Grades went down.. Any hope?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I really have my heart set on attending some pretty prestigious schools, but I'm not sure if I have a chance with my stats. My grades went waaay down this year. It may be a little early to think about this stuff but I need to know what to do for next year. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Male Chinese-American Sophomore from a not-so-distinguished public school</p>

<p>Summer:
Physical Science Honors - B</p>

<p>Freshman year:
Algebra 2 Accelerated - A/B
English 1 Accelerated - A-/A
Biology 1 Accelreated - A/A
PE - A/A
Journalism - A/A
French 1 - A+/A</p>

<p>Summer:
Trigonometry - B-</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
World History and Geography AP - A
Drama 1 - B
Calculus AB AP - C
Chemistry 1 - A
Journalism - A
English 1 Accelerated - A</p>

<p>By senior year I will have taken 7 AP classes, which may or may not happen because my school is notoriously short on spots in AP, Accelerated, and Honors classes. The calculus teacher has also notified us that he will open a third-year honors calculus course for students who will have finished BC AP in junior year... I will take that if I can pass AB!</p>

<p>I also took a Japanese course at a local community college as an eager high school freshman who didn't realize that college is hard! I probably will not transfer that grade...</p>

<p>GPA weighted: 3.85
GPA unweighted: 3.7
Class rank: 11 out of 500-something</p>

<p>PSAT Score: 48 Math 60 Verbal
That score was from 8th grade. I missed the opportunity to take it in the fall but I will take it next fall.
PLAN Score: didn't get them yet</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Key Club
* Helped out at 1 blood drive and led 2
* Appointed Tech Chair since freshman year
* Currently leading an afterschool literacy program at a local elementary school</p>

<ul>
<li>California Scholarship Federation</li>
<li>School newspaper

<ul>
<li>Promoted to staff writer in freshman year</li>
<li>Currently "Our World" section editor</li>
</ul></li>
<li>AP Club</li>
<li>In the planning process of chartering a Red Cross Club on campus</li>
<li>Helping a friend charter a political club on campus; hopefully will be VP</li>
</ul>

<p>Schools: McGill, Brown, NYU, Boston U, USC, Tufts
Majors I'm looking at: Political Science, International Relations, History, French Language and Literature</p>

<p>Could I possibly get into any of those schools? Also, does anyone have any other suggestions? I realize that I have a lack of safety and perhaps match schools in the list. Any advice on UC schools would also be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>McGill and BU seem possible.</p>

3

<p>That's great! Both of those schools are pretty high on my list. I'm still wondering about the UCs though... My school pushes the UC schools like crazy... almost no honor student goes anywhere else and it's almost changed from "What college are you going to?" to "Which UC are you going to?" Any suggestions about UCs or other colleges I should consider?</p>

4

<p>One "C" is not going to kill you...even at Brown it may be overlooked (but it will hurt you some there). Bring it up to a B or an A this semester & get good grades next yr & you'll be fine. =)</p>