<p>Hey guys, I am a junior and I really want to go to Johns Hopkins and participate in the Neuroscience program there. I know they are extremely selective (although it helps that I don't want to go to BME?) and I wanted to know if, after my bad freshman year, I still had a chance.</p>
<p>Freshman Year:
Class - S1/S2
Honors World Literature - A/A
Honors Biology - A/A
Honors Integ. Math 2 - A-/A
Honors Spanish 9 - A-/A
Honors World Studies - A/A
Business Technology - A Semester 1 class only
Marketing Concepts - A- Semester 1 class only
Service Class - A Semester 1 class only<br>
Foods and Nutrition - B+ Semester 2 class only
Honors Economics - A- Semester 2 class only
Spanish Language Culture - A Semester 2 class only</p>
<p>Are my grades bad? No. I am showing a severe upward trend as well. I really am not the type who posts grades on sites like this to get attention and feed my ego. I do however constantly see "template applicants" who have amazing everything and I want to know if I still have a chance at my dream school. </p>
<p>I have done a lot of EC's and by the time I graduate I will have:</p>
<p>-200+ hours volunteering at local hospital (Patient Care/ICU)
-Board member/Event Coordinator of a Non-profit which raises thousands a year for cancer
-Fours summers working at a Medical Supplies Company
-Classes at my local University in Psychology and Biology
-Internship at a Pharmaceutical Company
- And a lot of school clubs, etc.</p>
<p>ACT and SAT pending but I feel like 32/2200?</p>
<p>Ok I’m completely ignoring your projected ECS and Test Scores. That is crazy to think you can predict any of that.</p>
<p>However, your “bad” freshman year? It’s not that bad at all… I mean it’s not fantastic either, but to call it bad is dumb. Also, a “severe” upward trend also is ridiculous. You havn’t started soph. year, so how do you know you have a severe upward trend?
Based on the tiny amount of info you do still have a chance. But, STOP worrying about your chances to top universities now. At least for the next year, maybe the next year and a half, you should NOT be focusing on specific colleges. Don’t become set on one college your freshman year, it is very premature. It’s too early to even know that neuroscience is what you will enjoy and be good at. If you plan on taking it right now because your parents are involved in it, or you think it’s prestigious/will make you rich, those are NOT very good reasons. My advice to you is, take in high school and enjoy it. Take very hard classes, work hard to get really involved in a couple EC’s and gain passion and leadership in them. Have good relationships with your teachers. Try your hardest at school to get A’s, but if you get a few A-'s or B+'s DONT freak out, it’s okay. Take a bunch of science classes, AND other classes to see if you really want to/should major in science. If you do all of this, when junior/senior year rolls around you will find yourself having a good chance at JHU and most other places you wish to attend. Good Luck, and enjoy high school.</p>
<p>Hey thanks a lot for the advice! I think I might have given the wrong impression though. I am a junior, and have completed the vast majority of those EC’s with the exception of one. Which I have lined up for this summer. My junior schedule had IB Biology, IB Physics, and IB Chemistry, and I am on the Science Olympiad team. I definitely know that I want to go in to science and the neuro/cognitive field is EXTREMELY interesting to me. </p>
<p>I have really good relationships with my teachers and have many leadership roles in my school with clubs and other things (which I plan on talking about). I basically just wanted to know if my comparatively low freshman GPA would hurt me irrevocably when it comes to my acceptance into the higher tier universities (JHU).</p>
<p>But again, thanks a lot for the advice!</p>
<p>Ohhhhhhhhhh HAHA i feel dumb. I thought you were a rising soph. Sorry about that, but no that won’t hurt you, freshman year matters the least and yours wasn’t even that bad.</p>
<p>I also think neuroscience is cool. Schools overall pay much attention to freshman grades. Overall I think you have an excellent chance of getting in. If I were you I would get a recommendation from a doctor or scientist that you know, because it would be a major plus.</p>
<p>Thanks! I have good relationships with the counselor/principle/vice/physics/chem/bio and stuff. But your right, when i intern I think I am going to try and get a scientist rec. I have a doctor one from volunteering.</p>
<p>Wait, I meant they dont pay attention to freshman grades</p>