<p>im having a very hard time trying to get a 3.7 GPA because i messed up in my Freshman year of high school. i had a 2.5 for both semesters and i now my sophmore year i was only able to get a 2.8 even though i got a 99 in world history, 96 in physical science, 93 in chorus , 85 and 78 in math. its just my math classes that im having a hard time in everything else im good at. so that 78 really held me back from getting a 3.0 . so basically what grades do i need to make this semester to try to reach a 3.5 or 3.7 GPA?? i also know that its not always about the Gpa that matters so for that reason ive joined many school clubs and done activities like the poerty club, FCCLA, reading bowl, im on the tennis team two years in a row now, and ive also made a drama club and debate team at our school since we dont have those clubs. ive done the school Fashion show and im also going to be on the AV club. so basically my question is what more can i do???and please be specific and it would be nice to get advice from someone who goes to princeton. thank you</p>
<p>if you’re having trouble in high school, idt princeton would academically be a good fit for you - you might be in over your head</p>
<p>For college applications, you need to reach your target GPA by the end of eleventh grade. That’s 6 semesters. </p>
<p>If you want a GPA of 3.7, then you need 3.7 times 6, or 22.2, grade points by the end of junior year. (I guess they’re not really grade points. They’re your semester GPAs, but this computation will still work out.) You earned 2 * 2.5, or 5, grade points in freshman year. You need another 17.2 spread out over sophomore and junior years. That, unfortunately, requires an average GPA of 17.2/4, or 4.3, per semester.</p>
<p>im not having problems in high school im just not really good at math. not everybody is good at every subject.</p>
<p>Actually, most people are good at every subject. Especially in high school.</p>
<p>You evidently don’t have strong Verbal or Logic skills, either.</p>
<p>Which leads me to ask: What, if anything, ARE you good at?</p>
<p>Not everybody is good at every subject, and not everybody is accepted to Princeton.</p>
<p>germaine: I recruit for one of Princeton’s peer schools. When I give presentations, I tell kids plainly that viable applicants are from that handful of students whom the staff and principal know are clearly, the top scholars in that given year. My implicit point is that if one isn’t in that select group, then one *isn’t *a viable candidate – given the selectivity of my alma mater which is practically a mirror of Princeton’s.</p>
<p>GPA isn’t the only criteria to admittance. But it certainly can be a cut-off and no fancy extra curriculars will gloss that over.</p>
<p>I must say that I disagree with the GPA carrying over all the years of high school. The equivalent of 1st year US high school for me was pretty average, and even in the second was not too great, mostly because I was bored and didn’t really care.</p>
<p>In the last 2 though I got my act together, and since we do not have a cumulative GPA over the 4 years, the only marks sent in were my last 2 years (which were in the top handful in the country). My point here is that at age 14-15, people stuff up and don’t really think about the future. Sadly, this can come back to bite them. I would also suggest that the marks in the first 2 years of H school are not at all important as long as the last 2 are.</p>
<p>@ OP, what T26E4 said is right.</p>
<p>Germaine, can you say what it is about Princeton that appeals to you? It really does look as if Princeton is going to be out of your reach (Princeton is out of MOST people’s reach; last year, it denied 10 applicants for every 1 it admitted.), but you may be able to use the qualities you like about Princeton to give shape to your college search.</p>