<p>I barely got into the school of my choice which is fairly competitive (Wake Forest) and am worried I won't be able to do the work. I slacked off during Freshman and Sophomore years of high school, so my GPA isn't the greatest. How do kids whose SAT's and Grades place them near the bottom of their Freshman college class generally do? Thanks for any responses!</p>
<p>They do well, actually, because often they are most able to recognize when they could use help and ask for it, and aren't all hung up on the ego-blow of being #1 in high school and an average student in college. High school isn't a great predictor of college achievement, and while yes, some valedictorians do go on to be Rhodes scholars, so do some B+ high school students :)</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you, but if you decide not to go to Wake Forest, someone else will have to take your place at the bottom of the incoming freshman class. By definition, SOMEONE has to be at the bottom. Wake Forest could rescind acceptances for the entire bottom half of the incoming class and would end up with a new bottom half (the second quartile). Wake Forest could do it again, but there would still be a bottom half (the second 8-ile). Wake Forest could keep on doing it again and again until it ends up with just ONE freshman.</p>
<p>I'm also living proof that high school grades don't always accurately predict later grades. If that were the case, I should have graduated with a GPA of at least 4.7 at UIUC (3.7 on the 4-point scale) with my BSEE, and I shouldn't have graduated at the bottom of my graduate school class at GMU (where I earned my MSEE).</p>
<p>My brother was afraid he wouldn't get into local state U because he really struggled in public HS. He got in & worked hard & got into the honors program & graduated with honors in bachelor's in business administration, was asked to be the field marshal at graduation & went on to the law school of his choice (Boston College), where he went on write in their Law Review. He's now a very successful attorney & businessman. So, it's all up to how hard a student is willing to apply himself/herself to the challenges & take advantages of the resources & opportunities that are available. Perservance can count a LOT more than anything else in the "game of life."</p>
<p>Wake Forest picked you over several thousand other applicants. WF has very solid graduation stats, so they aren't often wrong. You can do well. You need to decide if you want the challenge and can apply yourself or if you would prefer an easier college experience. Depending on your personality, you will probably do well and learn the most in a challenging environment.</p>
<p>You can do very well. I have seen students that did not do well in hs, catch a break and get admitted into a very competitive program, and have seen them do very well. They knew what too much play would do to their gpas and were focused. One such person is an anesthesiologist today!</p>
<p>As far as the financial package, were you able to work with them so that you won't come out with as large of a financial debt?</p>
<p>If you look at the freshman retention and graduation rates of colleges like WFU, you will see that your chances of graduation are probably assured if you apply yourself and work reasonably hard. There is truth to the statement, "If we accept you, you are capable of doing the work."</p>
<p>That having been said, there is also a possibility(if not a probability) that students attending a college which was a reach during admissions will graduate in the bottom quartile of the class with a gpa which will prevent them from graduating with honors and be a serious hinderance if they intend to persue graduate or professional school studies. A student should not assume that they can avoid this by hard work alone.</p>
<p>My son had the hs credentials which made colleges like Cornell, CMU and N'western a match during admissions. For a variety of reasons he chose to apply to the likes of Case, Rensselaer and Oberlin which were solid admit matches/safeties and were solid academically too. After 3 semesters he has a gpa of about 3.7 which would allow him to graduate magna cum laude, place him near the top of his class(yes the transcript gives class/school/department rankings) and make him a competetive applicant at most graduate and professional programs.</p>
<p>I am NOT suggesting that you decline WFU's admission offer. It is a wonderful university and I am sure it would be a wonderful 4 years for you. However seriously consider your other admission offers too and make a choice which seems right to you.</p>
<p>willmingtonwave,</p>
<p>First of all congrats on being admitted to wake. Like edad already stated, you have been chosen over thousands of applicants to attend. This means that wake believes that you have the potential to come there and do well. I don't think that wake is so hard pressed for cash that they are just willing to take your money just to see you fail. </p>
<p>Ok, so you slacked off freshman and sophmore year, guess what its the past. Apparently there were some teachable moments from the experience and you learned that the path you *were on * wasn't the path you wanted to end up on. So you had a paradigm shift, changed directions and it all worked out well.</p>
<p>The greatest thing about college is that you start our with a blank slate (tableau rasa :) ). </p>
<p>You may be ahead of a lot of students in the fact that you have been on both sides (you will have some students who have never gotten anything below an "A" in their lives and may be in for some major suprises). Your experience has taught you what works for you and what does not. when you saw that you were not getting the grades you wanted and you were able to do things differently. Most importantly your experience has probably taught you resiliency as it has shown you that the way you start out does not have to be the way that you finish.</p>
<p>So as you start on your new journey remain aware of what works for you. You will know when you see your self slipping into your old habits. Keep in mind that no one gives you bonus points for suffering; take advantage of the academic skills center if you need to and don't be afraid to ask for help.</p>
<p>good luck to you</p>
<p>20% of Harvard students will graduate in the bottom quintile of their class (though they may graduate with "honors" ;)) </p>
<p>No one is going to ask you about your SATs or your high school GPA for the rest of your life. Go in thinking you are the top of your class - and you might be. (For the record, I was 125th in my high school class, and finished college - at Williams - in the top 10 - had I had the writing skills of my classmates going in, it would likely have been first or second.)</p>
<p>A colleague of mine was the Dean at a small, but strong engineering school years ago. A large number of students came off the waitlist one year and word got out that a portion of the class wasn't "good enough". You can imagine the morale at orientation. Tension rose between the two groups. </p>
<p>My friend got the wait list group in a separate room from the rest of the class and gave a pep talk. He told them that he expected them to prove that the admission committee was right to take the chance on them and to show the "nay sayers" that they were just as qualified as the rest of the class.</p>
<p>Well, that group went on to run almost every student organization on campus. President of the SGA: former WL student. Editors of the newspaper, yearbook and literary magazine: former WL students. This group hit the ground running at that school and made it their own.</p>
<p>If you got accepted, it's because someone either saw ability in you already or saw your potential. Are you going to throw this opportunity away? </p>
<p>GO FOR IT! You're going to do great!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the encouragement. I really appreciate it :)</p>