Sophomore Disaster, Ivy Leagues, Sports, and Everything in Between

Applying to College
1

Hey guys, I’m a junior in high school and now that I’m looking into colleges and whatnot, I went back to my sophomore transcript and had a mini-heart attack (yet again).
Freshman year, my weighted GPA was a 4.116
Currently in my junior year, I have a a 4.34 (I can’t actually believe that I’m saying that)
However, SOPHOMORE YEAR is a weighted 3.457 (cue the heart attack)

Sophomore year was a really really rough time for me. I had a really difficult relationship with most of my teachers, especially geometry where my teacher would single me out in class for getting 45s on her tests and doing badly. I went after school for help all the time, spending most of my Friday afternoons at school. Also, at the end of the course, she gave me a 50% on a homework grade worth 45 points when I showed the homework to her TWICE and she told me in person that she would update it to a 100. Report cards come out, the grade hasn’t been updated. I go to my counselor, he does NOTHING about it. So now, I am left with a grade that is almost a whole letter grade below what I deserved. Same thing happened with me in Algebra 2 as well, the tests were ridiculous and the curriculum was rushed and I was so overwhelmed. My best class, Spanish, which I got nothing less than 97 in since 6th grade, fell to an 86 sophomore year. Outside of school, I was taking 2 accelerated math classes for trig and pre-calc which stressed me out even more and then combine that with the pressure of having to keep up my national ranking in a sport and you have a tired, unmotivated, super stressed, sleep deprived student who can’t take it anymore.

Because of my workload, my athletics were negelected. I play squash and have a national ranking of 38, however, it has now TANKED because of my nerves and my ruined self-confidence and self-belief. I get anxiety every time I think about competing and even though I do practice regularly, it still somewhat scares me. I get reminders of last year which give me automatic anxiety. It may sound silly, but those grades and the whole crazy year I had in 10th grade not only ruined my GPA, but my self confidence, motivation, athletics, and just made me a more anxious person. I have always compared myself to people, in terms of skills, grades, even looks, and I always bring myself down. Even with my high honor role this year, I still bring myself down by thinking that I could be a part of the NHS if I hadn’t completely ruined my sophomore year.

So now, onto the point of the discussion, I am worried that the complete disaster that was 10th grade will fully jeopardize my chances of getting into a top tier college. I have a shot at MIT since I am very close with the head coach and he’s been watching me for almost 3 years now and been asking about grades and SAT scores. Even though I have this so-called “edge” I am not at all confident in my ability to boost up my GPA so quickly and score highly on the SAT and subject tests.

I have only taken the SAT once with absolute minimal studying and I got a 1330 (very low, I know)
I am taking it again and this time I’ve completed every Khan Academy SAT practice there is.

I have to get tutoring for the subject tests because I am sure I cannot score high enough on my own.

Moving on from MIT, I am looking at UCLA currently along with many other UC schools, Colby College in Maine, London School of Economics, and pretty much all the top squash schools which are Princeton, Yale, Tufts, Cornell, UPenn, Brown, Stanford (jokes) Harvard (lol more jokes)… safety schools would be the typical UMass schools, Penn State…

I am taking the SAT on the 24th and hopefully I am able to crack 1500 (if I’m super lucky???)

Now that you have read my entire rant about my life story, and if you are still reading this (I applaud you), then I just want thoughts on my chances of going to a top tier school and ways to improve my chances and tips for my apps, essays, extra curriculars, community service, etc…

Also, any advice about being more confident and just being self assured and content with yourself, thinking that you are enough after going through a time full of nothing but let downs and downhill tumbles would be greatly appreciated, even though I know this isn’t a therapy thread :slight_smile:

Thanks for taking the time to read through this and thanks for any advice and responses, have an awesome day :slight_smile:

2

What does your guidance counselor tell you that your options are?

Too late now to change things, but still I’ve got to ask, if you had not yet finished geometry and algebra 2, who was it who thought it would be a good idea to take trig and pre-calc in addition to your regular schoolwork?

3

You need to deal with the anxiety issues - if you don’t they can derail HS and even college - no matter where you end up.

Find a therapist, talk to a doctor, develop coping mechanisms.

There are special therapists that deal with anxiety and sports performance.

This is very important - please do not neglect your mental health.

4

yes that is the mistake I made. I took Russian Math last year and put extra pressure on myself with that and that is definietly one of the reasons why I struggled. However, I had been taking those classes before since 8th grade and they really helped my performance in school, for example now in junior year i am breezing through math, but i dont think it was worth i in 10th grade.

