Help. Please read, I'm begging!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi! I'm a sophomore in High School, and I've just been (personally) set straight this year.
Freshman year I was a mess. I fooled around, got tons of D's and C's, failed Alg II twice, and I didn't care. I was a goof.</p>

<p>This year, reality hit me. I realized my social life means nothing, and I want to be successful. And now, I'm sick to my stomach. Stressing if I'll get into a good college when I graduate or not, and that's what I'm here for.</p>

<p>I don't have my transcript right now, but I'll get it soon. </p>

<p>My freshman year schedule:
Biology
Algebra II
World History
English I
Freshman Seminar
Health/Physical Education
Parenting and Child Development
Can't remember my 8th class, will edit whenever I can.</p>

<p>Sophomore Schedule:
Civics & Economics
Chemistry
French I
Forensic Science
Microsoft Word & Powerpoint/Excel
Animal Science
Pre-Calculus
English II</p>

<p>Let's just say freshman year was a rough year. Bad grades, the last semister I pulled it up a bit (especially Algebra II, in order to pass I got 90s the last two quarters) </p>

<p>This year, so far, first semester was "alright". Reality didn't hit me until 2nd quarter. First quarter I got mostly Bs and Cs, maybe a few As. Second quarter, 1 A, 2 Bs, 5 Cs. The Cs being in range of 82-84.</p>

<p>I know it's hard to give me insight with so little specifics on the grades, but I plan to be a straight-A student from now on. I'm extremely bright, I was just lazy in the past. </p>

<p>Getting A's the rest of the semester, take 4-5 APs junior and senior and taking my SATs/ACTs this year and next year (I'm already prepping, I'm an excellent test taker) and beginning to volunteer, do extracurriculars and all, how are my chances to get into a good college? </p>

<p>I'm aiming to be a surgeon, so I would love to apply to UNC-CH or Duke and have a chance to get in. In state, of course. </p>

<p>Sorry for the wall of text, and sorry if there are any grammatical errors, I am typing this on my phone. </p>

<p>Stressed. So stressed. I FEEL LIKE VOMITING. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Sorry. Again.</p>

2

<p>Providing you get straight As for all of high school, then that 9th grade debacle won’t really matter. Chances? Can’t really say, I would say that you should be alright, although by no means stellar (going from Cs and no APs to 5 APs is no easy feat).</p>

3

<p>I don’t even know why you are thinking about college at this point. Be where you are. Study and get your work done.</p>

<p>You clearly have bad habits and need to work on them. You need to get some test prep, and maybe get a tutor.</p>

<p>Math is cumulative and you may need to go back and fill in the blanks where you didn’t learn the things you needed to learn in order to move forward, etc…</p>

<p>My suggestion to you is to focus on where you are now and doing the best you can do right now. If you turn out to be a good student at the end of it all, with decent test scores, you may not go to the “top” schools, but it won’t matter, long term.</p>

<p>If you must be certain you haven’t ruined your entire life at 15, which, by the way, you have not, go over to the Med school forum, where you will find that many don’t even think going to the “top” schools is the best idea anyway. There are schools of thought on this.</p>

<p>But, and I mean this with all seriousness, unless you focus on where you are right now and on the work you have to do right now, none of it will matter. The future is the consequence of what we do today. Start now.</p>

4

<p>By “failed Alg II twice” I mean quarter wise.</p>

5

<p>Wow you guys are fast! I mean, I’m stressing because two years goes by so fast, and I’ve gotten the impression if you mess up your freshman year, you are done for. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your reply. Also, I’m great at math. The reason I failed is because of my laziness. </p>

<p>Thanks again. I’ve started going after-school more often to review for quizzes, tests, and just for the class in general. I’ll look into a tutor, but I think I’ll be fine as I’m putting my mind into it and I’m having regular group study sessions now.</p>

<p>Again, thanks!</p>

6

<p>I agree fully with Poetgrl. You are lookingtowards a finish line you can’t even see,when you should be focusing on your footing and the track you are on right now. One step after the other. </p>

<p>Your freshman year grades are not going to be heavily counted. Some schools do not even look at them (Stanford, for instance) and an improving trend will definitely be in your favor. My son did not do well freshman year, got a D, didn’t make 3.0. Did a lot better but still just above a 3.0 sophomore year. By the time he hit senior year he was a 4.0 student taking difficult courses. But his average was stilll not so hot, given those early years’ grades. But he got into the schools he liked and kids with better overall GPAs without his trend were not accepted to the same colleges. Things like your test scores and the difficulty of your classes will play largely in the picture.</p>

<p>Also, ask your guidance counselor to show you what sort of transcript is sent to colleges. At my son’s school only the final year end grades are shown., not quarterly, not final exams. Exceptions being courses that end after one semester and senior year when mid year grades are requested by colleges. You want to see exactly what the colleges will be seeing. </p>

<p>Keep your focus on the “right now” and don’t count your chickens before they hatch. It’s nice to plan on straight A’s from now on, but the doing is not easy. And the best thing you can do towards that goal is to work hard and focus on your courses here and now.</p>

<p>Edited to add that my son got his D for the whole year, by the way, in Alg 2 freshman year. Got A’s in calculus senior year.</p>

7

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<p>Excellent. Just worry about that right now, then, and get some SAT or ACT (or both) prep this summer. Also, find out if you can retake any of those bad grades in summer school for a new grade. Some schools allow that.</p>

<p>Good luck. Stay focused.</p>

8

<p>@cptofthehouse Thanks!! You both definitely relieved some pressure off my chest.</p>

<p>@poetgrl I bought the SAT prep book from CollegeBoard and I’ve started looking through it. I’ve got some partners to have group study sessions, but would you not recommend me to take the SAT as a sophomore?</p>

9

<p>You can go ask that on the SAT forum. My kids took it Jr year. </p>

<p>But, the oldest only took it once and the 2nd took it twice. Some take it more than that.</p>

10

<p>I planned to take the SAT this year and next year, same with my ACT.
Thanks</p>

11

<p>You should go with whatever you are being told to do by the people around you who know these things.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>