I’m currently facing the big fish small pond diploma and am really stumped. Is being the bottom/in the middle of the class rank better at a really good school or is it better to be a top student at a bad (in terms of ranking and funding) school.
I recently transferred out of TJHSST (#10 public school in America and a magnet school in Alexandria, VA) because I was really stressed and my health wasn’t at its best. I ended freshman year with a GPA of 3.829 (weighted), which I know is really really bad, and I was wondering how I could bring it up. I didn’t take any AP/IB classes freshman year and am planning on taking a lot throughout my high school career. The problem is that the school I’m going to is super bad IB school (it’s prolly one of the worst schools in fcps) and I can’t transfer out bcuz the school offers like five AP classes (if I was to transfer, my reason would be the academic program). I don’t know if I should do the IB Diploma or just take classes like I would with AP. I just want to make up for how badly I did freshman year and get into one of my dream schools (MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, or Georgetown). Do I still have a chance? and is IB Diploma worth it? I want to do well in the future but can’t get past the mistakes I made freshman year. Please help
" I want to do well in the future but can’t get past the mistakes I made freshman year."
Your problem is right here. Let go of the past because you can’t change it and focus on how much potential you have. If you did get a 3.829 at the #10 public school in America, that is not bad at all. Colleges always love seeing improvement and they know transitioning into freshman year is difficult for many, so just keep up the hard work in whatever programs you take and you will be set. For your target schools, you want to be one of the best in context of your high school. Good luck
Your GPA is not bad. I think your strategy should just be to get the highest grades possible and you have a good plan to take some AP classes. Personally I think being at the top of the class at a poor school is better because colleges will want to take some top students from schools like that. The competition is fierce among those top schools in a place like Alexandria. I think you are better off. But with that being said you need to think outside the Ivys. The Common Ap has ruined the college application process and made it a craps shoot. You’ve read the stats. There are so many qualified and over-qualified students and so many applications that you can try but don’t put all your hopes into just those tops schools.
A 3.8 is a great GPA… good enough to be competitive among the ivy applicants. If you got burned out getting that, that’s fair, but then your issue is something beyond intelligence or even environment. Seek out balance before you seek out an ivy acceptance. There’s is little to gain in getting into a top school if it means you can’t make the most of your time there because you’ve got four more years of a grind.
3.8 gpa at Thomas Jefferson is like getting all A+s in average high school. But you have to study much more at TJ. Not a good idea for some students. Forget judging yourself and others based on grades. I got 3.0 GPA from a lousy HS in Fairfax County, so I know what I am talking about. Not many care about your freshman grades.
If I’m reading you right you’re a sophomore? If that’s true, know that there are some very selective schools that don’t even look at freshman year grades. Others that do will look at solid sophomore and junior years after a struggling freshman year as an asset, not a liability - you have faced adversity and triumphed over it.
Focus on what you are doing now and don’t worry about last year.
It might be good you are out of TJ because it is warping your sense of HS reality.
IB courses are for Juniors and seniors.
AP courses are mostly for Juniors and Seniors.
A 3.8 weighted GPA is not awful.
Just like college, you have to find a college that fits you. There are over 2000 4-year colleges in the USA.
It is good you found that in HS your HS did not fit and found one that did.