Hi, my junior year I took challenging classes and I struggled a bit. Although I didn’t do horribly I didn’t do as well as I usually do. I went from 18/389 my freshman year, 21/389 my sophomore year, to 33/353 my junior year which is the rank I will be applying to college with. It took me out of the top 5% of my class and put me into the top 10%. My GPA was 97.3 freshman year, 96.8 sophomore year and it then turned into a 95.7 at the end of junior year. My question is should I beat myself up over this change because it is really messing with me?
Nope you really shouldn’t. First of all, it’s not like beating yourself up will improve your GPA. Secondly, your GPA hasn’t drastically changed so its not likely that it’s going to be the make or break for college apps. Furthermore, a lot of colleges don’t care much about class rank since many high schools don’t even rank. Finally, college AOs will see that you took more difficult classes and understand the slightly lower GPA.
No. Do not beat yourself up. Do not feel bad.
What you should do is to learn from this.
In education you need to figure out what your own pace is. Then you take classes at your own pace. Do not just take the toughest classes that you can get into. Take classes that make sense for you. Do not just attend the highest ranked university that you can get into. Attend a university that makes sense for you.
The difference in your GPA is not significant. You got a very good GPA in tougher classes. This will give you some sense what it is like to take tougher classes.