Grades/classes were poor sophomore/freshman year. Will that ruin me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>The colleges I am reaching for are MIT/Princeton, and I would really like to get into Carnegie-Mellon.</p>

<p>9th
Computer Applications - 93
English 9A(middle course) - 84
PE- 91
Geometry A - 90
Biology H - 86
US History H - 87
Spanish 2A - 81</p>

<p>10th -
English 10A - 89
PE - 88
Algebra 2H - 93
Chemistry H - 91
Global Studies H - 91
Law and Justice - 91
Spanish 3A - 88</p>

<p>Though those grades are mediocre, average at best, I decided to try my hardest this year/next year and push it to the limit. My courses are as followed -
11th
Physics H
Calc BC(skipped pre-calc by testing out of it)
Chemistry AP
Language and Composition AP
Spanish 3H
Creative Writing
PE</p>

<p>All of the AP classes I have a mid-B, and all of the honors/elective classes I have a high A. </p>

<p>Proposed classes for next year -
AP Literature
AP Statistics
AP Physics(school doesn't provide a Physics C)
AP Spanish
US Gov.H(possibly AP USH, not sure)
elective
elective
I'll also be taking an online course for linear algebra next year, assuming I get a good enough grade on my Calc BC test.</p>

<p>Will my past grades screw me over, or do I have any chance at my proposed colleges?</p>

2

<p>Realistically, not really. MIT, Princeton and CMU are all extremely competitive and from my understanding would translate to something around a 3.3 (correct me if I am wrong). When a student has low grades freshman and sophomore year and then has high grades junior year it implies laziness. Also how are your ECs? Focus on doing well and getting good test scores, though know that you will probably have to set your sights a little lower.</p>

3

<p>Right now I have around 20 hours of what I think could be considered community service, doing breast cancer fundraisers. I’m also on the chess team, mathletes, and in the school’s key club. I hope to get into NHS this year, and will get into Mu Alpha Theta next year.</p>

4

<p>Oh and I almost forgot, I’m in the school’s GIEP(gifted individual[ized?] education program) which contains approximately the top 5%(by the program’s standards) students in the school. I’m not sure how much this means to universities, but it might be something.</p>

5

<p>I don’t think you have a good chance at those top schools. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s fair at all to say your grades ‘ruined’ everything for you. Your grades were good and solid- sure, not Ivy League, but good.
You can get into plenty of great schools especially if you try even harder for the next two years. Just because a school has a brand name doesn’t mean you can’t have an even better experience at another school.</p>

6

<p>What about a college like Penn State or Drexel? I live in Pennsylvania, so the closer schools are better.</p>

7

<p>Penn state is a total match- hell, I’d even say low match depending on your ECs and recommendation letter and your SAT/ACT (what was your score?)
No matter how seriously everyone seems to take Penn State…if you the spoiled idiots from my school can get in, you absolutely can.
Drexel I’m not sure about, maybe a match? I don’t know much about it.</p>

8

<p>Drexel would probably be a safety, it is fairly easy to get into and your stats are above their averages.</p>

9

<p>I haven’t taken the SAT/ACT, but I got an 800 on the math 2 SAT II, and will take the physics SAT II next year. What would you guys think is a safe match for me? I’m willing to go out of state. Virginia Tech? Georgia Tech? Lehigh?</p>