No straight As = Rejected?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Okay guys. I have a question. </p>

<p>So right now Im a junior in high school. Typically a straight As student. </p>

<p>Notice I said typically. </p>

<p>Junior year so far has been killer and I have come to accept (grudingly) that this year I'll be getting As and Bs. Not all As as usual. </p>

<p>My #1 choice is UPenn. Also applying to Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard. </p>

<p>But is there even a point to applying? Is it even possible to make it into one of those universities without straight As? Is it possible to make it with As and Bs????</p>

<p>Please help. </p>

<p>Thank you so much. </p>

<p>For the record, my Junior year courseload is the following:</p>

<p>1) PreCalculus Honors
2) IB Comparative History
3) AP Physics B (probably switching out soon though.)
4) AP English Language
5) AP Chem
6) AP U.S Gov.
7) AP Span. Literature
8) Alg. 2 Honors
9) AP Micro
10) Latin 2
11) AP American Hist. Second half (community college)</p>

2

<p>just some advice...enjoy life dude don't worry if you get 9 As and 1 or 2 Bs you are not going to be rejected for that. There is a lot more behind that stupid grades.. sat1 and 2 essay ec rank.. so cm'on! lol...</p>

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<p>wow does everyone at your school take...10 ap/honors classes a year?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
</p>

<p>No straight As = Rejected???
Okay guys. I have a question.</p>

<p>So right now Im a junior in high school. Typically a straight As student.</p>

<p>Notice I said typically.</p>

<p>Junior year so far has been killer and I have come to accept (grudingly) that this year I'll be getting As and Bs. Not all As as usual.</p>

<p>My #1 choice is UPenn. Also applying to Princeton, Stanford, and Harvard.</p>

<p>But is there even a point to applying? Is it even possible to make it into one of those universities without straight As? Is it possible to make it with As and Bs????</p>

<p>Please help.</p>

<p>Thank you so much.</p>

<p>For the record, my Junior year courseload is the following:</p>

<p>1) PreCalculus Honors
2) IB Comparative History
3) AP Physics B (probably switching out soon though.)
4) AP English Language
5) AP Chem
6) AP U.S Gov.
7) AP Span. Literature
8) Alg. 2 Honors
9) AP Micro
10) Latin 2
11) AP American Hist. Second half (community college)

[/quote]

If you can't take the workload, I suggest you drop more so that you are able to excell (get As) in all your classes</p>

5

<p>Oh I agree, your courseload is way too heavy ! I don't think even an Ivy League School would expect a course load like that in Jr. year. How you even have a minute to breathe is shocking.</p>

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<p>what school hsa kids take ten classes, none that I know of</p>

<p>2 history classes, 2 math, 2 language, 2 science</p>

<p>most have 6 a day, max 7</p>

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<p><<<just some="" advice...enjoy="" life="" dude="" don't="" worry="" if="" you="" get="" 9="" as="" and="" 1="" or="" 2="" bs="" are="" not="" going="" to="" be="" rejected="" for="" that.="" there="" is="" a="" lot="" more="" behind="" that="" stupid="" grades..="" sat1="" essay="" ec="" rank..="" so="" cm'on!="" lol...="">>></just></p>

<p>My rank is not that awesome... Im top 5% but nowhere near Valedictorian. </p>

<p>My essays will be good. My EC's are not that impressive. =( Im really into politics though, unfortunately there are no politics clubs in my school, so I'll just join the local one once I turn 18 but that'd be senior year. </p>

<p>But thanks. =) I like the "enjoy life" part. That's definetely the most important of them all. But Im afraid that if I just sort of chill, I could REALLY mess up. </p>

<p><<<<wow does="" everyone="" at="" your="" school="" take...10="" ap="" honors="" classes="" a="" year?="">>></wow></p>

<p>No. I go to a lower-middle class minority school (69% black, 21% hispanic, 6% asian, 4% white) where there are many drop outs as well as many overachievers. It's an IB school so the IB kids are the ones who take something like my schedule. Aside from them, there are a few AP kids (like me). But no, Im pretty sure I have the hardest courseload in my school right now. </p>

<p><<<<if you="" can't="" take="" the="" workload,="" i="" suggest="" drop="" more="" so="" that="" are="" able="" to="" excell="" (get="" as)="" in="" all="" your="" classes="">>></if></p>

