<p>I'm posting on behalf of my younger brother who does not yet have a CC account. </p>
<p>He is a little worried about applying to colleges (a little early to be so) because of low grades he's accumulated this year. My understanding is, before this year, he had a 3.94 UW but as a result of taking MANY difficult classes, he is left with now a 3.81. He is pretty bright, 2290 SAT at this point, no subject tests taken and he has a solid set of ec's, I never was in the same position as he is in now so I'm not sure what to tell him and how to console him. </p>
<p>I want to reassure him he isn't totally out of top colleges, but don't want to lie either. In my opinion, he just got lazy in 1st semester. Are his chances truly out the window for top schools or does hope remain? :) </p>
<p>having a low average means absolutely nothing, especially if you take difficult courses. averages are very subjective, so once you’re above a certain level, a lot of colleges only use that as one of the last factors in deciding (as I was personally told by former MIT director of admissions).
also if you think I’m lying, my friend levent took a ton of insanely difficult courses sophomore year. so his average dropped from a 98 to around a 90 and stayed below 95 until he graduated because he couldnt get it back up. he wasnt even in the top 20.
he was an intel finalist, is currently attending harvard and has a planet named after him (no joke).
average isnt as important once you get above a certain level</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply! It seems like your friend was something of a genius though, as an intel finalist! </p>
<p>My brother isn’t exactly the research type though, he is into physics and maths, but he’s more of an IT guy. He has a job for a nonprofit where he manages all the IT aspects of the company, and started his own IT club in school and has been incredibly devoted to it, but he is insecure about whether those things matter at all. They aren’t really on a national level or stand out all that much so do you have suggestions as to what he could try doing instead?</p>