Hey guys, I am a highschool freshman right now and I am already starting to worry about college. I will end the semester with about a 3.5 to 3.6 gpa. I know that’s horrible but it’s mainly due to the fact of being a student athlete. I was on the soccer team this year as well as other ec’s such as member if ambassadors club, and fccla. I really want to get into an Ivy League school preferably UPenn, Yale or Harvard. I want to know what I can do from here on out in my highschool career to better my chances at these amazing schools. Thanks in advance!
Girl (or boy), I’mma tell you a secret: doing what you love is more important that the school you end up going to. You’re a freshman—you have three years ahead of you and, speaking as a senior, there is so much that I wish I could go back and do over again … but none of my regrets are “well, damn, I wish I had spent 500 more hours cramming for the SAT.” In fact, they’re more like “well, damn, I wish I had gone to a capella more often instead of cramming for meaningless standardized tests.” Do what you love; love what you do; remember that grades do not define who you are; remember that not going to a “top ivy” does not mark you as a failure; remember your friends; remember that these are the last four years of your childhood; remember that you are only human, and, though the education system does their best to make you a cog in a machine, remember that you are more.
Don’t worry about college, you’re a freshman. Worry about trying clubs you like, worry about exploring new subjects, worry about using all the resources your school has to offer to their greatest extent … but don’t do it “to get into college.” Even the so-called “perfect applicant” will be rejected from colleges, so there’s no use trying to waste your life moulding yourself into some sleep-deprived, miserable, myopic shell of a student whose only goal is getting into Harvard, or Yale, or UPenn. There is more to the world than college. There is more to the world than your GPA.
But don’t take my word for it. Get yourself off of this website for a few years so you can find out for yourself. 
Go to the college fairs at your HS or any other events in your area where reps from selective colleges are presenting. Ask them this simple question
I expect the response will be an eye-opener.
Worry will get you nowhere, especially not the schools you mention. Obsessing about this will be counterproductive. Follow @mytosies advice.
I’m a senior now and I just got into my first choice college, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, on a $20,000 scholarship.
When I was a freshman, I really wanted to get into UPenn’s Nursing or Dental School. However, as high school flew by, I changed my mind. I knew that UPenn had a really low acceptance rate and I found an interest in Physical Therapy (so I started volunteering at a local hospital and an outpatient facility). I was so focused on my grades that I didn’t get to enjoy time in extracurricular activities or with friends. While I got a 32 on my ACT (well above my horrific 1760/1160 SAT score), I regret not spending more time with friends and having fun outside of school.
High school isn’t about getting a 36 on the ACT, a 2400 (soon to be 1600) on the SAT, or getting a perfect GPA. It’s all about the friends and clubs.
If you are really focused on getting into good schools, buy a Barron’s or a Princeton Review book for the ACT or SAT (whichever one you think will suit you best) in your sophomore year and study it. Also, consider taking subject tests because some schools require that you take a specific subject test before you apply.
For now, don’t worry about college applications because you’re three years away from applying. Instead, enjoy high school while you can. Don’t stress yourself out over grades and test prep.
Hope this helps and good luck with high school!
You’re only a freshman! Have fun, enjoy high school, spend time with your friends. A 3.5 GPA is a really nice GPA. Will it get you into Ivies? No. But there’s so much more to life than getting into an Ivy League school. Your GPA, if you keep that up, will get you into a nice school. Don’t obsess over something like this, it won’t do you any favors.
The best advice I can give you is keep your grades up, and enjoy high school. You only get four years.
As to your question about being a student athlete, unless you are a recruited athlete in your sport, your sport is just an EC like any other (orchestra, clubs, hobbies, volunteer work). So no, you will not be cut any slack on your grades because of your sport. You will get some slack because you are a freshman and schools realize that it can take a year to adjust to the new priorities in high school.
So, grades come before ECs (including sports). If your grades are suffering because you have too many ECs, I’d recommend ditching the ECs that aren’t important to you. You need only 2-3 at most and sports can be very time-consuming and exhausting.
But remember as well that while grades are the most important factor in college admissions, being a whole person is the most important thing for life. Spend the next 4 years keeping your grades on track, but make time to explore your interests outside of class. If that means you don’t have a 4.0, well that’s fine. Lots of kids get admitted to top schools with less than a 4.0. And lots of students with 3.5s who did sports and other ECs end up being interesting people with rewarding lives including those who didn’t go to selective colleges. College isn’t the end game here.
I agree with the responses above but will add that you need an honest reality check. In no world is a 3.5 or 3.6 “horrible” and saying things like that make you sound ridiculous. Go look at the common data sets for the Ivy schools and check the stats for the admitted students and then remind yourself that even if you have stats in this range, your chances for admittance are in the 5%-10% range.
Secondly, examine your reasons for aspiring only to schools in one particular athletic conference. I suspect your reasons center around prestige and name recognition and that you do not realize that these schools are not an automatic ticket to the “good life” (whatever you think that may be) and that there are many, many excellent schools for a good student.
Focus on high school and figuring out what you want from life, not name-brand colleges. The more you know about the real world, the less you will obsess about a very few famous schools.