at all, almost impossible when you start badly.
3)Be remarkable at an extracurricular. Library community service does not count, I have that too. Help soup kitches and autism camps…
4)I did my SATs latest possible (senior) because I procrastinated. Don’t do the same, I’m lucky to get my score. Start prep ASAP. Also include SAT IIs.
5)Hope for luck, with all these things you might have a chance, but many people with great ECs, GPA, and SAT still get rejected.</p>

13

<p>Princeton is the only ivy league. Also, his ECs look pretty bad right now. Not a good way to show the passion unhooked applicants need.</p>

14

<p>Ah, I didn’t know Princeton was the only one. Anywho, still plenty of time to boost ECs at fresh year. Won’t be easy cause its not like you can turn into a champion athlete or musician in a year.</p>

<p>I’d focus on UNIQUE community service on the grandiose scale like raise 100k, hosts charity runs, decathalons, music activities, ect…Make sure the charity is to something worthwhile. I think that would be good enough. Keep in mind OP is apparently rich so might have money to do some of these things.</p>

<p>Would not assume a 1500 SAT in 7th grade will translate to a high score in 11th. My grammar and writing probably got worse from 7th grade to 11th grade haha (scored 510 writing first time, managed a 200 pt increase though but still lowest score).</p>

<p>And as I said, 4.0 GPA is hard. I told myself I would do the same (ended up with 3.16, same as fresh year). Managed to increase it every year after, but it is not a sudden transition from Cs and Ds to As.
Effort and results are not linear. D to C= little more effort. C to B= Signficantly more. B to A= 2x more.</p>