<p>Hello all. Lately I have been thinking more and more that I should try harder so that I can get into a great college. My freshman year in highschool went terrible, and I had a mediocre 3.4 GPA. But, I was thinking, if I could get a 3.8 GPA (pretty simple if I study for tests, as I didn't for one test in freshman year). Would it be possible for me to get into a top 25 school like Carnegie Mellon for example? It could prove that I am willing to work hard to get there to the college, and I would have a good GPA for sophmore and junior year. Also, I will have around 100 or so hours of community service by the time I apply, and I am on my tennis team at school. Do you guys think I can get in?</p>
<p>I might as well say that I take latin and plan to continue it for all my high school time ( latin teacher said colleges like people who take latin because it means they are serious about education, and he was on the admission board for Conell). Also the tennis team is a varsity team and I made it freshman year.</p>
<p>Finally I will like to add that I would want to appy to the Engineering school there.</p>
<p>all i can say is : GPA, SAT, EC</p>
<p>You could totally get in to a top 25 University. Most colleges dont pay that much attention to freshman year. If you work really hard and raise your GPA to a 3.6/3.7 cumulative, you will have a much better chance. Also, try studying for the PSAT now, if you want a realistic view of how you fair on standarized tests. I'm not saying go out and buy all those prep books, but just review your math and english skills-especially if they're your weaker subjects.</p>