Have I ruined my chances of going to a good college with my sophomore GPA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I used to be a music major my freshman year, getting a 4.0 both semesters in honors classes. Transitioning to my sophomore year into my school’s IB program , I got my first B in AP U.S. History after only reaching a borderline. I wasn’t really phased, but I was convinced that I could get a 4.0 next semester. One week until grades went in, my pre-calculus teacher gave us a final that I failed from a stupid mistake and ended up dropping down to a 79%. I could make a lot of excuses as to why my percentage was so low, but I know it was my fault for being so stupid. However, this is what my transcript looks like.

Freshman Year (Semester 1) -
Beginning Orchestra: A
Health: A
World Studies HH: A
French I H: A
Accelerated Algebra TEL: A
English I HH: A
Biology HH: A

Freshman Year (Semester 2) -
Beginning Orchestra: A
Physical Education: A
World Studies HH: A
French I H: A
Accelerated Algebra TEL: A
English I HH: A
Biology HH: A

Geometry (Online Summer Course): A

Sophomore Year (Semester 1) -
Driver’s Education/Swimming: A
AP U.S. History: B
Intermediate Orchestra: A
English II PDP: A
French II PDP: A
Pre-Calculus/Algebra II/Trigonometry PDP: A
Chemistry PDP: A

Sophomore Year (Semester 2) -
Physical Education: B (It most likely will go up to an A before semester grades are submitted tomorrow)
AP U.S. History: A
Intermediate Orchestra: A
English II PDP: A
French II PDP: A
Pre-Calculus/Algebra II/Trigonometry: C
Chemistry II PDP: A

Next year I’m taking -
IB Honors Calculus
IB English HL
IB 20th Century World History
IB Biology (or maybe IB Chemistry)
IB Theory of Knowledge
IB French SL
Advanced Orchestra

I don’t have many ECs from freshman and sophomore year, and the ones I do have are sort of embarrassing. I’m in my school’s trading card club and dance club. I’m want to either join a few of the clubs such as National Honor Society, Track, Math Club, Dance Club, Engineering Club, Ecology Club, and I have a few more in mind.

But the real question is, will my bad grades in sophomore year prevent me from admission to a top 30-ish college? I feel as if my personal issues weighed me down instead of my actual work ethic, but I feel a little better now so that I could prosper throughout junior and senior year. I’m either thinking of NYU, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Cornell, a few other ivy leagues, etc. I know it seems unrealistic, but I really want to challenge myself. So are my chances really ruined? What else can I do to help my college application?

2

It seems like you have good grades so far, so I don’t think that it would be impossible to get into those schools. Schools focus less on your freshman and sophomore grades, so be sure to maintain good grades during your junior and senior year. I think it’s a good idea to join more extracurriculars to help your application.

3

@claireec99 I don’t agree too much on that. I’d say the most important years are sophomore and junior with junior being the most important. But senior year? Most colleges simply look at the rigor of your classes and as long as you maintain a B average senior year you’re normally fine.

@OP When I saw your junior schedule i just muttered “holy shit…”. If you maintain good grades with that schedule you will be very well off for a top 30 school. What are your test scores like? You may want to focus on those along with your junior year classes to give yourself a good chance for admissions. Also, Ivy leagues are notorious for looking for students with EC’s that stand out so you may want to find something that balances out with your focus on solely academics. I think you could definitely get into UCLA, but Berkeley and the others really prioritize amazing EC’s in their students.