Do I still have a chance?

Ok, like, I’m freaking out cause I don’t know if I have a chance anymore at all the top schools cause my GPA is faltering to around 3.86, and all the stats I’ve looked at tell me that I need typically a 3.95 or higher and I’m kind of freaking out right now. Please give me some advice on some tips and tools hat helped you succeed n classes that you struggled with? I have one more year until college apps, but I’d like some precaution for the new year

Relax. A 3.86 is only marginally lower than a 3.95. As long as you keep doing what you were doing in previous years, you should be fine. Just stay focused on your classes and be active in the classroom. There are many people with lower GPAs than yours who have gotten into top schools (e.g. me). Dw, you’ll be fine.

Is 3.86 weighted or unweighted?

Regardless, it is sufficient to get you into a very good university. 3.86 weighted might not get you into Harvard or Stanford, but frankly even students with an unweighted 4.0 are unlikely to get into either Harvard or Stanford unless they have a rather large “hook” (such as being a great quarterback, or child of a world leader). Students with such a “hook” might very well get into these schools with a 3.86 weighted.

As such, my first advice is to relax. You will do fine with a 3.86 and will be able to find a very good school that is a great fit for you.

My second advice is to make sure that you have a realistic list of schools to apply to. You should understand that 8 or 10 years from now the students who are about to go to their in-state flagship (or #3 through #8 in California) will be working alongside students who went to MIT and Stanford, all of the above will be working for someone who went to an in-state public university, and no one will care where anyone had gone to university.

Next tip, for math classes don’t jump ahead. Always make sure that you understand the previous work that leads up to what you are studying now or what you are about to study. Also, understand why it works the way that it does and don’t just try to memorize and apply formulae. Try to keep ahead with your homework.

Next tip, for language classes try to use the language outside of school. Watch videos or movies in whatever language you are trying to learn. Find an opportunity to use the language (listening and speaking) outside of your language class.

Next tip, for English and literature classes get advice from someone other than me, because I never figured out how to do well in this area. This is what kept me from having a high school GPA even remotely close to 3.86, but it didn’t stop me from being very successful in my career.