<p>So basically I am a little freshman in high school and I have just finished my 1st semester in high school....and grade wise is wasn't so hot.</p>
<p>I want to try to get into the following schools:
Brown
NYU
Smith
H.Y.P. (Harvard, Yale, Princeton)
Columbia
Datrmouth
UPenn
John Hopkins
Cornell
Emory
U of C
Tufts
BC
Northeastern</p>
<p>My first semester in High school was as followed:
I got three A's, 3 B-'s, and one C+ in a junior math class that i am taking as a freshman!
I am apart of:
Recycle team
Speech and Debate (im already at degree of distinction)
Mock Trial
Several exc's about law
spanish club
unity project
civil rights team
student council
and a student led group that is involved in pretty much "changing" the negative things about the school ie bullying.
I am also Class President</p>
<p>I play field hockey and will be playing tennis in the fall.</p>
<p>I am also an URM, I can honestly say that I don't believe anyone from my country of origin goes to any of those schools, and if so only a few.</p>
<p>If I try my hardest to get straight A's from my second semester on, do you think I can get into those schools?</p>
<p>i think its really hard to tell since youre a freshman. i know that you’re planning on doing so and so for the next three years and getting all a’s and all that - but the truth is that all you can do it plan, and not much else. crazy teachers will come at you, priorities may change, and amazing opportunities will come up.</p>
<p>if you do continue on the same path (grade-wise and involvement-wise) as you are on right now… i would say that:</p>
<p>Brown - mid reach
NYU - match
Smith - dunno
H.Y.P. (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) - high reach
Columbia - reach
Datrmouth - mid reach
UPenn - reach
John Hopkins - reach
Cornell - reach
Emory - reach
U of C ---- dunno
Tufts - low reach
BC - low reach
Northeastern - match</p>
<p>It’s far too early for you to be making chance threads. :P</p>
<p>Yes, it is entirely possible to get a C and still get into a top college. It happened to me (actually, my freshman year transcript looked a lot like yours). Pull your grades up, get good scores, pursue extracurricular opportunities in the areas where you have passion, and you should get in somewhere nice. Your URM status should help there.</p>
<p>That said, it is easier said than done. You have to ask yourself why you got these grades in the first place–was it lack of effort, or did you have trouble with the material, or were you struggling to balance your schoolwork with ECs? The workload from here on out is only going to get tougher, both in and out of school. (Especially since it’s even more crucial that you push yourself by taking AP or AP-equivalent classes, to salvage your rank.) Think forward two years from now. Will you still be able to excel in say, debate, which I know requires a lot of time and energy, while keeping up A’s in four, five, six (or more!) AP classes? You will have to to get into HYP.</p>
<p>Something to think about. Try your best, push yourself but don’t kill yourself. And get off the chance forums, /please./</p>
<p>I posted a chances thread once… lots of people told me to get off, but I got lots of help too.</p>
<p>You grades are not bad, just make up for it this semester. I made 2 B+'s and rest are A’s, but this semester I’m working so hard… lowest grade is an A and highest A+.</p>
<p>My DS had a straight A average through Junior year. 7 APs, Physics C Mech and E&M, Chem, English Lang, Statistics, Calc BC, Music theory, all 5’s. SAT 2370, SAT 2 Math 800, Physics 800, Chem 800, National Merit Semifinalist, State Governor’s school in science participant., ABRSM Grade 8 Distinction Piano, Principal violist in 2 local orchestras as well as at School orchestra, Science Olympiad medalist National and States, Future Problem Solving state runner up. So far so good. But this year as a senior he enrolled in two very tough honors college courses in Math and Science at a nearby Ivy League school to challenge himself in addition to AP US History, AP Lit and Human Anatomy in high school. It looks like he is going to get B+s in both college courses (Final exams were disappointing) and B+ in AP US History. Will this sudden rash of B’s affect his chances for admission to selective colleges when they see his mid year transcript? I do not want to share my worry with him, he is such a great kid, and I suspect that he is worried too. I just hope that he won’t suffer a major disappointment. He has only applied to the Ivys and the local state University (he has been accepted to the honors college there, full ride scholarship). We (his parents) think the state college is wonderful, but hope that his dreams will not be dashed. Please let me know what you guys on the forum think.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much. If you have bad grades in your first semester as a freshman, think of it as an opportunity to raise your grades. Colleges look favorably towards good upward trends. They wouldn’t look favorably on low grades/high test scores though. PLUS, you’re taking advanced courses!</p>
<p>And to Cluelessmom, I would say, don’t worry about the B’s in the first semester so long as he improves in the seconds semester. BTW, a B+ is pretty impressive given the rigor of those courses.</p>
<p>hey ppl,
