What will college admission officers think of this?

Applying to College
1

<p>Ok so for some reason this quarter in honors pre-calc I've been doing terrible. I understand all the material and know what I am doing but then come test time, I do stupid little mistakes which result in getting an average of 3-4 points off and the tests are worth 25 points so therefore on my last two tests I have gotten an 87% and an 84% with the last test I took which I predict I will get an 85-92% on and so I am completely freaking out. I've done the math and I need at least a 90 on this last test and 100 on the next one so I can barely get an A minus. I'm so disappointed I've been crying and worrying myself sick as I've never gotten a B. I understand it's no big deal but then I need to get an A on the final exam in order to get an A for the year and if I don't, then my A first semester doesn't even matter. I've never gotten a B before and I'm wondering what if I get a B for the year? How will it affect my chances at these schools:
Reaches:
Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Vassar, NYU
and my matches:
BC, BU, Fordham, American, Northeastern, Syracuse, Rochester</p>

<p>considering the following:
-4.8 weighted gpa [4.0 uw]
-28/29 ACT [hopefully will get higher next time]
-ranked in the top 10 in my class out of 650ish
-All honors/AP so hardest course load possible[8 APs total when I graduate]
-weak outside ECs however since my parents worked weird shifts/lots of overtime so I had to take take care of my brother and the house, but what ECs I do have I hold leadership positions in but are pretty generic- Spanish club, orchestra, freshman mentor, office/teacher aide but I will hopefully be selected as a zoo volunteer this summer/find a job somewhere and will being volunteering/researching at my local historical society.
-I think I'll have a good essay
-great recommendations
-will be a first generation college student and trilingual</p>

<p>I understand that people get into HYPS and other top schools who have received Bs, but I'm worried because of my ACT/ECs in combination with the possible B for the year. Sorry for all the info. thrown at you. I appreciate your time if you're read this far! So, should I just forget about my reaches? I don't want to waste my one shot at ED on a school like Cornell if they will just reject me, know what I mean?</p>

<p>Also, could you suggest some safeties for me in the Boston/NY area?</p>

2

<p>If i were you, I would not be freaking out about a B. I'm sure it won't have much of an impact on your GPA
Also, if you really want to get into your reaches, I would work towards a higher ACT score. That is what i'd actually be worried about</p>

3

<p>Yeah thanks, I am. I got the hardest book available and will be studying. I didn't score too hot since I was a sophomore when I took it and I never learned some of the stuff on the test (we hadn't learned about summations until this year and that was on there) and I kept getting distracted and left 14 blank for grammar. So I do expect to do better, hopefully at least a 29/30.</p>

4

<p>I agree with isa17--don't freak over one B. It's definately not going to hurt your overall GPA at all. You really don't need straight A's to get into the most competitive schools. Retake the ACT and see how you do--that'll have more of an impact than the GPA. Good luck!</p>