5

I’m pretty there’s a section on the common app where you can explain excruciating circumstances that have affected your grades and athletic performance. Also, remember that sophomore grades don’t matter that much; it’s more important for you to maintain straight A’s or decent grades during junior year. So sorry for all that you’ve gone through. Good luck with everything :slight_smile:

6

There is definitely a section of the college ap for dealing with special cases. There is also the opportunity to write your counselor an electronic description of what went wrong that can be used in the recs. That said, I can’t judge how much of this is a problem with your teacher and how much is you (not trying to cast doubt on your story, but simply reminding you that like a college counselor, I won’t know you from Adam), but there is a serious limit to how effective teacher complaints will be in your college application. I would focus on having made a mistake by taking Russian math and not on the teacher. If you can afford it, I recommend a private tutor for test prep. That’s the most efficient way.

My son had some issues freshman year (health related, but challenged by his school). He had a 3.4 freshman year, and got only 1 B+ since. He got into some good schools and he got some merit aid. It can be done.

PS. I do believe you on the teacher not making the grade changes, since my son is facing the same thing right now.

7

If you’re already struggling in math I think most programs at LSE would be likely to be a stretch - what subject were you planning on applying for there? Having said that, your GPA won’t be a big deal in the UK, but you will need to get strong AP scores in suitable subjects.

8

I only struggled in math last year because of being overstressed and other circumstances, but right now I have a straight A in precalc

9

OP, while you are a unique person, your story is not as unusual as you think it might be, especially to top-flight admissions officers. They read through dozens of applications every year from students who struggled during one year of high school.

What is very encouraging to me, and will likely be to them, is that you have rebounded so well for your junior year.

I want to add that NHS can mean a lot, or it can mean very little, depending on your High School chapter. Read the other threads on NHS here on CC to get a better idea as to what I mean. For some schools it is almost completely a popularity contest. Some have clear guidelines, only invite certain and never reject any applicants, while others allow almost anyone to apply and admit everyone.

I agree that you should work on your anxiety issues - but it sounds like since you have rebounded you have already learned an important life lesson that many high school kids don’t learn - you learned you have limits. But this part of your post -

-suggests to some of us that you are like an awful lot of competitive teenagers, and you might benefit from some help from a trained professional. This doesn’t mean I think you’re nuts or silly or that there is something wrong with you, but instead I hope you can understand that its perfectly okay and more normal than you may think, to ask for and get help.

I will be honest, I don’t think you are a strong candidate for Stanford, nor Harvard, Yale, nor Princeton - nobody is, unless perhaps in addition to being a nationally ranked squash player, you are also a 1st Gen, URM, with a multi-billionaire parent wanting to donate a few hundred million to a development fund, and if your EC will be curing cancer… :slight_smile: But its okay if you’re not a kid like that, and if you don’t get into those schools you will likely have other options. Those schools are reaches for everyone - when they toss out kids with perfect SATs and GPAs, and a much much harder courseload (many already have taken calculus by junior year HS).

You are getting very grades - but you don’t mention your class rank, or where Naviance says that other kids with a similar GPA from your HS have gotten acceptances. Your current grades show you have the academic chops to understand what single digit acceptance rates mean.

Going from 1330 to 1500 on the SAT is a serious jump, but you sound determined and you are taking the right steps.

Since you asked for ways to improve your chances and tips for apps, essays, extra curriculars, community service, etc…

Your app will be improved by maintaining great grades the rest of this year.

Your essay just needs to be a sincere reflection on yourself - and judging only from your posts above, it is clear that you write very well, and your voice comes through in a purely genuine tone, as that of a teenager who has already had some struggles but you work hard, you have learned life lessons already, and you are committed to doing your best. You don’t try to use “ten-dollar words” - which is perhaps the biggest mistake that other kids make, in that their essays don’t sound like they were written completely by the applicant. All of the college admissions information sessions I attended stressed that what they want to see from an applicant is that THEIR voice comes through - don’t write what you think they want to hear, but write about yourself. You seem ahead of the game here in that you are comfortable writing about your struggles. So you can use this experience to benefit yourself. The best advice about the essay I can give is that you should start early, and get it done a month before you need to submit it. Then give yourself two weeks without looking at it, then it again to edit it when it is not as fresh in your mind. Then try to have someone who does not know you very well to take a look at it, to give you objective thoughts about what it strong and what could be clarified/improved.

As for extra curriculars - you already have a great one in your athletics. Many kids make the mistake of thinking that they have to have LOTS of activities, yet every school I visited pointed out that this is not at all necessary. Schools are not trying to tell kids what to do, or that they have to do lots of different things. They want to hear about what makes you who you are, what you like to do, or perhaps have to do because of family obligations. Whatever you choose do is fine, especially if you can write about it as well as you can.

