I need reassurance.

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking about my grades. For the past three years, my grades have been the only thing bugging me. </p>

<p>Freshman year:
English Honors: B/B
Geometry Honors: B/B
Biology Honors: B/B
Honors World History: B/A
Spanish 1: A/A-</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
English Honors: B/A
Algebra 2 Honors: B/B
AP Biology: C/A
AP European History: B/B+
Chemistry Honors: B+/A
Spanish 2: A/A</p>

<p>Junior year first semester:
Pre-Calculus Honors: B+
AP Eng Lang and Comp: A
AP US History: B
AP Physics: A
Spanish 3: A
Jazz Band: A</p>

<p>So my grades have been taking a steady upwards trend. In freshman year, I was not motivated at all. I was also throwing myself into a lot of clubs, sports, and extracurricular activities, and I did not realize that I needed to manage my time. Also, I figured that freshman year would not matter very much to colleges. I decided to change my habits by the time I hit sophomore year, however I still did not really know how to manage my time. But at least my grades have improved. </p>

<p>By the time I hit Junior year, I was able to get a lot of things managed, I learned how to stay motivated and focused and I was really expecting a 4.0. However, disappointingly, I managed two B's. Since I am pursuing an engineering major, how bad will the B's in my math classes look? I also earned a 720 in math on my SAT Reasoning, if that helps. How much would it help for me to earn a 4.0 next semester?</p>

<p>I kept telling myself that getting those two B's would be ALRIGHT, however, I still can't convince myself that it really is. For some reason, I can't help but feel that those two B's would keep me from getting into the schools I wanted to. I feel that, if I had earned a 4.0 this first semester (which ended about a week ago), universities would really see how motivated I was. But now that I ended up with two B's, even if I earned a 4.0 next semester, it still would not make up for it.</p>

<p>Really, how much of a difference would it have made if I had gotten all A's instead? Thanks, I'm just down in the dumps right now... I'd appreciate any support or funny insults.</p>

2

<p>This belongs in chances.</p>

<p>Although you’re not asking for them, it is right up the same vain.</p>

3

<p>It is entirely dependent on what schools you are looking to go to.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I wasn’t really sure where to put it. But “pre-college issues” and “high school life” sounded more appropriate.</p>

<p>Since this is an issue that I am dealing with, and unsurprisingly, yes I really am feeling pretty terrible right now, and this is part of high school life… dealing with issues like these. Learning how to put effort into classes if you want the grades or learning how to deal with it if you don’t end up with what you wanted…</p>

5

<p>I think the thing to note is that for engineering you really don’t need to go to a prestigious university. I see prestige good if you want to get a Ph.D or something. Certainly you should aim for the best engineering school you can get into. I doubt your current grades will keep you from getting in a good program.</p>

<p>Anyway, I think your upward trend is good. Are you a junior? Can’t you still get your B+ to an A?</p>

6

<p>I am still a Junior. My first semester had already ended. Those were my grades. Well say I was applying to a university. They see that I got those two B’s in the first semester, but then they also see that I raised my grades to a 4.0 the next semester. Would they think, okay that’s great, she improved!</p>

<p>Or would they think something along the lines of “I will not admit her because of those grades”</p>

<p>Even with grades like that, I’m in the mid of the top 20% of my high school, though my counselor expects me to jump to the bottom of the top 10% due to all my weighted classes this year.</p>

7

<p>It’s hard to find things on upward trend, and I really do question how long they examine transcripts at some universities. </p>

<p>I think your upward trend will help you, though. There’s really nothing you can do about it now.</p>

8

<p>Once again, it depends entirely on what said University is.</p>

9

<p>Sometimes, class rank is a better indicator than grades of the level of college-readiness a person is at. For instance, perhaps those certain classes were notoriously difficult, and you only received those Bs because getting an A was almost impossible. </p>

<p>You need to keep in mind that applications are reviewed holistically. There are numerous factors that would affect how they perceive your grades. It’s good that you’re challenging yourself with weighted courses, and the upward trend will also work in your favor. For most colleges, competent admissions officer will not dismiss a person’s application based on a single aspect of it. Obviously, with Ivies and other top-tier schools, every single little thing might make a difference, so you never really know.</p>

<p>This isn’t to downplay the importance of your grades. They still remain one of the most influential factors on your application.</p>

10

<p>Yeah. That’s right. There’s nothing I can do about it. Although I am extremely bummed, because throughout this whole semester, I had been working extremely hard. Seeing those two B’s is almost like it’s saying to me “Look, you tried your hardest and even with your hardest, you still couldn’t manage a 4.0”</p>

<p>I’ll get over this slump eventually. But thanks for the support! Just talking about it really helps, no matter how small or dumb this “problem” might seem. :P</p>

<p>I guess I’ll just have to try even HARDER next semester. I wasn’t too far off the A’s in those classes either!</p>

11

<p>Thanks a lot AeroEngineer, that really helps! My target schools are more realistic than an Ivy though, so I don’t have TOO much to worry about that!</p>

<p>I was very close to an A in math. And even though I had a B in AP US History, I still had the third highest grade out of 22 kids. I hope that gets through to adcoms somehow :P</p>