<p>So the last few months have been a great worry for me, carrying the weight of a terrible 3.1 gpa for freshman year, tainting my transcript. For semester 1 of sophomore, I have raised it to a higher gpa, 3.82. I have been taking the hardest courses my school has to offer the last two years. I transferred from a private school to a public in middle of semester 1 (both are top schools that are ranked nationally) and I KNOW I will perform way better, now that I know how public school works. My ultimate goal is to get into you know...Stanford, Princeton, Wharton but was wondering if I can work to a consistent 4.0 from now on, will that equal my chances to kids who got 4.0 whole high school time. (I also am nationally ranked in tennis but don't have any leadership opportunities yet). What should I do???</p>
<p>Fisrt of all, RELAX.</p>
<p>It is really important to keep some perspective. Despite more than 40k applicatinos, Stanford only admits a little over 2000 students every year. Not everyone who wants in can have a seat at an elite school. </p>
<p>There are more than a hundred millions ‘successful’ adults in the US that didn’t attend an elite school. There is more than one path to prosperity - really. </p>
<p>A 3.1 as a freshman isn’t terrible. In fact, many top schools (UCB and UCLA for example) exclude 9th grade from your GPA altogether. </p>
<p>Just do your best, work hard and enjoy high school. If you can keep your 10-11 GPA above 3.8, do well on your SAT/ACT and continue with tennis, you’ll have PLENTY of very good options for college.</p>
<p>Even if your GPA falls back into the 3.2 range, there are still plenty of good schools that will take you.</p>
<p>One thought on leadership/ECs, I’m sure your local tennis club or park and rec district has ‘intro to tennis’ classes for little kids that you could assist or lead.</p>
<p>Thank’s a ton for the tips and I’ll take them into strong consideration.</p>