<p>I will never graduate with a 4.0 UW because of the first semester of this year (freshman). I realized what I wanted to do with the rest of my life near the end of the first semester and I started researching college at the same time. By that I don't mean I actually started working hard at that time, I have always worked hard every moment of my life while in school. My first semester averages are as follows: Pre-AP Geometry - 78, Tennis - 99, German II - 98, Orchestra - 98, Pre-AP Eng I - 88, Pre-AP World Geography - 91, Pre-AP Biology - 93, Health - 94. Low grades in the first semester of PAP Geometry are common, according to the teacher, although there are the people that have been in Math competitions since elementary school who made wonderful grades in the first semester. The difference in the first six weeks of 2nd semester - 96 in geometry, 100 in tennis, 99 in German II, 90 in English I, 92 in World Geography, 97 in Biology, and 97 in Speech. I feel extremely horrible about my first semester. I feel that I am not going to get into any high-ranked university that is on my long list because of my failure. My sister tells me that I am never going to get into any of those schools, I am going to go to the nearest public university just like she is. All of my dreams of getting away from here and going to a top university are crushed because of my extremely horrible grades in the first semester. I wish I could retake all of the classes I didn't get an A in, but they only let people who failed do that. This is going to bother me for the rest of my life. Because of 1 semester, I have permanently ruined my chance to succeed.</p>
<p>u dont need a 4.0 to get into any college (including Harvard)</p>
<p>Most colleges put very little weight on freshman year grades… especially if your grades improve in sophomore and junior years.</p>
<p>You don’t need a 4.0 to get into a good college, including the very top colleges in the country. In addition, some colleges don’t consider freshmen grades at all.</p>
<p>this better be a joke. If it is a joke, it is a cliche and distasteful one. If it isn’t, you and your family have some serious misconceptions.</p>
<p>It is not a joke. I keep feeling like I could have done something. If I had known everything about the GPA system before I started high school and if I could have assessed my goals before high school, then at first sign of trouble I would have gotten a million tutors and literally devoted 100% of my time to schoolwork in order to get A’s.</p>
<p>That’s… not a good thing. Someone has given you the impression that in order to be successful, you must go to the absolutely top colleges. And that just isn’t the case.</p>
<p>@amarkov: To me, success is going where I truly want to go for college. I have given myself the impression. Another person is not telling me I have to go to a top college, I am. I don’t want to go to the school a few miles away with an 80% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>You can still go to a good school without going to HYPSM (or the nearby state school) or getting a 4.0. Get a grip and relax.</p>
<p>OMG! a 89.5 in Geometry and English, what ever shall I do? Get a grip kid.</p>
<p>While I smell a ■■■■■, I suspect you’d be better off mellowing out and learning about yourself than stressing about applications, because 4 years at 14 years old is a lot longer than it sounds. You’ll burn out if you don’t find a place to dig your heels in and stop tearing out your hair.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you speak the truth.</p>
<p>I once knew a kid - He was seriously one of the brightest people that I had ever met. He was in AP Calculus BC as a freshman. He played at local piano concerts. He got a 2300 on his SAT in the seventh grade. His IQ was over 180. He was a track All-Star, an Eagle Scout, and was likely one of the most hard-working and motivated people in the whole country. But in his first semester of ninth grade, he got a little cocky. He finished with a C+ - the same thing you just got - in Honors World History.</p>
<p>That C+ completely changed people’s perception of him. He began to lose confidence in himself. He dropped out of high school and became addicted to heroin.</p>
<p>Today, he’s living on the streets of Las Vegas somewhere, begging for money, all because of one C+.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s not any less of a ridiculous delusion because you convinced yourself of it. If you go through life believing that you have to be the best, you are going to live a very sad life.</p>
<p>It is not about being the best, it is about going to college where I want to go to college. There are going to be thousands of applicants with 4.0 GPAs applying to everywhere that I want to go. To the admissions officers, I am not on the same level as them. After they get in, then come the people with the next highest GPAs, taking whatever spots are left. Ultimately, grades are the biggest factor when applying, not the essays.</p>
<p>How in the world do you plan to live with that mindset? Are you going to be depressed all through college because you might not get a 6 figure job right out of school? Are you going to be depressed all through your working life because you might not be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company?</p>
<p>Your problem is that you have ridiculously high standards, and you think that your life is ruined if you do not meet them. If you don’t want to fix that problem, fine. But I’m going to make fun of you then, not help you.</p>
