okay so I don’t know what to do I’m going into junior year and I already had a C in alg2 sophomore year and my gpa isn’t really good either I had 3.17-3.6 gpa through freshman and sophomore year. But Im in lots of clubs, marching band (section leader), captain of volleyball team Varsity and lots of volunteer hours any advice for incoming junior and what colleges I could apply for?? Please and thank you
Home State?
Test scores?
College Budget/year?
Intended major?
CA, haven’t taken my SAT or ACT and not sure what major yet
What was your sophomore year GPA? Cal States and UCs go by your 10th and 11th grade GPAs. If you haven’t seen this already, take a look at https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/.
Had a 3.17 frick thanks for the link btww
There is no way to give you an college suggestions until you have test scores and your 9-11th grades/GPA. I would start looking at your local Cal state. You can use this link to determine which Cal State is in your local service area. As a local applicant, you get priority and usually can use this school as a possible safety.
http://www.calstate.edu/sas/onestopkiosk/documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf
UC’s and CSU’s use 10-11th grades only for your a-g courses in determining your GPA.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
For Private schools, they will look at your 9-11th grades along with mid-year Senior grades.
What you can do now is find out how much your parents can pay towards your college. You will qualify or need financial aid in the form of need-based (Cal Grants/Pell Grants/Middle Class Scholarship- CA need based aid/Federal aid) and/or merit aid (academic scholarships)?
What types of colleges would you be interested in attending? Small private Liberal Arts or Large Research/State universities? Have your parents take on some campus tours to nearby schools.
Next, focus on doing well your Junior year of HS with including some good HS course rigor and continue doing EC’s that interest you.
Prep for the SAT and/or ACT this summer and try to take either one of these tests early Junior year to give yourself some time for retakes.
Look at possible majors of interest and do some research on schools that offer these majors along with available jobs/careers.
There are thousands of colleges in the US so there is some place for everyone.
Being a CA resident gives you many affordable college choices so I would start with your in-state schools first.
Okay thank you very much for this but i can’t really start my SAT or act class yet because I’m busy in summer doing summer school etc. it’s okay for me to take classes during fall year? And I’m not really taking any AP classes and a lot of regular classes would that put me at a disadvantage? Thank you again
Taking a Prep class in the Fall is fine. I would aim to get most of your ACT/SAT testing completed by end of Junior year if possible just in case you need to some retakes prior to application season. Taking regular classes are fine depending upon which colleges you are targeting.
California UC’s and the top Cal States will want to see some HS course rigor meaning AP classes if available. If you are looking at less selective schools, you should be fine as long as you do well.
Okay thanks a lot! Really helped me
I’m from NY, so I don’t have a great handle on CA schools.
@Gumbymom had some great suggestions.
But I guess my major piece of advice is this: don’t let some of the uber-competitive people on this site freak you out!!! Read enough threads here, and you’ll start to think that anyone without straight A’s will never get into college, will end up homeless and alone.
How silly!!!
The overwhelming majority of kids in most high schools have averages somewhere near yours!! They’re B students, not quite sure what they want to do or where they want to go. You have all of next year to narrow down the possibilities and start to get ready for the SAT. You’re light years ahead of so many of them simply because you’re here, starting to ask questions.
So take a deep breath and relax.
Start to focus on what you like. What classes you tend to enjoy, what you enjoy when you’re not in school. What sort of TV shows do you enjoy? You’ll eventually start to see some patterns, and to find a direction.
So you’re an incoming junior? Maybe you need to change the EC-GPA balance you have going on. Spend a little less tiem on activities and more at school.
@philegas you were reading my mind. As a Jr, you will have even less time for ECs. I agree, the OP should should probably drop the clubs you don’t care about and pick band or V Ball. … Then again, a 3.2 and decent test scores will get you into most programs at most CSUs… if that’s your objective, you are on the right path.
You forgot the B in my name haha. philBegas.
What city are you in OP? Would be good to know what your local CSUs are.
Thank you all for the helpful comments I’m from Los Angeles
Even if you don’t have time for full-on test prep class you can start small scale. There are apps out there for SAT word of the day/problem of the day - a vocab word or problem a day while you’re eating breakfast is a good start. Especially if you are planning to try PSAT. (CA might be more ACT land but just in case)