I haven’t been doing well in the first semester of high school.
I’m taking Honors Alg 2, Honors Eng, Honors Chem, AP World History, Computer Programming, and Latin 1. In my core classes, 2 of my grades are at a B, and the other 2 are at a borderline A.
This brings my weighted GPA to a 4.29 (counting PE) and my unweighted at a 3.71. It doesn’t seem that bad but since 2 of my classes are about to drop to a B, I’m a little nervous.
I’m going to bring my grades up second semester, but meanwhile, how much of an impact does Freshman grades have on the rest of high school and will it greatly affect my college admissions? I’m hoping to apply to top tier schools like Northwestern or Johns Hopkins and right now my grades are bringing down my confidence.
That’s a pretty rigorous course load. Maybe back off a bit next year if you continue to ‘struggle’ (but you’re doing quite well, so don’t sell yourself short). It’s hard to say what all schools do about freshman grades, and it’s even harder to say what they’ll be doing about them in three years. Don’t worry about that. Just do the best you can, have some fun, and find a passion. Don’t read CC now. Come back in a year or so and tell us your updates. Good luck!
Yeah. Too early to worry. Take courses you enjoy and that challenge you, do as well as you can in them, engage fully in activities you enjoy and be prepared to adjust your sights as your HS years evolve. Getting into a “top tier” school is NOT the most important thing. Learning and growing is. If learning and growing is going to happen for you in a top tier school, well yay, but it’s not worth tying yourself in knots to get there. Too many stories of kids doing that, and then burning out. (Been there, done that.)
If you are capable of getting into a top school, Freshman year is not too early to start developing the academic skills that will serve you well into college and your adult life.
Many students have trouble when they transition schools, so see if you can improve your study habits. AP world is one of the highest workload classes and difficult for most students to manage.
You are a good student and you will get into a good college that is suited to you. Try to relax and enjoy high school and develop your particular interests. It’s not worth worrying for years about whether you will attend a particular college. It’s really not.
JustOneDad is right about developing those study skills. Check out Cal Newport’s Study Hacks for advice there.
And yes, schools realize that some students need some time to transition to high school, so grades that are a bit lower in 9th grade aren’t fatal - that’s why everyone at a top tier school isn’t a 4.0. There are many extraordinary students who just needed a little more time to get traction.
That said, there is no reason to tie yourself in a pretzel to get into a highly selective school. We are very lucky in the US that there are so many excellent schools and many very good ones. It’s really not about the school, but rather what you bring to the party. Superstars show up everywhere - you see a lot of them at the honors programs in State Us. My N got into JHU, Cornell, Wash U - and decided that the kids in the honors program at our local State U were just as smart, motivated and interesting, the depts in his area of interest were top-rated, and he saved enough money to cover his future graduate school and then some.
So, enjoy high school, experiment, find what you care about and don’t think again about college until the middle of your junior year. You will have changed so much by then that you won’t recognize yourself.
Since you are clearly a smart kid, use some of those smarts to figure out for yourself whether this is really what a person needs to succeed. Find out where your local business owners, doctors, teachers, and lawyers did their undergraduate studies. You may be surprised. Here is a list of where the U.S. Congress reps went to college:
Make the most of HS, which should be an experience in itself and not just a launching pad into some brass ring college. If you go to a state school or an LAC that many have never heard of, you will be just fine.
Breathe. You are a first semester freshman. Please, live your life as best you can and worry about picking colleges later. As a freshman you should be 1) doing as well as you can in the most rigorous course-load that makes sense for you 2) finding friends and enjoying time together 3) seeking out ECs that interest/excite you. If you can accomplish those three things, you will be fine.
And if it makes you feel better, both of my kids improved their GPAs a good bit after freshman year (both in HS and college) – give yourself a chance to adjust to a new level of work & expectations.