I got 3As in my A levels and 2Bs…which like an above average performance in high school and im doing pretty well at my current university which is king’s college london,I am applying to three University of California campuses for an exchange program…you guys I stand a chance at Berkeley or Ucla?..Btw Im gonna be studying biochem so wud UCSD and UC davies be any good?..do i stand a chance??</p>
<p>ritziee and cluelessmom2, start your own threads and stop hijacking this poor freshman’s thread. OP, for now, work on getting the highest grades you can in the most challenging classes and find a few extracurriculars you love and dedicate your time to. It’s also a good time to start volunteering and possibly studying for the SAT. Then come back here as a junior or senior with a full resume containing SAT scores and the like and we’ll chance you then.</p>
<p>You need to stop worrying, and I mean this in the kindest way possible. If you want to think about it strategically:</p>
<ul>
<li>Upward trends look good. People can struggle with the junior high/high school transition, so low freshman grades won’t be a red flag, especially since you’re participating in so many ECs.</li>
<li>The fact your C+ comes from a superadvanced class mitigates it somewhat. It can be explained as you trying to challenge yourself in a much more difficult course.</li>
</ul>
<p>That said, if I may offer some advice:</p>
<ul>
<li>GPA will still take a hit unless you can pull your grades up. But many colleges will not look at freshman grades, or they’ll recalculate your GPA based on their own criteria, so this one bad semester will not hurt you at all. At all.</li>
<li>Math will only get harder in the years to come. Figure out if you feel out of your element in your math class (drowning in work, hopelessly confused) or if you feel you’re being intellectually challenged and stimulated by the work. I would take a B or C in an advanced class I loved over an A in an easier course any day (and this is going to negate my old advice, but honestly, some things are more important than preserving your GPA, and actually learning is one of them).</li>
<li>You have a ton of ECs. More is not better, especially if they’re contributing to lower grades. You don’t need to have a huge laundry list. Figure out which causes you care about the most, the ECs you are most passionate about, and concentrate on those. Reading your list, you seem to be someone who cares about your school and community (a social conscience, as evidenced by the civil rights team and bullying work) and someone very interested in the law. Does that sound like who you are and what you’re interested in?</li>
</ul>
<p>Depth, not breadth. Don’t think about the colleges, honestly…at this point in your life a lot of things can change. The two greatest passions of my life developed my freshman and sophomore year and completely changed what I wanted to do with my life. So. Focus on doing what you love and doing it better than anyone else. Then worry about it in a year or two. Do you want to fit yourself into a college, or find a college that fits you?</p>
<p>wow is this a serious question
the fact is no, you have to get gpa around 3.85 at least most of the time and i don’t think u can save ur gpa esp since you got a C…
freshman classes are also generally easier, so good luck in the future</p>
<p>It’s way too early to be worrying about college admissions. Take the advice previous posters have offered regarding your concern about your GPA, do what you enjoy, and study. It makes no sense to ask about your chances of getting into Brown 3 years from now based on frosh grades, ECs you haven’t fully committed to yet, and no test scores.
CC is a valuable resource of information, which I definitely think you can make good use of as an underclassman, but don’t try to be chanced until your junior year or so.</p>
<p>You must be a sophomore right now. I don’t know how you’re doing, but I’ve heard time and time again that colleges like an upward trend in grades, so if you’re doing better, that is a plus. A poster above me pointed out that freshmen year classes are the easiest, which is true, at the same, hopefully as you’re progressing through your high school career, you’re figuring out more and more about which study habits work best for you, and overcoming bad habits that prevent you from reaching your full potential (such as wasting your Sunday afternoon on CC instead of studying…something that I personally need to work on :/) </p>
<p>Also, I think that it’s worth noting that Princeton (and Stanford, and UCs, and maybe some other schools that are actually on your list, but I don’t know about those) don’t count your freshmen year grades. </p>
<p>So my advice to you is to study, join extracurriculars that you’re interested in (not ones that you think top schools will like), prepare for the SAT and keep your options open. Ever since freshman year, my dream school has been Yale, but lately (I’m now a junior) I’ve been thinking about other schools and programs that they have that might be better suited to my interests. The fact of the matter is, you don’t know how you’ll feel senior year, or even junior year.</p>
<p>How can any of you chance this person when you have no idea what admissions will be like in 3 years, no idea what her grades/ rank will be when she applies, and she has no test scores. Seriouly- this is silly.</p>