My high school career has been immaculate. I took AP courses in 9th and 10th maintaining above a 4.0gpa (weighted). I started IB this year (11th grade) and realized I didn’t like the program. So I transferred to a non-IB Governor’s School. The thing about that is IB doesn’t have the same curriculum as the regular state of VA / AP curriculum. So the issue is that my teachers required me to take test the second day J attended the new school which drastically dropped my grades. (I have a 40 in APUSH and a 36 in Math.) I am truly freaking out as I had all A’s two weeks ago at my previous school. I don’t want this one hiccup to affect me getting into the Ivy Leagues as I have worked hard having good grades, doing community service, and participating in extracurriculars. Another thing that worries me is that; although I am in the eleventh grade, I was thinking about graduating early in order to take a year of community college / work in order to be able to graduate from an Ivy League without student loans. I am truly stressed out about this (and so are my parents.) Hopefully, there is something I can do about this.
Also, thanks for any replies in advanced.
You may want to examine this idea in more detail specifically for the school that you are considering. You would most likely be considered a transfer student. I suggest that you look at the transfer section of common data set for the school of interest. I looked at a few. P doesn’t allow transfers. H does not allow transfer credits. Y allows transfer credits however its acceptance rate for transfers (2.4%) makes the freshman rate look easy. Cornell has a higher transfer acceptance rate (19% vs 14%) than regular. I have no idea what the pool looks like, it may actually be harder.
That is startlingly bad.
You would probably have to beg your counselor/teacher/principal. Other then that, there is nothing you can do about your low grades.
If you are going to community college, it means you would be a transfer student and your high school grades wouldn’t matter.
There is probably no good way to get around the fact that you have transferred out of a rigorous program in 11th grade. If you are a top student looking for maximum rigour, you have just thrown in that towel. As most applicants won't get anywhere near an Ivy, you should make sure you have a nice solid plan B. You transferred in to all AP from IB? Did you have any discussions with your current school as to how that would affect you coming in at the end of quarter 1? Does you new school cumulate your GPA from the old school for a new cumulative GPA?
What tests did you take the second day of school? What were they for? Were they in the subjects you’d taken in the IB school? How did you explain your curricilumntobthe new school? Will they use your IB grades for first quarter?
You should ask your teachers, pointing out you hadn’t done the exact same curriculum before the tests, can they not factor those grades into your quarter report. But do explain you understand that now on you’re on your own.
(Why did you transfer out of IB after a few weeks? Sis you have trouble there? Get in trouble? How was that set up?)
No matter what, DO NOT graduate early. It would place you at a huge disadvantage compared to other applicants, especially at highly selective universities.
For highly selective universities (think top 40 national Universities and LACs), nor only is strong rigor expected (3-4 APs each of Jr and senior years, 6 academic classes per year, all three of bio, Chem, physics, foreign language up to level 4 or AP…) but also activities that set you apart in achievement, impact, originality. You need all 4 years of activities pushed to their maximum to even have a shot.
In addition, if you want to graduate debt free, you must NOT attend any college after graduation. You can dual enroll while in high school but attending a cc after graduation woukd make you ineligible for the best financial aid, which is reserved to freshmen.
The test were in subjects I haven’t covered APUSH and Trig. I just chose to leave IB as the IB program at my school was a joke and they actually offered less rigor than the APs im taking now. Furthermore I have taken at least four years of everything. I’m did this by taking AP math/science classes as electives during my lowerclassman years. But thanks for the advice. I am talking to the teachers to see if there is anything I can do to get exempted from these grades. I feel that if I have had a 4.7 GPA for 2 years and all of a sudden I end up with a “D” that won’t look good. Most likely, I will max out my AP classes at my current school this year and will end up only going every other day (AP Comp Sci, AP Eng 12, AP Stat, AP Chem) Which will allow me to work, to graduate debt free. Thanks for the input, I know this was a little bit unorganized but I tried hitting on each topic you mentioned.
^rather than taking random AP’s senior year, ask your GC whether you could dual enroll senior year. You could presumably take AP CS, A English 12, AP Chem at the high school, plus 2 community college classes (a math + a social science or a foreign language in the Fall, a social science or a foreign language + an elective in the Spring).
If you want to qualify for very selective colleges, you must have 5-6 academic classes every year.
-
Get your parents involved to talk to a principal. It does seem unfair to be forced to take an exam which you were unable to prepare for. Some accommodation seems in order.
-
Worry about the education, not the grade, and stop worrying about college. Do your best. What will be will be. Don’t let admissions committees rule your life. Own your life and be anything that you want to be.