Panicking, will a bad grade and one bad SAT 2 score ruin my chance at any IVY’s

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Ok so I am a junior and I am starting to panic about colleges. I would love to go to an Ivy or a get a scholarship to a good college (that would be ideal), but recently I don’t think I can get into anywhere decent. I have a 4.0 GPA. I took AP World and got a 4 but a 100 in the class last year, I am taking 5 AP’s (Comp, Chem, US His, Foreign Language, & Psych) + Pre-Calc this year. I have good grades in 4 of the classes (98 +), but in AP Chem I am lagging with a 91. I got a 680 on my Physics SAT 2 last year, but I am taking the Chem, US History & Math 2 SAT 2’s this year to make up for the bad physics grade. I am taking the SAT in March (on practice tests, on average, I usually get 750 in reading, 790 in math, and 750 in writing). I have done research for the past 2 years (entering dif. competitions this year & I won 3rd place at one last year). I am on 2 sports team (tennis & Vb) + 4 clubs (debate, sci olympiad, Charity Club, robotics). I also dance & play club vb & play competitive tennis (ranked). I have a ton of volunteering hours, and community service. I have top grades from freshman & sophomore year. Will the 91 in AP chem & 680 physics SAT 2 ruin my chances of getting into an IVY? :(</p>

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<p>Calm down, I beg you. Please.</p>

<p>If Ivy League schools automatically rejected every kid who got an A-, they’d lose over 75% of their applicants (and of the remaining 4.0 applicants, plenty of them get rejected every year, as well).</p>

<p>Obviously, you should strive to keep your grades at the maximum possible; that’s without question. However, if you are that worried about getting an A- and an ok-ish SAT II score (they’re sent per your request, anyways, just choose not to send it), the reason you’ll be rejected from a top school won’t be because you got an A- in an AP Chem course.</p>

<p>Breathe. You certainly look like a person who is capable of getting into “anywhere decent”, and someplace far better than that. If you can raise the grade, do it; if you can’t, don’t sweat it. No college pays that much attention to a .01 difference in GPA among applicants (despite what many people might tell you).</p>

<p>Overall, you’re stressing out over the wrong item(s). We’re not talking about a D, or even a C or B. We’re talking about a minuscule difference between grades in an AP course, so please, do the best you can, and don’t listen to anyone who tells you that an A- dooms you to admissions failure. It doesn’t.</p>

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<p>Seriously? A 91 is an A. And if you are freaking out about the low subject test, study for it and retake. What’s the big deal? My son wasn’t happy with his Math subject and thats what he did, and raised his score alot. No big deal.</p>

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<p>@panic101 Even if you have perfect GPA and perfect SAT, you are still more likely to be rejected than accepted. </p>

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<p>Ivy league schools aren’t exactly the most fair when admitting students to their colleges. You can pretend that you don’t believe it, but such things as “legacies” and “quotas” do exist. And you don’t want to go to an Ivy League school anyways unless you enjoy spoiled/entitled classmates and many thousands of dollars in student debt.</p>

<p>During college you won’t be able to do more than maybe take 18 credit hours, have a part-time job, and maybe join a couple clubs. That is the MOST you will ever be able to handle because everybody needs to have free time for socializing and personal growth. You’re right about one thing: you are panicking by hitting that red button called distress. </p>

<p>You could be an absolute shoe-in for some great public universities! If it’s the atmosphere of Massachusetts you would enjoy then may I suggest attending Boston College or Tufts University (if private schools are a must). But many universities will give you a great quality education. What scares me the most is not once in your post did you ever mention what you wish to study; that decision will have a GIANT impact on the four years you will be at college.</p>

<p>I admit I am not an overachiever (3.0 gpa in a business administration program) but you seriously should consider taking time to relax. I don’t care about Ivy leagues or 4.0 gpas, I care about people who try to work on bettering themselves. Trust me you’ll want to put the books down every once in a while and go out and have some fun. Handle your business and you’ll do just fine!! You might even discover things about yourself you never knew. </p>

<p>College does in fact help people mature and recognize who they are as a person: be you and it’ll all work out.</p>

