Slacked off freshman/sophomore year of HS, am I screwed?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey everyone, I am going into my senior year of high school, and like millions of others, am starting to stress out about the college application process. First, here is so background: </p>

<p>I have always been a bright kid, but before junior year I had never really applied myself. My first two years of high school my grades were average, A few A's, mostly B+'s and a few low B's. I was coasting through high school, relying on natural smarts. However junior year, everything clicked for me. I took 5 AP courses, and got A's in all of them, as well as getting 3's or better on all my AP exams. For extracurriculars, I have played soccer & the violin throughout high school </p>

<p>Now my question to you guys is, how much will my first two years of high school affect my ability to get into a top school? Do admission boards recognize or even care about a person growing more mature?
Thanks</p>

2

<p>Have you taken the SATs or ACTs yet?</p>

3

<p>Yes I have taken the SAT’s: 750 in Math, 690 in Writing, 700 in Critical</p>

4

<p>What schools exactly are you looking at? You can go to parchment.com and have a look at the scatter diagrams of GPA and SAT scores. If your school is signed on to Naviance they may have graphs for your own school alums who made it or not to different colleges. I had heard there are a couple of schools UC Santa Barbara and Carnegie Mellon that weight the SAT a little more the the GPA a little less. Talking with an Alum recruiter for MIT she said that a lot came down to the essay once you had 2100 SATs. But the stats say if you’re under 3.9 there odds are lower. The five APs are great and hopefully you’re taking a similar load senior year. That will show good rigor. Which state are you in? Harvard <a href=“Harvard University Scatterplots | Parchment - College admissions predictions.”>http://■■■■■■/YtGRZM&lt;/a&gt; UCSB <a href=“University of California, Santa Barbara Scatterplots | Parchment - College admissions predictions.”>http://■■■■■■/iC6vXC&lt;/a&gt; CMU <a href=“Carnegie Mellon University Scatterplots | Parchment - College admissions predictions.”>http://■■■■■■/yrZbCQ&lt;/a&gt; MIT <a href=“Massachusetts Institute of Technology Scatterplots | Parchment - College admissions predictions.”>http://■■■■■■/POgG3a&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>I have considered Yale (several members of my family attended there) as well as UI Urbana-Chamapagne and Uc Berkeley. I am pretty undecided at this point, may even do a post-grad year at a nearby prep school to consider my options. I am taking 4 AP’s again senior year, and hopefully should do just as well as junior year. Thanks for your response, I appreciate it.</p>

6

<p>When you say several family members attended Yale, were they Parents or Grandparents? Legacy can be a good hook. </p>

<p>UIUC and UCB are somewhat hard to get into OOS. However the latter will love if you are full-pay. Do you have any financial need, if so, how much can you pay per year? Expect little to no aid from UCB or UIUC if you are OOS.</p>

7

<p>My mom, her sister (my aunt), and their father (my grandfather) all went to Yale. Financial aid is pretty much necessary, but I do have family in both IL and CA if that helps at all.</p>

8

<p>You have to be a resident of that state to receive in-state tuition there. If you have financial need and are out of state for UIUC and UCB, I suggest you take them off your list.</p>

<p>Yale is very generous with financial need to those who qualify. It helps you are a double legacy too. </p>

<p>How much can you afford per year? Also, what is your overall UW gpa? </p>

9

<p>Ok, that helps a lot. I don’t think anything more than $20k a year is possible, my gpa right now is 3.5, hopefully I can raise it by the end of the year. </p>