I’m a freshman in high school right now, but my GPA is a 3.38. If I work extremely hard, develop better study habits, and get much better grades in the future, would it be possible to be accepted into an Ivy League school? I’m planning on taking an AP next year, I play varsity basketball, I speak a second language, I’m part of several clubs(including Mock Trial), I am a TCK and have gone on numerous service trips. If it’s possible, what grades would I have to get and what things should I do to help improve my chances? Thank you!
is 3,38 w or uw?
More importantly, is your GPA the result of having a lot of Bs, or having Cs/Ds/Fs?
Unweighted, I’ve never had anything lower than a B.
Also-- my school is EXTREMELY competitive. Although I’m American, I am going to a private international school in S. Korea for my freshman and junior year, then moving overseas again for my junior/senior year.
Donut worry then, get involved in ECs, show passion and do well for the rest of your HS career. Solid grades for the next few years will demnstrate an upward trend and help to alleviate average freshman year performance. Also study for your standardized tests, and did I mention get involved in ECs?
Don’t despair, I know of someone who got into Dartmouth with a C on their transcript… remember the Ivies are very unpredictable.
Donut worry?
Do not**
haha okay thank you 
With your current GPA your chances are extremely low. But it’s not too late.
@jlee9233 your chances are low so be strategic where you apply to. Do not apply to all the ivies. pick 1-3max that you like best and apply. Also remember not all ivies have the same difficulty of getting into. for for instance if I were you I would not choose Harvard to apply to.
I agree with the above post re: having an upward improvements with your grades. In regards to the rest, what might be helpful is for you to look through the thread that shows what accepted/ deferred/ rejected candidates’ stats are. This will show how competitive you need to be, unless you have a hook, such as being a recruited athlete, etc.
Getting exceptional test scores would help boost your case as well. They will also be looking for lots of AP’s and, since you are still a freshman, you have no idea how well you will do in them. Taking 1 next year (AP World, probably), will give you a flavor for what those level of classes are like (I know many a HS student whose first non-A EVER was in AP World). I would caution you not to overload yourself if you are already putting up B’s in regular level classes.
Do not fixate on the Ivies - it’s a small number of schools with low acceptance rates and - as it is with many colleges - unpredictable admissions decisions. There are a lot of considerations beside prestige: COST, programs, size, location, culture, etc. You should be looking at the freshman profile for each school to see the ranges/average GPA’s, test scores, etc. Even if you meet or exceed those stats, it’s still a crapshoot. As @justverycurious mentioned, having a hook helps tremendously. In the meantime, start tightening up your study habits and priorities and get those B’s pulled up, keep up with the EC’s you care about (mock trial is a great one, BTW - stick with that if you can), take enough AP classes to show rigor without tanking your GPA, prepare for and take the SAT’s/ACT’s, apply to a variety of colleges (reach, match, safety) and you will find yourself being accepted to some very good schools.
Also, start considering schools outside of the ivy league if you don’t have the grades. Every school is a great school.
It is too early to worry about getting into an Ivy college. You don’t even have one full year’s GPA and you have no standardized testing. You also need to recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardizes tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes to consider colleges you will need to cast a wide net. Admission to an Ivy or equivalent school is a crapshoot for an unhooked applicant as the schools do not have space to accept all of the well qualified applicants. There are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there that can give you a great college experience and get you where you want to go in life.
It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but I would highly recommend that you get off of CC until your junior year.