Community service is admirable, but sometimes overrated. Remember that top colleges do understand a lot about all of the high schools in their region/territory. They will know, for example, if CS is a requirement for NHS, and they will usually know how many hours are required. They understand that many kids who have other EC’s - like caring for another sibling, or participating in a sport with countless practice hours, might not be able to meet the time commitment needed. Again, this if fine, especially when they can see that your life is spent doing something you like. The general sense that I got from the top college admissions officers is that the only thing they kind of frown on is the kid who chooses to spend almost all of their time studying for and taking standardized tests - you know, the kid whose EC is exclusively test prep, the one and who sits three or four times EACH for the SAT and ACT tests…

You seem like an interesting kid, who will work hard and do well wherever you end up. Hope this helps.

10

wow, thank you so much for your response and your time. That really really helped in terms of giving me a bit more peace of mind and gave me a greater idea of what I should be preparing for through my college journey. I appreciate your comment on my writing, I try to keep it as natural sounding without being too casual and it is one of my favorite things to do, so thank you :). I did begin to go to a therapist last year during the last month of school. My mom set it up for me herself because she thought I really needed someone other than parents and friends to talk about my anxiety too, and it did help a little bit but I stopped going during the summer. Maybe I will start again though because my anxiety is a problem that needs to be worked on.

11

wow, thank you so much for your response and your time. That really really helped in terms of giving me a bit more peace of mind and gave me a greater idea of what I should be preparing for through my college journey. I appreciate your comment on my writing, I try to keep it as natural sounding without being too casual and it is one of my favorite things to do, so thank you . I did begin to go to a therapist last year during the last month of school. My mom set it up for me herself because she thought I really needed someone other than parents and friends to talk about my anxiety too, and it did help a little bit but I stopped going during the summer. Maybe I will start again though because my anxiety is a problem that needs to be worked on. Thanks so much for the advice @3puppies

12

In my world, a 3.4 doesn’t cue a heart attack.

Whether or not your teacher was unprofessional enough to single you out for a 45, that’s still a million miles away from passing.

You were taking Algebra II the same year? In a different period? And the same thing happened to you? That pretty much defies the laws of probability.

And with grades 20 points below passing, you were taking extra accelerated math courses on the side? My advice would absolutely have been to drop the “extra” and concentrate on passing the courses you were taking during the school day.

Anyway… if you’re this lacking in confidence, why the push for a competitive, top tier enviornment? That will only increase your anxiety issues. Why not find a less competitive school, one that will help you with your academic and anxiety issues?

13

I am glad you took my comments the way they were intended - I was concerned that I’d come across as piling on.

If I can give you a bit more advice, while I understand you are a teenager so this will be hard, take a moment to thank your mom for everything she’s done for you. While being concerned for our children is part of the job, it can be very hard for some parents to accept that a therapist is sometimes what a child experiencing various levels of anxiety needs. She should be applauded for reaching out and getting a therapist appointment for you. Of course, it may freak her out - but that can be fun, too. :slight_smile:

As for continuing with a therapist, please do so. Do not be so concerned about the long term implications because they are unknown. Imagine yourself say 40-50 years down the road from now, reflecting that you have always had some anxiety, but also telling yourself that hey, its been pretty much okay, some of it has been pretty awesome and some of it sucked. Seeing a therapist doesn’t mean you have to have a goal of resolving all of your problems within 6-8 weeks or any set period of time. It means your goal instead should be to solve one or two problems, and begin to understand more about yourself in the process, thereby equipping yourself with the tools you need to face whatever life throws at you. It is fine to talk to a therapist whenever you need to, and it is fine to stop going to one for a while, if you’re back on track or if circumstances require it. But try to avoid neglecting your feelings for too long.

You say going to a therapist helped a little bit, but you stopped going during the summer. Did you stop because it only helped a little bit, or was it something else?

I wanted to ask, are you in a public or a private HS, and have you talked with a guidance counselor about your college application process? Where does Naviance suggest kids with your GPA have gone? Have you thought about which teacher(s) you may want to ask for a rec letter? And importantly, have you had the money talk with your parents about where you should be applying? Do you need huge merit money?

Have you thought about size of your preferred college campus? Have you been on campus visits?

14

One test score in geometry was a 45. My final grade was a C-, almost a whole letter grade below what I deserved since my grade was not updated. I had algebra 2 last year as well and ended with boderline B- @bjkmom

15

You have the grades you have. You have no test score yet. You need to find schools that are within the realm of possibility, or you are potentially looking at a lot of disappointment next year. Your list is reach-heavy and you know it.

I’m sorry you had a tough time, but please be realistic. Choose schools where your cumulative GPA and test score puts you in the top 75th percentile, AND where the acceptance rate is above 40%. That way you will have some safeties and hopefully some matches. A coach can advocate for you, but a coach can only do so much. You need a back up plan that will mean you have choices in a year’s time. Good luck.