<p>Hey guys, I really need some professional advice here. I know this is really long and I'm sorry, but I would really like it if you took the time to read it all and respond to my dire question.</p>
<p>I go to a school called Suncoast. It's the 8th best school in the U.S according to Newsweek magazine. In the 8th grade I was accepted into the school, right around the time I started hanging around with the wrong groups of people. I came from a school where drugs were popular and girls were something everybody had. I never did anything to harm myself, because I knew it was all wrong. My middle school wasn't exactly considered the best. Then once I got to Suncoast, I was mixed in with people I've never been around. People that had money, people that had good grades and never got in trouble before. So my first semester of freshman year, I got two Cs and an F in english - the rest were B's and I think one A. I was naturally smart, but I just got messed up with the wrong group of kids, and that caused me to get bad grades. So, once I realized I was doing things wrong, I did everything possible to fix my grades. I worked and worked, usually through the night and in to early morning hours, despite how I have to get up at 5am to catch my bus for school. I pulled up my grades from a 2.5 GPA the first semester, to a 3.1 by the summer - just above the 3.0 requirement to stay at my school. The second semester, I got an A in english, and 4 other As, plus 2 Bs. I had literally changed my grades more than anyone else I had ever met at my school. Then I took English online over the summer to get my credit back for my failed semester. I got an A in that class too. Now I'm a sophomore, and I have 3 AP classes and college level computer programming. Last semester I had 2 Bs, the rest were As. My computer programming teacher died last semester, so now every time I go to class, I literally have to teach the class because we don't exactly have a teacher. Basically, I'm a straight-A student with a record that says otherwise. And everyday I get up, i hate myself for getting that F in English, and those two C's. It's really hurt me. People tell me I won't get into the college I want. Coming from a family where my parents barely have a high school diploma and my brother had to attend community college before his university, that makes me feel sick. I'm a huge nerd and geek. I'm also the director of the IB technical drama department at my school, which accounts for my extracurricular. It has given me almost 200 hours of volunteer service this year and taught me a TON about leadership skills and technology. People think I'm a perfect student. Last week I was accepted into NHS by accident, because I had a 3.46 GPA and the requirement at my school is a 3.5. they called me aside and said I was accepted by mistake, and I had to leave and try again next year. I just need somebody to tell me that I'm going to get into the college of my dreams, that those F and Cs won't hurt me. That I'll go off to UF or UCF or Georgia Tech and get my masters in Computer Engineering and live a good life. Can I do that? Can I be accepted to one of those colleges with my history? That's my question. I just want somebody to let me know I can do this. because I can just feel it right now, i'm not gonna get accepted to any of those colleges because of that english grade. because of my freshman grades.</p>
<p>i'm sorry that's so long guys. this just really hurts.</p>
<p>College isn’t everything, especially if you’re smart. I would advise you to keep doing well in school; it can’t hurt. Also, you should strive for a kick-ass SAT score, and you should spend a lot of time programming. You’re pretty lucky, actually. I’m sure you will do fine.</p>
<p>Yes, you certainly have a shot at a good school where you can achieve your educational and professional goals - there are many schools (like Stanford and the UCs) that don’t even include freshman grades in their GPA calculation. There are many others that will understand a student who got off to a slow start in freshman year. </p>
<p>You’ll have plenty of opportunity in your application to explain how you turned yourself around after getting off to a weak start and the schools with more holistic application processes (not just driven by numbers) will take it into account. Ask guidance counselor to comment on the turnaround too and make sure your teachers talk about what an asset you have been to the school. And because your parents didn’t attend college, that’s a ‘hook’ and it works to your advantage.</p>
<p>Dude, you will get into college. You will live a good life. It’s up to you to go out and get those things. Just keep working and doing what you’re doing. This is just the beginning. Good luck.</p>
<p>I was told by this counselor that universities like two trends; the consistent trend and the upward slant. If you’ve improved so much, you have the upward slant! Universities will know that you have the potential and the willingness to turn your grades and as you should explain in your essays, your life around. </p>
<p>Don’t let this take your motivation away. Keep on working hard, improving your skills and your knowledge and the rest will follow. I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>I think that you may have a somewhat skewed perception success by being in the 8th best high school in the nation, which is fine. I don’t think that you’ll make it into HYPMS, but nobody has a really great shot at those. You’ll have no problem getting into a great school precisely because you do realize how great UF, UCF, and Georgia Tech, which is something that many people take for granted. If your original post is a completely honest and comprehensive story, then you’ll get far in life.</p>
<p>I can’t say whether or not you’ll get into GaTech, but I wouldn’t bet against you.</p>
<p>A bad freshman year isn’t fatal to getting into an excellent school. Upward trend means a lot. As to your barely missing NHS – NO WORRIES – this is probably close to meaningless for most top schools. Not saying you shouldn’t go for it, but it’s not a big deal.</p>
<p>Some colleges don’t even look at freshman year grades… They pay most attention to sophomore and junior year grades, and since you’ve shown an upward trend, I am tempted to say that the bad grades at the beginning of your high school career will have close to no impact. In fact, you could even write an essay explaining your bad freshman year and it might even be a plus because colleges will see that you’ve struggled to get a good education, which is a better story the repetitive 4.00 applicant.</p>
<p>Relax! If you’re still a sophomore, you still have plenty of time to up your grades even more. GPA isn’t the only part of an application either. You still have the SATs to take, some killer essays to write, and more clubs to join if you have the time. Even if you don’t get into the most prestigious school, you can still have a great life. Steve Jobs went to Reed College and dropped out. It wasn’t a prestigious school, but look how far he got! So just keep a level head and keep working hard and you’ll be just fine.</p>
<p>I think you would benefit from talking to both the college counselor at your HS (yes, this is all going to be fine) and to the guidance counselor (about the stress you are feeling).</p>