<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>