I am a junior in high school, and I messed up freshman and sophomore year. Freshman year I took all accelerated classes, besides PE, Japanese, and my elective. Both semesters I main A’s and B’s (3.25 GPA first semester and second semester) with the exception of 1 reoccurring C (math class) both semesters. Then in sophomore year I did the same, accelerated classes with 1 D in the first semester (science class that I made up during summer school and got an A). The second semester, I got 2 C’s (math and science) . So my GPA for the first semester of sophomore year was a 3.0 (unless you switch out the D for the A then it makes it a 3.25 GPA). Second semester GPA was a 3.375…so about 3.38 or 3.4. Anyways, I believe my GPA was around a 3.3 for freshman and sophomore year combined.
Now in junior year I’m taking Honors…Chemistry/Pre-Calculus/English, then AP United States History, Japanese 5-6 (3rd year), Biotechnology 1-2, and Statistics at the university next to me (yes I am enrolled in a university during the regular school year)…and for the Statistics class I’m getting an A right now but I’m studying for the big final so my grade might go to a B or stay at an A.
Aside from all that, I’ve been doing 1 club for 2-3 years, sometimes I tutor a friend in Chemistry, and I can’t do other clubs at my school since they meet after school and I would have no ride home.
Main point is…I’m worried that me messing up freshman and sophomore year will have a direct effect on my chances to get into a competitive university like Stanford, NYU, Harvard, UCLA, USC, etc. I am very worried.
Oh and for my junior year, so far it looks like I’ll be finishing up with a B in my science/math class. No I have not taken the SAT yet
@anonymousplease1 Ok, first of all… relax, please. There are TONS of awesome colleges out there and you will find a great one for you. Now, to your question and specific colleges.
Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, USC and NYU are very competitive colleges for everyone. Even some kids with nearly perfect stats are not going to get into those schools, just because of the sheer number of applicants (UCLA got about 100,000 applicants last year.) So put those out of your head. If you want to roll the dice on an application, up to you, but those should not be the schools you concentrate on.
My advice to you is do some more research. Identify what is important in a college to you; size, location, particular area of study, cost (which is very important.) Once you know what KIND of school you want to go to, then you can start making a reasonable and managable list and see where your stats overlap with the accepted classes at those schools.
But until you have all your info in place, SAT or ACT scores, etc. you won’t be able to make a good decision. And if your grades preclude you from getting into the school of your dreams as a freshman, there are many other ways to go forward. If you are determined to attend UCLA, for instance, and your grades and scores don’t get you in as freshman, you can take the community college route and attend Santa Monica or LAVC or Pasadena CC and try to get in that way… (Even Donald Trump, who loves to brag about his Wharton diploma, started out at Fordham and transferred - and Fordham’s a perfectly awesome school on its own.)
But really, this early in your Junior year, you should be concentrating on school and your grades and ECs, finding what you think you might love to pursue in college and what it is you want in a college. Stressing over whether you can get into schools because of their USNews ranking is a recipe for heartache.
It’s so hard to bring GPA’s up. Pack on the extra curriculars and start now doing prep for SAT and ACT. Since your GPA is lower then others you need to stand out. Leadership, volunteering and an internship would be beneficial. Dont stress out too much, the past is the past, focus on the future and work really hard on your essays. Good luck!!!
Just remember people with 4.0 GPA and 35 on ACT are getting denied at Harvard etc. You may want to be a little more realistic.
I’ve already been accepted into an SAT Prep and I’ll be taking my SAT when they tell me to (I believe March, April, or somewhere around there). And to me, I was thinking maybe I wanted to pursue business, but then I thought maybe I want to do engineering. I’m stuck between the two and I’m pretty sure if I push myself I can do either. So I guess what I’m saying is, I want a college where I have leeway. I’m already guaranteed a spot in a Cal state, like Cal State…Long Beach, Dominguez, Sacramento, etc according to my school. I just want to try to get as high as I can get. Also maybe this would help, but for business I would want to do international business and aerospace engineering if I went into that field. @CaliDad2020
Thank you, I don’t actually plan to go to Harvard (doubt I could get in) but I just decided to write it down because it’s high up there with the other colleges I would want to get into. Also, I hope I can do an internship…I’ll try for something in the fields I’m interested in (business and engineering) @Alexandrasmom
@anonymousplease1
If you will for sure get into a Cal State, that is aces. Likely to be relatively affordable (but still pricey!) and they have many quality programs.
Engineering is a challenge. I don’t know the Cal State system as well as the UC system, but it is nearly impossible at the top UC’s (certainly UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB) to 1) get into Engineering without amazing math scores + grades. 2) Transfer into Engineering once accepted to the Lib Arts side (unless you go in and ace higher level math courses and even then, not easy.
Some Cal States (SLO, Pomona) are as good (and competitive) for engineering as most of the UCs. Others are not as well known. You can go on their websites to see about changing majors. I think that Cal State Northridge is fairly well respected for engineering and business as well. But again, don’t trust me, ask people who are more in the know.
Be sure you ask, as engineering is a specific beast. Very few schools allow you to easily move from business into engineering. It is easier (usually) to go the other way (but not always - you need to check.)
Basically, right now research is your friend. Start spending some time on school’s websites and you’ll get a feel for what schools might work for you, especially if you want to try engineering.
I agree with @Alexandrasmom, getting a 4.0 is barely enough to even be considered for those schools like Stanford, Harvard and USC and you don’t have that (sophomore and junior year are the most important). If you want to have a chance you really need something to stand out, an internship sounds like a good idea, or find a really impressive organization to participate in, competitive summer camps also look good. If nothing works out consider community college and try to transfer to a good university later, plenty of people do it.