Not doing so well first semester of Sophomore year - how much does it matter?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Currently at a:
93% Honors Algebra II
90% Honors Chemistry
92.5% Honors English II
89.7% Honors History II
85% Mandarin 3-4
97% PE</p>

<p>My GPA is the biggest thing I'm worried about, having a 3.72. My dream school is Harvard, but it's nearly impossible to get in.</p>

<p>The biggest challenges I face currently are chemistry and mandarin. As a non-native speaker, mandarin is extremely challenging. Chemistry is also one of my hardest classes, since our teacher is really bad at teaching, and there's a lot of complex stuff on the final. I understand maybe 70% of the class so far.</p>

<p>I have a bunch of extra curricular activities including sports, clubs, student council, boy scouts, etc... at the same time. Anyways, how detrimental will it be after this week if I don't do so well on my chemistry and mandarin finals, perhaps getting a GPA around 3.5-3.6?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Well, Harvard would be out of the option unless you have nearly perfect SAT or ACT scores. Even with perfect test scores, your GPA s a factor that will be moderately considered. People with perfect 4.0 GPAs don’t get in, let alone people who may be less than that.</p>

3

<p>

Just because people with 4.0s get rejected doesn’t mean you need a 4.0 to be accepted. (Even so, 3.5 or 3.6 is on the low end unless the OP goes to a really challenging high school and has a high class rank.)</p>

4

<p>Just give it another term and it will go up. Your grades are good, you can make them better. We also have Junior year to boost that grade with your AP classes.</p>

<p>Then again, your GPA is higher than mine. </p>