<p>Ok, so I feel like my dreams have literally been crushed. I am a Freshman at one of the top college prep schools in the nation. I have dreams to play hockey at Cornell University, or any other Ivy League school. I have family history at Notre Dame (father, grandfather, uncle, aunt). I am an "A", to "B+" student, and most people (my father) tell me that I have 4.0 capability, but lack the motivation and work ethic to get it done. I play hockey and lacrosse, and have already completed the service hours that I need to graduate, though I am only in my Freshman year. My GPA right now is 3.54, I'm not sure if it is weighted or unweighted (I don't even know the difference) and am too young to take SAT's or ACT's... The problem is, I just scored a C- (72%) on my Roots of The Modern World (History) semester two final. I don't know what happened, and now my father thinks that it's very possible that my dreams of playing at Cornell are over.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me if this is true?</p>
<p>A 3.54 freshman year doesn’t kill your chances for any school. You do, however, need to improve it for future years. </p>
<p>On a side note: anyone who pays can take the SAT/ACT. (I took it twice by freshman year for benchmarking purposes.) If you do well, you can take stress off for future years.</p>
<p>Thanks, I will definitely take that into consideration.</p>
<p>I should add that many schools like upward GPA trends. If you do better each year, it is favorably viewed to an extent that renders the freshman year only a minor consideration.</p>
<p>Cornell is the easiest Ivy League school to get into. At my school, every kid who applied to an Ivy got rejected except six kids who got into Cornell. I definitely wouldn’t count yourself out, especially if you plan on taking a heavy courseload and attend a high school with a reputation. Just work hard and pursue your interests and it will work out fine.</p>
<p>Dont worry about grades- grades don’t matter, its taking the most rigorous curriculum that counts. You MUST take the most rigorous curriculum and if you do colleges will be fine. DO NOT make the mistake I did, you will become extremely depressed to the point of suicide if you dont. Sign up for as MANY AS YOUR SCHOOL OFFERS OR YOU WILL BE SORRY!!!</p>
<p>The above poster is mistaken; grades do matter. The rigor of the curriculum matters also.</p>
<p>No, if you take the most rigorous curriculum they don’t.</p>
<p>I’d rather have a better GPA than a more rigorous curriculum you’ll be failing in.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t. I would much rather have the most rigorous curriculum avaliable full of F’s and D’s than a “More Rigorous” (IE ****) curriculum full of “A’s”</p>
<p>Gpa matters most. Rigor of the curriculum matters, too. Having an exceptionally rigorous curriculum won’t get you into a top school if your grades are bad.</p>
<p>Rigor>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>GPA to infinitey. GPA has an extremely minimal importance if it is the most rigorous curriculum availiable.</p>
<p>GPA >>> rigor. Cs, Ds, and Fs don’t look good on college transcripts regardless of your classes. Listen to Northstarmom. She’s a great source.</p>
<p>urmomgoes2colege is either ■■■■■■■■ or very mistaken.</p>
<p>Do not mistake me I am NOT ■■■■■■■■. I know the process better than any of you.</p>
<p>“GPA has an extremely minimal importance if it is the most rigorous curriculum availiable.”</p>
<p>Ridiculous. Realize that there are plenty of students carrying straight As while taking very rigorous curricula. In fact, there’s an overabundance of such students when it comes to Ivy applications. Even with such stellar records, most such students aren’t going to get into Ivies because the Ivies don’t have room for all of the stellar students who apply. </p>
<p>Certainly students with mediocre records and rigorous curricula aren’t going to get into Ivies.</p>
<p>Incidentally, both of my sons had sub 3.0 unweighted averages, excellent ECs, scores 98-99th percentile with very rigorous curricula. They also are URMs. Neither got into an Ivy. Older S was rejected by Columbia. Younger S knew better than to apply Ivy, and is going to a second tier LAC.</p>