Hey, guys, it would be great if you would respond to this.
So, I am a freshman at high school with the first semester already over. I am in the IB program taking Intro to Engineering as one of my electives. I also take 1 AP class (AP European History.) In Quarter 1 I slacked off and got 3B’s and 4A’s, but I knew that Quarter 2 and 1 were averaged out, then put on my transcript, so I wasn’t worried. But now I am FREAKING out because now I have 2B’s in English and AP Euro and the rest are A’s. I tried so very hard to get all A’s but on my transcript, I have 2B’s with 4A’s, and my UW GPA is 3.71 and W is 4.36. MIT is my dream college, but now I am so stressed I cannot get in with the 2B’s.
You appear to have noticed that high school is more difficult than middle school. It turns out that university will be more difficult than high school, and if you can get in then MIT will be more difficult than most universities.
At this point I think that the main thing that you can do it to learn from your first few months of high school. You need to “up your effort” and find a way to get A’s. You also should try to get involved in a few activities that you like and have some fun.
Don’t worry about universities for two more years. Two years from now you will have a much better sense regarding what sort of school is a reasonable match for you. You should keep in mind however that there are hundreds of very good universities. Frankly MIT is a very good match for only a very small number of students. It is not enough to be super smart and have very high grades and test scores. You also need to have appropriate activities or “hooks” to get in, and most importantly to go to a school as academically challenging as MIT, YOU HAVE TO WANT TO DO IT. In this case “do it” includes working exceptionally hard in university.
@DadTwoGirls Thank you for your feedback. Yes, I definitely will get involved with clubs, sports, and extra circular activities. And yes I need to work even harder from now on, and I want to challenge myself even more.
Another question, will a couple of B’s like I just did ruin my chances to get into MIT?
The Bs won’t ruin your chances. Stop worrying and be productive.
I would focus your time an energy on learning how to get As in your classes… as a freshman, your grades won’t have that huge of an impact on your admission decision, but in the upcoming years it will so it is crucial that you are equipped to preform your best throughout high school.