<p>I smell a ■■■■■ too, but I’m bored anyways.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, grades are the biggest factor when applying, not the essays.”</p>
<p>You would be seriously screwed if GPA was the predominant factor that affects decisions, but that is not the case.</p>
<p>What about your standardized test scores? Your ECs? Outstanding character or talents? Letters of Recommendation? Outside awards and recognitions? There are things other than your transcript that can impress the admissions officer, and they are as important as, if not more important than, your GPA. </p>
<p>You’re only a freshman. There are more than enough opportunities to make that up. In fact, showing improvement in grades are also considered impressive to the admissions officers, so learn from your mistakes your first semester and keep your grades up this semester and beyond. </p>
<p>One more thing. For most “top colleges” essays can definitely make a difference. Some people even pay to get their essays edited and take classes on how to write good essays (although I don’t really recommend it unless you suck at writing).</p>
<p>Top colleges turn down many, many valedictorians. While having an unweighted 4.0 is nice, it is not necessary to attend an excellent university, including America’s top universities. Students with lower GPA’s may be admitted ahead of students with higher GPA’s from the same hs when the student with the lower GPA has an application that reflects something that the university finds desirable. </p>
<p>Also, there are many, many universities in between Harvard and the college down the street with an 80% acceptance rate (where many students may still be receiving an excellent education and qualifying for Ivy grad school admission.) These universities are filled with very intelligent students with a range of grades, talents, abilities and interests.</p>
<p>Here is the thing: There is truly nothing you can do – including receiving an unweighted 4.0 – short of curing cancer that will guarantee you a spot at the kind of university I think you’re talking about. And seriously, a student who is completely grade-focused and ready to hire a dozen tutors and spend 22 hours a day doing nothing but study is probably less likely to secure a spot there than a student who is leading a more normal life, engaging in activities he likes (or even loves) and is good at, has interests outside of school, and has a life with a couple of B pluses in it. </p>
<p>While in some places, university admissions is determined entirely by statistics and perhaps a university entrance examination, that is simply not the case here. In places where stats and exam results are the be all and end all in university admissions, perhaps it makes sense for a fourteen year old to tell himself that if he studies every moment and attains certain statistics, he can guarantee at least the next segment of his future and predict where he will end up at university. But here, it does not make sense. And it seems to me that beyond not guaranteeing the end you seek, having that kind of narrow, grade-oriented focus makes for a very unhappy and unpleasant life – ironically not at all the kind of life that propels a person toward the goal you seek.</p>
<p>What do you like to do? Do you play a musical instrument? Do you write for the school newspaper? Do you take pictures? Do you want to learn to make interactive video games? Do you volunteer to help elderly people in your community or at a food bank? Do you like politics? Do you enjoy the chess club or the German club? Do you tap dance? Are you hoping your biology class will help prepare you to work in a science lab over the summer? Do you have a fantasy stock portfolio and follow the market? Do you love comic books so much that you blog about them? Are you in Boy Scouts?</p>
<p>If you are not pursuing activities you enjoy and finding out about your interests, talents, potential for leadership, creativity, and compassion you have, IMHO, TEMPORARILY “ruined your chance to succeed” as a happy, well-balanced, and engaged person. I truly hope this is a ■■■■■, but if not, please go volunteer to do tech for the school play and have a good time and know that that will probably be more helpful to you at this point than beating yourself up over a couple of B’s in 9th grade.</p>
<p>No, a C is not going to doom you to state school (not that state school is so bad anyway). It really isn’t. I got a C (a 78, same as you) my first year of high school–a C and three B’s, which by your standards probably dooms me to community college or something. I did just fine in the college rat race, as did a whole lot of other kids with similarly shaky freshman years. There is a kid in my class who received a C in sophomore year, which is probably worse. So far he’s got a likely from Columbia, as well as being in line for full rides at Emory, GT–oh noes, state school!–and UVA. Screwed he is not. If you are a compelling candidate, one blip in your record, especially when it comes from freshman year, is not going to deter a school that wants you.</p>
<p>I think your real problem is that you are grade-obsessed and name-obsessed, which colleges never like to see. Yes, try not to get any more C’s, yes, seek help if you need it, but more importantly–go outside. Have a life! Enjoy yourself. Geez.</p>