I’ve been told through school that you are trying to work up to Ivy League colleges and top schools. I’m a freshman now, and obviously I know that’s not true, but I still have an ambition in me that wants to work for an Ivy League college. As I said, I’m a freshman and although I shouldn’t really be worrying about my future as of now, I have been worrying lately. I’ll just cut to the chase, I’m struggling at school, I have no honors classes. It’s the second semester right now, and I plan greatly improve. On the non academic side of things, I think I’ve got it covered as I play competitive soccer, competitive guitar, and I am in science Olympiad and robotics. I’ve seen stories on people going from zero to hero, in this case an Ivy League school, but I don’t know if it will be me. What does it take?
No honors freshman year might be okay PROVIDED it is part of an upwards trend in both rigor of classes and in grades.
Here’s where it gets touchy… You admitted you “slacked off major time”. How bad is “major time”? If you do very poorly, it is unlikely your school will allow you into honors level classes until you spend more time proving you can handle the on-track classes. Also, not all schools offer honors classes in the summer (ours doesn’t). Do you have the work ethic and time management skills necessary to go from doing one hour of homework a night (or less) to four?
Realistically, very few applicants have a good chance at the ivy league. Kids who took four years of honors classes and got perfect grades are turned down all the time. Becoming the top athlete or musician in your state, improves your odds a bit. Exceptional extra curricular activities can catch the attention of admissions officers, but you will need the transcript, test scores, and “zing” to match.
The good news is that you can stop stressing about your future. There are over 2,500 four-year colleges out there, and a lot of them are really, really good. Some are better than the ivies for certain fields of study. When the time comes, work on finding and applying to those that are academic, social, and financial fits for you. Those factors are going to have more impact on your happiness and success than whatever college’s name is on the diploma.
Do not put your focus on Ivy League schools. With acceptance rates well under 10% they are reaches for any student (even ones with perfect grades, standardized test scores etc.)
As a freshman you should be focused on the following:
–Working hard, taking school seriously, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Getting involved in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes (junior year) asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. You will need to expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
These situations almost always turn out badly, and I think I know why. When it’s only with the promise of outlandish rewards that people can motivate themselves to do something then when the realization dawns it isn’t going to happen then the drive falters. Like, say, the middle of next semester when you’re not the top student in your HS. Even for that kid Ivy dreams are very far from a sure thing, and you’re not going to be that kid.
I see an analogy to the people looking for the get-rich quick scheme to make a killing by day trading or bitcoin or whatever rather than plodding along at a routine job with advancement measured slowly in years. Somehow they never hold a job very long but it’s always someone else’s fault. If you had goals like become eligible for State and then see if you can go farther then you might actually achieve them, but “zero to hero” dreams usually end up crashing.
That’s great, but also empty. Vague plans like “study harder” don’t mean much. What, specifically, are you going to do each week to make a difference? How many hours of studying? What nites? What do you do when your friends want to hang out or you feel like playing video games?
I know this is a college forum but I really have to get this off my chest. I don’t have any honors my freshman year while my friends and peers do, and this is really worrying me. So far it is the third marking period and unfortunately I have slacked off major time on the first two marking periods. I plan to do very well these last two marking periods and manage two or three honor classes and after this I would take a summer course to get more on track with my High school career. My point is that I am really stressed about my future and am wondering if I can make up how poorly I did until this year and eventually make an Ivy League college.
The last section was very relatable, thank you.
@rishim213 Acceptance to an Ivy League college is not a very good goal, because it’s not a goal at all.
Nobody has the ambition to be accepted to flight school, which ends once they get the acceptance letter. You go to flight school to be able to fly an airplane, to be a professional pilot, etc. Nobody has an ambition to go to the gym which does not go further than ending up standing inside the gym. An ambition to “be accepted to an elite university” is no different.
Acceptance to college is a stop on the way, not the final goal. College is not just the acceptance (despite the inordinate amount of attention this receives in CC), it’s the four years of college, and the years following college.
Take your high school years to learn what you want and need from college. There are many possible pathways for you to follow, in order to have a fulfilling and interesting life. Only a small fraction of these paths go through an Ivy League undergraduate degree (if any).
get a million Twitter followers, get paid to promote your instagram posts, and hang out with celebrities or congresspeople… google david Hogg harvard SAT
There are about 16 million college students in the US. About 61,000 of them are at Ivy League schools. That’s 0.38%
I guarantee you that 99.62% of college students aren’t going to be failures.
There are quite a few areas of study where none of the Ivy schools are even very good. Find what drives you, what you’re passionate about, and then find a school that is best for you.
You need to be you.
- You need to do as well as you can in the courses you are taking now.
if you are struggling, get help.
Here are ideas http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2026961-what-to-do-when-you-arent-doing-well-in-a-hs-class-p1.html
- When you pick your classes next year, look for honors classes in those classes you get A's in.
- When you get to be a junior/Senior, look for AP classes in some of your classes where you do well.
- There are >2000 4 year colleges in the USA...there will be one for you.
Don’t look at this as everyone starts as an Ivy Leager and every grade takes you away from that.
Look at is as you doing the best you can and then finding a college that matches.