Please Help!!! Junior Year Grades Down, Everything Screwed Up

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ok.. I have so much pressure on me to go to Harvard, only I know it won't happen and its pathetic to assume it would, but now that its getting closer to narrow my list, my parents are expecting Harvard. I don't have any chances, I don't think...</p>

<p>Soph year overall gpa- 3.8
Junior year overall gpa- 3.6</p>

<p>High School: Charter School/ College Prep School</p>

<p>Leadership: </p>

<p>Speech Team Captain
International Career Academy Coordinator
Writing Center Staff Development Coordinator
Newspaper News Editor
Community Development Coordinator
Objectivism Club President
Muslim Association President</p>

<p>Scores: </p>

<p>2200 New SAT (retake)
700 Math2 SATII (retake)
600 Chemistry (retake)</p>

<p>34 ACT</p>

<p>I did summer research at the University of Chicago which was pretty cool, I did a summer leadership program with the Foundation for Teaching Economics and one at the Eastern Illinois University Journalism Camp. I was also nominated for Poetry.com amateur poet of the year 2002-2005. </p>

<p>I think an interview would def. help me. I have a good personality and usually do really well in one on one interviews.</p>

2

<p>what were your individual grades per subject ? Knowing that will make it easier to advise you.</p>

3

<p>Difficulty of Courses and class rank? Maybe try to improve SATIIs before app. to Harvard...</p>

4

<p>Sorry I should have given more information. It's just that at the time I orginally posted this I was completely freaking out... oh by the way, SAT II's def. need to go up I know that ( i took them right after school was over and didn't get to study at all for them with the end of the year craziness)</p>

<p>I took the hardest classes my school offered. We don't do class rank so I really don't know. Our grading scale is a little different too... we don't have any A+s and the lowest grade possible is a D (D is our F). Actually, we don't really have a GPA either. We never know what our GPA is because our scale is so weird, and colleges are only given our grades not our GPA. Oh, and for foreign language I took Japanese which only goes up to Japanese III. I came to my high school my soph year (it only has 10th , 11th , and 12th grade). The school is an honors school so we don't have things like National Honors Society either because everyone would automatically be in. Our counselors generally say that a B here is an A anywhere else, which I think is true. In my public high school in ninth grade i was averaging mainly A+s and A's, but here they have gone WAY lower mainly because the classes are so hard and im involving myself in more stuff than i think i can handle sometimes. </p>

<p>GRADES</p>

<p>Soph year: </p>

<p>First Semester:
Math Investigations II (this is the other thing, we don't have terms like Algebra or Precalculus, we have Math Investigations I, II, III, and IV): A-</p>

<p>Japanese I: B+</p>

<p>English: A</p>

<p>History: A</p>

<p>Scientific Inquiries ( a mix of physics, chem , bio): A</p>

<p>Second Semester: </p>

<p>Math Investigations III: B+</p>

<p>Japanese: A</p>

<p>English: A</p>

<p>History: A</p>

<p>SI: A</p>

<p>JUNIOR YEAR (BAD BAD BAD BAD): </p>

<p>First Semester: </p>

<p>Math Investigations IV: B</p>

<p>Genetics: A</p>

<p>Advanced Chemistry: B+</p>

<p>Japanese II: B+</p>

<p>Modern Physics: A</p>

<p>English: A</p>

<p>History: A</p>

<p>Second Semester:</p>

<p>English: A</p>

<p>History: A-</p>

<p>Advanced Chemistry: B+</p>

<p>BC Calculus I: B</p>

<p>Japanese II: A</p>

<p>Senior Year Classes: Advanced Physics, Biotechnology, General Microbiology, Film Studies, An awesome independent study about ship building in lieu of a history class, BC Calculus II and III, and adding on Calculus based Physics along with Micro and Macro economics</p>

5

<p>Its nt as bad as you made it sound. Just work hard next year (esp. 1st semester) and you shouldn't have to rule out any of the schools you were considering pre grade drop.</p>

6

<p>apply, be optimistic, write good essays, and wish for the best</p>

<p>why harvard?</p>

7

<p>Because a cousin just got in over there and because it is <em>the best</em> according to my parents. I don't know, I hate all the pressure to have to go there. And in all honesty, I don't even think I want to go there. It doesn't specifically offer Neuroscience as a major and thats what I want to do. </p>

<p>So my list, see if you guys agree or not based on what I posted:</p>

<p>Reach</p>

<p>Harvard
Columbia
Brown
Northwestern</p>

<p>Matches:
Case Western Reserve
Vassar College
Wellesley College</p>

<p>Safeties:
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Carleton College
Drexel University</p>

8

<p>Why is Carleton a safety?</p>

9

<p>I'm not really sure, my counselor just said it was. I actually haven't done a lot of research on it.</p>

10

<p>I think you're matches and below are reasonable, but Carleton is a match at best.</p>

11

<p>Impressive record... and true.. college admission officers look at JUNIOR yr. with a microscope..... however... your have not drastically brought ur GPA down.... just be cool and put alot of stress on your character side... everything else should then balance.</p>

12

<p>if you truly don't want to go there you should try other schools that interest you of the same calibre. there are plenty of them around.</p>

13

<p>I totally should... its just that Harvard has been such an important thing to my parents even though it isn't to me. And I feel so horrible letting them down because this whole "I have to get my daughter in the best school possible" has been such a big thing for them. I don't know. I guess it's stupid, but they have done a lot for me since I was a kid and I feel guilty not being able to do my part to get into a school they have always wanted for me.</p>

14

<p>does anyone else have any suggestion for me?</p>

15

<p>retakte a 2200. haha, colleges will say 'what a waste of time'</p>

16

<p>Amnesia, that is truly wishfull thinking.</p>

17

<p>No I am def. taking it again and hopefully going up this time... 2200 was on my first try... 2100 on my second try :(.. i hope i'm not going to go to 2000 on my third (that would suck)</p>

18

<p>hey i really don't think you should even apply somewhere that you don't wanna go to. That would suck for you cuz your parents are'nt the ones going to college its you. Your prep school seems really interesting and top notch so even those b's won't really hurt you so you hav a true shot at H. But do you truely wanna go there? most people dont wanna major in Neuroscience so i think you should find a college that will actually give you what you need interms of you intrests and such. good luck</p>

19

<p>Thanx ritz :)...What did you mean about most people not wanting to major in Neuroscience?</p>

20

<p>I mean that its a pretty rare major not something like international relations or political science you know what i mean?</p>