Hi CC, I have browsed this site but this is my first thread. This upcoming year I will be a high school Junior. I am trying to get an idea of colleges I would like to attend. My freshman year was not stellar (3.58 gpa) however I took a hard course load for my 1st year. Honors wold history (took the AP and got a 3), honors English, honors alg 1 and honors biology, on top of all the regular courses. The only way I could have made this harder was to take honors Latin. Sophomore year (gpa is not in yet but i expect 3.6 -3.7) AP US history (didn’t get AP results yet), Honors chemistry, and honors geometry (no honors english). Next year I will be taking AP bio, AP english, AP government and honors alg 2. I attend very good private Jesuit High School. I hope to next year pull a 3.8 or 3.9, I had a rough start to high school but have a trending gpa and attend a very good school. What tier of colleges do you think this is worth of, I’ve considered Dartmouth but realize that it would be a very far reach. Could I still attend a decent college with these stats?
based solely on stats I don’t think you’re high enough for darmouth. You could attend a decent college for sure, it just won’t be ivy. If you have good extracurriculars you’re in good shape
Even If i were to pull a 4.0 next year do you think my freshman and sophomore year would pull me down to hard to get into an ivy or schools such as duke?
Ivies and Duke don’t only judge based on grades. You need something else. Can you post some of your awards or extracirriculars?
EC: conservative caucus, St. Michael’s company (sending care packages and letters to troops), and chorus. On the same note since most colleges although not all all liberal (I don’t have a problem with this even though I am conservative) would they look down on a conservative club? I highly dough they would judge based off political beliefs but I am just curious. I also completed a service course which included about 2 or 3 hours of service a week for 1 semester.I have also completed 2 SAT subject tests, and freshman year was accepted into a special program with honors English and history.
Your junior grades and standardized test scores will be critical, and so it is impossible to predict your outlook yet. If you perform well, with a high degree of rigor, your conservative outlook will not keep you out. You are looking at colleges that reject the vast majority (more than 90%) of applicants, most of whom will have grades equal to or better than yours.
do you have a position in conservative caucus? I would consider some mid-tier colleges. Wow just realized you’re not even a junior. You have so much time ahead of you to do something great. Start a business, start a charirty, create a club, get a presidental position, make an impact on your community in some way next year. I can tell you that there’s so much opportunity out there you just need to look for it. I think you would have a chance at very high tier schools if you get like a 4.0 junior year and develop your extracurriculars.
My passion is reef aquariums and hope to start a club about that next year with my AP bio teacher. I’m not going to lie I slacked off freshman and sophomore year but am very confident that I can pull off 4.0 or a little higher next year if I work hard enough. I realize I probably can’t get into an ivy but I might as well try.