I just finished my first semester of tenth grade, and my absolute dream school is UC Berkeley. Admittedly l really slacked off and ended with three Bs in my final grades. I’m a fairly strong student otherwise (1570 SAT and 1520 PSAT) Could I compensate for this by taking 7 AP classes next year and searching for really good ex’s? I swear to god I’ll do anything to get As from now on. Or are my chances just ruined?
I meant ECs not exs
7 APs is extremely intense. I would not do that unless maybe AP courses at your highschool are offered on a semester basis. Your chances are by no means ruined, but definitely make sure to get great grades for the rest of the year, and esspecially junior and senior year. Good ECs are also important for selective schools. Don’t waste your time doing activities that aren’t interesting to you just for the sake of getting into college. Do things where you show a deep genuine interest in what you want to study. Good luck.
IMHO 7 APs is way too much, and this strategy is very likely to backfire.
If you do get into UC Berkeley, it will be a LOT more difficult that the classes that you just got B’s in.
Keep your grades up from now on and you should do fine.
Taking 7 APs seems like unnecessary “punishment” for earning some Bs during an early year of high school and seems really excessive.
Your test scores are extremely strong already, and if these Bs are the only Bs you have ever gotten, having 3 Bs on your transcript as an underclassman is not anything to become despondent over. As of now, you are far from having “completely screwed up” your chances.
You might, however, seriously compromise your chances if you take over half a dozen AP classes and adopt a slew of time-intensive ECs solely for the sake of college admissions, causing you to potentially burn out in the middle of the most important year of high school (at least from admissions standpoints), which is junior year.
Why did you take the SAT sophomore year?
Didn’t have that much to do last summer so I just wanted to get it out of the way.
Harsh reality time. 7AP’s is over the top and I believe counter productive.
If you have scored a 1570 as a Sophomore you clearly have the natural intelligence, but do you have the focus and the discipline to do what is necessary to get into the elite schools?
This is a choice with no wrong answer. You can “relax” and enjoy your classes and gets some B’s. With a 3.7 plus and your SAT score unless your recommendation letters and essays are bad you are going to get into some great schools but not likely the most elite schools.
Those B’s as a Sophomore have not negated your ability to be accepted at Berkeley or any where else. Only you in conjunction with your family can determine if the amount of effort it takes going forward is worth the possible sacrifices necessary.
Your emotional health comes first! You can accomplish anything you wish to in life without going to one of the most elite colleges. Make a decision, don’t look back, be healthy!
Guess I won’t actually take 7 APs, I might’ve been overestimating my abilities there. I just hope I can find something else that’ll help Berkeley to look past this semester. I realize that normally 3 B’s shouldn’t kill my chances, but my class has more than enough 4.0 students at the moment and with these grades I won’t be able to compete.
Take Dual Enrollment instead.
First of all, i think colleges only see your final grades for a course… So get A’s next semester. Then possibly your final grades could be A’s.
Next you have to decide:
Is Berkeley my goal? Then I cannot slack off…i have to figure out why i did not study as much as I wanted and take steps to change that.
or
Is having a reasonable HS experience my goal? Then my college plans will change.
I would say keep up that goal so you can do the best you can.