<p>Unfortunately, i dont think it's the courseload. Some things, like Physics, just won't fit into my head. =( Also unfortunately,I can't drop anything because I MUST take 7 courses per year in school, and the rest I am already more than halfway done so I better finish them. If I drop Physics for example, I have to replace it with another AP, which probably will be Psych or Macro. </p>

<p>Is it even possible to make it into the schools Im looking at with As and Bs though? Cause it's not an easy schedule but then again, there are so many geniuses that apply that do get straight As with the toughest classes out there...</p>

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<p>Admissions depends on a LOT of other things. I would try your hardest. Stanford is the school in your list I'm most familiar with, and they would honestly probably be really impressed if you ended up getting a B+ or two in really difficult classes as opposed to easy A's in easy classes. But Stanford tends to be one of the more subjective ivy leagues. Not by much though. You do NEED to get good grades. Above a 3.7ish without a doubt. Study for the SAT like crazy and make sure your EC's and work experience/volunteer work is all in order. And try and gain some leadership positions in clubs. If you can't find any, found one. </p>

<p>But anyway, as long as you keep your cumulative GPA around a 3.9 and have stellar test scores, plus some nice EC's under your belt, I'd say you have a fair shot at any one of those. You have to realize that places like UPenn and Stanford are looking for well-rounded students, and a lot of 4.0 kids aren't very well-rounded, frankly. They choose based on a lot of other things. </p>

<p>There's no % chance I can give you, but I can honestly say that you have a great shot.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that classes at any of those schools are going to be even harder than your work load right now, so if you really don't feel like you're ready for that kind of thing, there's always grad school. It's not worth it to waste your undergrad years doing something you aren't prepared for. Just a cushion statement:)</p>

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<p>ps- you can do political things though you aren't 18......</p>

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<p>wow, I can honestly say you have the toughest courseload on cc, if that really is your courseload. i have doubt.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Also unfortunately,I can't drop anything because I MUST take 7 courses per year in school, and the rest I am already more than halfway done so I better finish them.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You're in 10 courses right now, not 7.</p>

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<p>yeah but she said that she is already half through with the other three, so she doesnt want to quit.</p>

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<p>But how does that even fit into your schedule? Do you really have 10 period days?</p>

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<p>A few Bs do not preclude you from a top university. I know plenty of people who went to top 25 schools and got plenty of Bs along the way. It's ALWAYS worth applying if you're in that range (depending on your SATs), simply because there is deviation from the mean.</p>

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<p>My daughter had a couple of Bs and still got into several top schools. If you have a strong overall application, a few Bs will not keep you out.</p>

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<p>^ ^^</p>

<p>What are top schools for you? Are they top 25 or are we talking about the ivies? If we're talking about the ivies, it is MUCH less likely that a few Bs won't matter ... unless you're coming from a top prep school or have some hook. When the ivies reject so many valedictorians, it is highly unlikely that they'll give the nod to someone 'with a few B's' unless the university is getting something like URM status, an athlete, or an Intel winner.</p>

<p>However, if you remain near the top of your class (top 5 percent-ish) WITH those additional B's, you probably can be less worried.</p>

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<p>I had a 3.85/4.0 in high school, where 4 = A, 3 = B, etc. So yeah, a few Bs - I only had one semester in high school where I got straight As. My school didn't officially rank, but I was somewhere near the bottom of the top 10% of my class.</p>

<p>I got into MIT, Vanderbilt (with a large merit scholarship), Duke, U of Chicago, Rice, NYU, and Johns Hopkins (biomedical engineering track). And no, I didn't have "URM" status, and was not a good enough athlete to be a force on any college team. I won regional awards at Intel but never made it to the international level. I had no national or international awards that I can recall.</p>

<p>Point being, you can get into top schools without straight As.</p>

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<p>My daughter got accepted with a couple of Bs (and no hooks) on her record at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, among others. She is currently a senior at Harvard. Is that "top" enough for you?</p>

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<p>fhimas88888888,</p>

<p>I sincerely doubt that the average HPYMSC admit doesn't have at least a B or two.</p>

<p>The reason that so many valedictorians get rejected is simply odds-- not because they ONLY accept straight A students.</p>

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<p>Correct. </p>

<p>Think about it - there are over 30,000 high schools in the US. That means 30,000 valedictorians. Each year Harvard, for example, accepts about 2000 applicants. That leaves room for a lot of valedictorians to get rejected.</p>