So I messed up freshmen-junior year and I’m really hoping to fix it now, ( a bit late I know) so if I apply ED will my chances improve if I can get say a 90 average? And if I take the October SAT will I be able to send them the scores before they review my application? Thank you!
I don’t think that there is enough information in your post for anyone to give a useful answer. For example, for some people “messed up” means something less than an unweighted 2.0. For some other people “messed up” means that they once had a B+ to go with all of their A’s.
I will note that some people mess up quite badly in high school (the “less than a 2.0” type of mess up), but later end up doing very well in life. The main point is to find a reason to turn it around and then put in an extended effort over time.
Definitely doing well academically in the current year (the one that just started) will help you in the long run. There is time to turn this around.
By messed up I mean I consistently had around a 78-80 average throughout high school with no AP’s. Thank you tho
Applying early doesn’t change your record.
Find target schools were your record matches their expectations.
“I consistently had around a 78-80 average throughout high school with no AP’s”
I think that there are many options, such as:
- Start at community college, work very hard (community college will be more difficult than high school), get mostly A's, then transfer to a very good university.
- Go to a "pretty good" university (something like the #3 or #4 public school in your state, unless you are in California in which case possibly one of the CSUs). Study hard (same as above), get a solid degree which results in a job.
- Go to a "pretty good" university. Study hard (same as above), plan to go to an appropriate graduate school, which might be higher ranked, or might have a very good program in what you want to study, or might be appropriate for a wide range of reasons.
Something like a 78-80 average is not going to get you into an Ivy League school or anything ranked in the top 50 in the US, but it should be sufficient to get you into a reputable university. As @lookingforward says you should look for target schools where your grades are typical of incoming students. If nothing else works out then community college plus a transfer after one or two years is still an option.
There are multiple reasons why working hard your senior year of high school and pulling your grades up is a very good idea. Three reasons that I can think of quickly: (i) Some universities (not all), for students who are sort of very near the cutoff for admission, will wait to get mid-term grades from senior year before deciding (not all schools do this, but I have seen some cases where it did happen – in most the student ended up getting accepted with good mid-year grades); (ii) If you are not happy with the schools that you get into and take a gap year, then senior year grades will be very important, they also will matter if you want to transfer after only one year of community college; (iii) University will be more difficult than high school, and learning the study skills to get stronger grades will be very useful when you do get to university.
CC first, work harder,then transfer to your dream college.