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This is at best ignorant and at worst arrogant. There are 100s of decent schools out there. You could great education at a regional LAC or state flagship. If you belong at an elite school you may very well end up at one. But panic, calculation, and focus on yourself won’t get you there.</p>

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<p>@blueeyedguy2015

have you ever BEEN on an Ivy league campus? They’re much more diverse than other schools (Washington and Lee for instance). While entitled kids are everywhere, most Ivies’ culture is definitely NOT the prep school/country club scene as the dominant vibe. Plus their Fin Aid is some of the best extant. Why don’t you google the avg student debt of HYP graduates?</p>

<p>@panic101, please listen to snarlatron. CC tends to be a vomit bucket for freaking out juniors and seniors. If you sit back and wade through the hype, I think you’ll be able to apply some of your ivy-aspiring smarts and realize the earth isn’t going to split based upon what college you eventually attend. It’ll be ok.</p>

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True, but most public universities don’t offer financial aid, sometimes making them more expensive than the ives. For example: both my kids were accepted to SUNY Binghamton, their flagship state college, but would have incurred thousands of dollars in debt because the school provided no aid. Instead, thanks to massive amounts of financial aid, my kids will be graduating from Harvard and Yale for LESS than the cost of SUNY Binghamton. So, now they will be graduating debt free. </p>

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My son was accepted to Boston College and they offered him zero financial aid. If he had attended BC, he would be graduating with over $100,000 in debt – not the best option, considering he is now graduating with no loans.</p>

<p>You really need to do your due diligence before making such comments. </p>

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Please, don’t go into financial consulting, as you are completely out of touch with reality.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, I think this sentiment may say more about the OP’s chances than grades or test scores. </p>

<p>But, sincerely, best of luck. I hope you’ll expand your outlook on your college search.</p>

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<p>Oh thank you! I don’t know how I ever would get by without your helpful guidance Gibby. /:slight_smile: Firstly I am not planning on going into financial consulting because I am planning on going into retail management. I was trying to help this person with a legitimate concern. Sure, my opinion isn’t the most popular but that does not make it invalid. By the way, legacies and quotas really do exist at Ivy League schools. If you do any kind of research on it you would realize it has been a hot topic for quite some time now.</p>

<p>You really will have to explain how your children got near-full rides to Harvard and Yale but NO aid for a New York state university or Boston College. I find that unusual to the point of it being false. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, private colleges do give more aid, but an almost full ride vs. no aid whatsoever seems “fishy”.</p>

<p>What they do is charge a higher sticker price so when they bring down that cost it makes them look generous. The quality of education is more than likely great there but they need to own up to the game they’re playing! For every student that gets a large discount on their student bill there are 50 more who don’t.</p>

<p>I happen to love college even though it’s been the toughest time of my life so far; and very challenging academically. I think it is unfair of you to judge my sanity based only on my grades. While I can understand disagreeing with my post it’s very immature of somebody to personally attack a person (me) without at least a FEW examples to back up their claim. You have only one example and there is no way to accurately judge a person’s character going solely off of that.</p>

<p>There’s no hard feelings here on my end yet I have the right to defend my opinions.</p>

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<p>It’s very easy to explain: <a href=“Kenneth Griffin makes largest gift in Harvard College history — Harvard Gazette”>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/02/kenneth-griffin-makes-largest-gift-in-harvard-college-history/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Our family makes about $150k a year, so Harvard’s COA for tuition, room and board is about $15k per year for my daughter. It’s the same over at Yale for my son. <a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/financial-aid-prospective-students#101”>http://admissions.yale.edu/financial-aid-prospective-students#101&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>SUNY Binghamton doesn’t offer financial aid for families in our income bracket, so the cost of tuition, room and board for in state tuition is: $22,543 (<a href=“Cost & Aid | Undergraduate Admissions | Binghamton University”>Cost & Aid | Undergraduate Admissions | Binghamton University). </p>

<p>At Boston College, our income is way above the upper limit to qualify for financial aid, so the COA there would be $60,622: <a href=“http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/tuition-and-aid.html”>http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/tuition-and-aid.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Harvard, Yale and Princeton give more aid than other colleges to upper middle class families – that’s one of the reasons they receive so many applications.</p>

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<p>Harvard is a whale of a hedge fund with a small college attached.</p>