<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school. I was a straight-A student throughout middle school, and my freshman year of high school I managed to pull a 3.6 UW GPA, with two honors classes. This year, I've moved up. Last quarter, my grades were as follows:</p>
<p>Accounting- A
Spanish III Honors- A
Gym- A
English II Honors- A
Algebra II A- B
Band- A
Biology- B+ (It was an 89%..)
APUSH I- C</p>
<p>I moved up in both English and History this year, and I took Algebra I in 8th grade, so I was able to take Geometry my Freshman year, and then Algebra II this year. This quarter, my grades have gone down a bit-- I think I'll be able to get the same grades. I wanted to raise my APUSH grade, but my teacher is hard, though I'm definitely going to try harder. Now, I only have three more weeks left in this quarter before we have midterms. As long as I keep my grades up, and do well on my midterms, my grades should stay the same, though I think I'll be able to raise my biology grade to an A, and keep it that way with my midterm.</p>
<p>Also, next semester I'm going to attempt to get straight A's, or at least a 3.7 GPA. But this is my main concern: Are these grades in my sophomore year going to hurt my chances at getting into a good college? I've been looking at Ivy Leagues, but I think they may actually be out of my league-- both monetarily and academically. Though, I have also been looking at schools such as Colgate, Lehigh, BU, UVA, etc.</p>
<p>I appreciate it if you've taken the time to read this post. All I'm worried about is that my chances at getting into a good college are going to suffer because of my lousy grades/GPA my sophomore year of HS. Maybe someone will be able to give me some advice?</p>
<p>It obviously will hurt your chances, since it doesn’t help your chances. But getting one C is not the end of the world, even for Ivy league colleges. Try to maintain an upward grade trend - that’s all I can tell you.</p>
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I’m so tired of hearing this. Is this really how you’re supposed to vouch for the fact that you’re a “good student?” Middle school was a complete and absolute joke. Non-AP classes are a complete joke. The only AP class you’ve taken so far, you’ve gotten a C. You know what this tells the Ivies? That you’re not ready for high level college work. IMO, this, when coupled with a bad freshman year, means you have no chance for the ivies without a major hook.</p>
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What? Were you sandbagging for the last two years? Everyone who’s not an idiot attempts straight A’s. The question is can you get them…judging from your previous work, you can’t. School doesn’t get easier, it gets harder. Go figure. Unless you’re going to magically get smarter, the work is only going to get more difficult and more time consuming and you’ll probably do worse. Just my prediction.</p>
<p>That said, you can still get into a decent school by normal people’s standards.</p>
<p>^ QFT.</p>
<p>Middle School means jack **** now.</p>
<p>Well forensicwhiz94, I completely disagree with funstuff. I had a 2.9 freshmen year, granted I did not care at all, and now I have a 3.9 with 4AP classes and 2 college classes. Just make sure to have a steady upward trend. I mean, in my mind, what does a B matter in algebra 2 if you have an A in Calculus, granted, it might take a LOT of work if you’re actually struggling in Algebra 2 and not just slacking off.</p>
<p>I would recommend, however, taking sumer classes - which I did - if you’re really serious about getting into top schools. Just make sure to do mental pushups and marinate in knowledge! </p>
<p>I would definately recommend finding a passion also and persue it actively. I decided to start my company and have my friend’s dad who was VP at Ebay North America mentor me and help me get financing. I would also try to start networking now, for instance, if you’re part of clubs, and manage PR or Marketing, I would get contacts with businesses and entrepreneurs in your town, granted your interested in business, and use those contacts to get you in the door to chamber of commerce meetings. The, attempt to join local boards for your downtown (such as marketing board, event planning, young entrepreneurs, there are a lot of boards if you go to your chamber of commerce!). If you’re interested in science, and you’ve had a professor come to your school for a career day/lab day, email him, and ask if he has summer research positions avaliable. We had a PHD come in from UofM and I inquired about a position in his lab, and he was more than willing to allow me to help and learn about biotechnology.</p>
<p>Hope some of that helps!</p>
<p>Hmm…I just read FunStuff’s post and for some reason I read it as if he were yelling at me, and I felt completely destroyed, even if it isn’t me he is talking about. o__________O</p>
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<p>Y’know, you should probably actually quote someone when you use those letters.</p>