Hello! I am currently a Freshman and I was wondering how bad a 94% is. I am thinking ahead for the future, looking at top colleges such as University of Pennsylvania or MIT. I have friends who did a lot better than me (96%-99%). I was wondering if this will ruin my chances of getting into a top selective college. I thought a 94% was pretty decent, but will this prevent me from going into my dream college?
It really depends on your school and how you stand in comparison with your entire class. Don’t stress though you still have three years of high school left!
Like the previous speaker said don’t stress, just improve and you will be good to go.
I know I still have three years left to improve, but my school takes class rank, and I have 1,200 students per grade (about 5,000 students in my school in total,) and I am just worried that this will affect my class rank, since apparently class rank is a big factor in the decision making process.
A) a 94% is a good score. (B) Colleges also look at trending over time. If that can go up then you should be sitting pretty. © It’s way too early to stress. It really depends upon what your goals are and what kind of school that you want to go to. (D) Rank is just one of the things they look at. Grades, essays, recommendations, extra curricular activities, strength of classes and scores are the other big ones. There are a ton of good schools out there and you need to find the right fit. Do not automatically buy off on the great con job that is the Ivies. They’re good schools, but there are a lot of great other ones out there too and you may find one that fits you better than the Ivies. Even if you are completely qualified for the Ivies, there are too many good candidates and sometime it comes down to something that strikes their fancy or some intangible that they think you have. My eldest son was qualified for the Ivies and top tier LACs. He ended up going to one that he felt was the best fit for him and he is extremely happy with that choice. Just do your best, find things that you like to do that you are passionate about and do those as well. You will find something that you enjoy. When my eldest went into High School, his goal was to get into the Ivies. But, as he researched (and he did a lot) and talked to students from colleges, he found that he wanted someplace where the students were motivated, but by the learning and not the grade. He had the grade thing in High School and hated that. He wanted someplace where you didn’t feel automatically pitted against your friends for that class rank, and he found that. So, examine what you really want and what’s important, and go for it.
Sorry if that’s long winded, but I have changed my outlook in the last several years as well. Good luck.
A 94% is not bad for a freshman! What would look worse it starting with a 99% and dropping throughout your high school years.
Try to improve your average every year, instead of focusing on the marks. An upward trend looks really good to colleges.
You are also really young. While it is great that you are thinking ahead, you don’t have to worry too much just yet.
Thank you for your response! I found it very helpful, and it greatly enhanced my understanding of the matter.