<p>Hi guys. I'm entering sophmore year this year and I'm starting to become serious about my future and college options before its too late. I know that pre- high school stuff doesn't matter at all in college applications but right now I'm trying to give you guys a picture of who I am. So in 6th,7th, and 8th grade I was a straight A student also on the football team, school band, and student council and was also a state champion in math competitions. I took Algebra 1 before high school by credit by exam and took honors geometry in 8th grade. I then entered a very tough high school and took all honors and football. Due to the extreme demands of football all throughout freshman year, my grades were the lowest they ever were and I only did one club which was the honors math club. I also didn't go to any math contests in freshman year. I think I sort of lost focus due to football and wasn't the same. My grades were just pitiful: Honors English C/A , Honors Algebra 2 A/B , Honors Biology C/C , Honors World Geo B/B , foreign lang was A/A , Theatre B/A , and Football A/A. I only took theatre because it was required for graduation. But anyway...I really want to make the next 3 years special. I'm still considering top colleges such as Harvard...etc. This year, I'm taking Honors English 2, AP World History, Honors Pre-Cal, Honors Chemistry, Honors Physics, my foreign lang, and Debate. I've decided to quit football and take up debate. (I just tried a debate competition this summer and LOVED it.) So what exactly should I do to make up for my one bad year and rebound from it to make a great college application. Is it too late for me? Thanks for the help guys.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It is NOT too late.</p></li>
<li><p>Freshman year matters the least. For some schools (Princeton & Stanford), they don’t take the grades into account (though class rank is still impacted)</p></li>
<li><p>Focus on an upward trend. Getting all As or mostly As with the occasional B from here on out will do you a lot of good. Colleges won’t put as much weight in bad grades freshman year if you have excellent grades for each subsequent year.</p></li>
<li><p>Involvement in extracurricular activities will look good. Make sure to be active, shoot for leadership roles.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t forget SAT/ACT a little later on. Oh, and a great essay will do wonders.</p></li>
<li><p>Debate is awesome. That is all.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Once again, got a D freshman year…calm yo tittays, that is all.</p>
<p>Sophomore: s-o-p-h-o-m-o-r-e. sophomore.</p>
<p>Some schools throw out the freshman year alltogether.</p>
<p>I have some things/comments though:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Football is one season sport (fall), so that could not of took up your entire year.</p></li>
<li><p>Football in middle school is in the summer, and it is not formally associated with school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’m pretty sure that’s the way it is in most places, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Football in middle school is a fall sport where I’m at. We had sports in middle schools.</p>
<p>^ </p>
<p>Is it a club or a sport?</p>
<p>thanks for the replys guys. yeah, middle school football is a fall sport. and high school football is a fall sport too. but in high school, you also have a very rigorous off-season strength and conditioning program. its so intense that sometimes it feels as if its worse than the regular season. also with football, there is also spring football in which you have practices during and after school as well as scrimmages. so basically football is almost like a year-round thing and can affect you year-round. i just tried out debate for fun this summer and loved it so i’m doing that hopefully for the next 3 years. that also counts as extracurricular too so i thought it would be a great replacement for football? also this year, i’m going to spend a lot of time doing community service as well as honors math club, spanish club, computer science club, and maybe volunteer at a hospital or something. then i’m thinking about doing like a research project over the summer? how does that all sound? so if i were to show improvement the rest of the way, along with the SAT scores and such, i still have a good chance?</p>
<p>First of all, debate is amazing. I’m my school’s captain and all (not to brag :)), and it’s far and away my favorite EC. The tournaments are great and, by the time you graduate, your closest fellow debaters will be some of your best friends if you let them. It really is an intensely gratifying experience if you take advantage of its opportunities.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Harvard is highly unlikely because of what C’s will do to your class rank. I realize that your grades will almost certainly go up now, but is it possible to remain in the top 10% of your class? If you can’t do that, forget about Harvard and other Ivy League schools and set your sights on some other great schools in the top 50 that will be happy to have you.</p>
<p>In essence… you don’t need Harvard. Or Yale. Or Princeton. What you need, above all, is to be content and at hard work doing something you love. You can do that anywhere, and at universities other than Harvard, from University of North Carolina to a liberal arts college in the Northwest. Apply there if you wish, but understand that, even if you maintain a 4.0 for the rest of high school, it’s going to be very tough to climb back into the top 10% of your class.</p>
<p>That being said, I wish you the best of luck on all your future endeavors. More important than anything: study, study, study. You need to get All A’s from here on out; get back to how it was in middle school.</p>
<p>Alright, I’m done. Best of luck to you, sir. :D</p>
<p>^^^ It’s a legit interscholastic sport. Middle school sports league. My middle school has won the championship for the past 4 years. 3/4 times they were undefeated.</p>
<p>type in paragraphs…</p>