Hi
This summer I have changed lol and I really want to be able to get into a Ivy League/ Prestigious school in the US.
The problem is that in grade 9 and 10 I slacked off, didn’t care about my future,and ended up with horrible marks…
My grade 9 average would be 80%
My grade 10 average would be 70%
I know, it’s horrible and I regret so much I didn’t try harder in school
The thing is that when I actually tried starting this year, my marks are a lot better, and if I can maintain a 96%+ average in grade 11 and 12, would I still be able to intend an Ivy school, or Stanford and similar???
Would they see it as a reform in grade 11 and let it?
I am also in a sport that I have competed at a National level, and also leadership council at school for 2 years so far(not in executive position…yet)
So yeah… I would really love to be at a prestigious university in the US, so if I get really good marks in my last 2 years, would it still be possible??
Financial status is not a problem, not sure if it helps…
If you can become a recruited athlete for Stanford, and get stellar standardized test scores, write stellar essays, receive absolutely glowing teacher and counselor letter of recommendations then maybe…but honestly it will be very difficult. Your upward trend is very good, but it’s hard to look past a C- average for an entire year.
Any reason you got such low grades sophomore year and freshman year?
All I did after school was go to sport practice (it was every day 3 hour training) and then go home and watch TV or text or something lol…
And on weekends it was partying, so it was a miracle I even got a 70%
So basically I was stupid and lazy, but this year I have tried so far, and everything seems easy lol… I feel like I can maintain a 96 average if I dont do anything retarded…
BTW, whats a recruited athlete…? Because my sport is a water sport and there aren’t teams for my sport lol, only clubs and no schools have one, I’m sure of it lol
Ivy Leagues are out of reach, sorry. The hyper elites, too. Even if you maintain a 96 this year and next, you’re looking at maybe a 3.0 GPA. You can get into a school, certainly, but not the elites.
Focus on what you want out of a school (prestige isn’t a great reason) and widen your search. Start researching. If you’re Canadian, you’ll be an international–can you afford to pay full freight at a US university? (budget at least 100K for four years) If so, if you get good test scores, with a 3.0 you can get into some less selective privates or less competitive publics.
I was wondering, would a college like Chicago be possible?
I mean, if I was not going to be able to get into once of the better universities in the States, and they are lower than McGill (best in Canada, but not Ivy material) there’s not really much of a point…
Do you mean University of Chicago? Their admit rate is as low as the Ivies–7.8%. Not possible with a 3.0. If you think you can get into McGill with a 3.0 GPA, go there instead–I can’t see any of the “name” schools you’ve got your eye on accepting you based on GPA. The only way a candidate can overcome a C average as a sophomore is if their EC list is INSANE + top test scores + URM + recruited athlete.
From the perspective of the schools themselves, they have no incentive to pick you (~3.0GPA) when they are forced to reject thousands of applicants who have GPAs in the 3.8 or above range. Remove your emotional ties to this and look at this logic. Then act accordingly. It’s not a judgment on you – you certainly can make a great future for yourself. But very selective colleges are not going to be in your future. That’s simply reality.
Instead of looking at prestige schools, why not look for a school that will give you the optimal environment to be the best student (and person) you can be? Rather than Ivies or the large schools in Canada, take a look at some of the US Liberal Arts Colleges (LACS). If you aren’t familiar with LACs, they are small, undergraduate only colleges. They don’t offer pre-professional majors (so comp sci but not engineering, economics but not business - with some exceptions). Because they don’t have grad schools, many international students aren’t aware of them. But for a student who does best in an environment with small classes, a lot of faculty attention, a strong culture, a more nurturing and supportive environment, these schools are terrific - and many send a high percentage of students on to grad schools which know the LACs well.
If this sounds interesting to you to you, do some reading. LACs have strong, distinctive personalities. S liked the mid-western LACs for the low key unpretentious, understated vibe. Some are strongly hipster or ‘granola’ or artsy. Some are intellectual or preppy. Or some combination. One of the prime disadvantages is that you have to know yourself and know what would be a good fit (unlike at a huge school that has something for everyone pretty much.)
