<p>Hey, all. </p>
<p>I really want your advice/input on my situation. I'm currently in junior year of high school and am having a rough go of it. Previous to this year, I had a 3.8 unweighted and over a 4.0 weighted. I took all honors courses freshman and sophomore year and was even accepted into a three-year course during eighth grade, ninth grade, and tenth grade that was outside of school and pretty hard to get into. I got a five on an AP english test and have taken three AP tests overall and done pretty well on them, all before I was a junior. I had great after-school activities and for all intents and purposes a student that wouldn't have trouble getting into a great school (in my opinion). </p>
<p>This year has been a bit of a struggle, however; it's been the first year I've really been challenged in school, and, in the end, I'm not very pleased with my first semester grades, which are as follows:</p>
<p>IB French--B+
Latin 2--A-
IB physics--B
IB english--A
Pre-calc--B-
Bio 2--A
IB 20th Century World History--A</p>
<p>The problem with my grades was mostly my first semester it was actually a challenge for the first time to handle both varsity swim team and school. For example, first marking period in French I had an B--88 percent--while second semester I had a 98 percent, clearly representing a problem with time. However, this isn't really expressed in my grades--they're just numbers--and I was never the kind of student who cared so much about my grades that I would rather stay up all night studying for an A than get some sleep for a B. There was also the component of so much physical activity made me so tired that it was HARD to do that when I needed to. Also, I got voted captain of my swim team for next season, which shows my commitment to the team. My final component was I had a problem with my math teacher--I had trouble adjusting to his teaching style/grading style. Also in regards to math, I'd argue that pre-calc is a pretty cumulative kind of class--one that you can only excel in with a great math background as you go through the courses before it. While I had a great teacher both Freshman and Sophomore year, I was part of a test curriculum freshman year, meaning that I had a different book and learned different things then the rest of my peers in my pre-calc class, and sophomore year, because of health problems, my teacher was gone for an entire semester and we had a sub. </p>
<p>In terms of my ACT scores, they're projected to be from a 28-32, depending on how well I do in math or not. </p>
<p>So, my question--weighted, my GPA is still okay, I think, but unweighted it's subpar. Have a completely ruined my chances at a great school, or am I being over-dramatic? Also, how much of this situation is explainable on a college application? </p>
<p>Basically--where do I stand in terms of a school like UNC-Chapel Hill (Dream School!) or Purdue or even Vanderbilt? These were schools I was looking at before but now I'm wondering if, because of this semester, I'm aiming to high. Should I adjust my goals?</p>