I’m currently a junior in high school. Up until junior year I was doing really well in school, 4.0, 5s on both AP exams I took (WHAP and Chinese). My first semester of junior year went smooth too, straight As in four APs and a 1400 on PSAT (room for improvement). My extracurriculars included several orchestras, volunteering at a community center, NHS, Science Olympiad, and DECA. Then second semester came and I have never done worse. I failed an audition for all-state orchestra, was unable to medal in any of my events for Science O, and I haven’t been able to maintain my grades. It’s the end of third quarter and I ended up with 3 B’s. I know that I can bring one of them up, but unless a minor miracle comes along, there’s no way I can bring the other two up. I know that colleges pay most attention to junior year and I’m incredibly worried that they’ll see these two B’s in my junior year along with minimal EC accomplishments and immediately reject me. My worst fear is ending up at my state college because I hate living in my city. I’m aiming for schools like NYU but I’m starting to feel like I should lower my standards because of my meager ECs and falling grades.
Can you identify a reason for this? Is it personal, family-related, etc?
If it’s something you’re extremely concerned about and something that you feel has a story that you want to personally explain, college application typically offer a section in which you can offer an explanation on something in your application (think declining grades, absences, and more) that you believe needs clarification.
Two B’s in junior year is not that big of a deal as well. One or two in your high school career will not kill your chances. I finished with mostly A’s along with the occasional B. It is also more justifiable if you are taking difficult class like AP or dual enrollment.
The B’s are both in AP classes (calc and apush) I think my big issue is that I’m just suffering from burnout but I doubt that that’s what colleges like to hear lol.
I don’t think you have to worry too much. Just try to keep on doing what you’ve been doing! Junior year tends to be a huge stress-fest of AP’s, testing, etc. To be honest, I believe that everybody experiences something similar in high school, especially if you grow up in a competitive, “I need good grades” + AP’s environment. I went through a similar burnout in junior year.
If anything, find something to help you de-stress; try to find a hobby. I exercised and it helped because it offered a one to two hour window where I didn’t have to think at all.
I also don’t think that you have to lower your standards for college. All in all, who you are - as you can demonstrate in your essay - is a much more powerful portion of your application than two B’s in hard AP classes.
2 B’s one semester aren’t a big deal.
Also, NYU is exalted in high school students’ imagination but really, outside of Stern and Tisch, it shouldn’t be your goal.
So, stop stressing out. If you mostly have A’s, you can get into most colleges. Bringing your SAT score to 1450 will make most colleges in the US accessible.
Get a Fiske Guide and find 20 colleges you hadn’t heard of that sound good. Run the NPC on them. Bring the results to your parents and see what budget they have in mind (from income and savings).