<p>Hi,
I’m a sophomore at high school. I did not have great Freshman grades so I’m trying to get better grades this year. I’m looking at schools like Amherst College and Georgetown. I wish to join international relations career later, and I’m considering to volunteer as a tour guide at the Mass State House and attend foreign affair summer program. Will these be helpful? And is there anything else I should be considering, besides getting better grades?
Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Colleges are academic institutions and their first priority is finding outstanding scholars to fill their classrooms. If you do not have top grades and test scores . . . no amount of extracurricular activities, or summer programs will help you gain entry into schools such as Amherst or Georgetown. So, if you are interested in that kind of selective school, you need to do better in class!</p>
<p>Caveat: The exception to that rule is if you are a top-ranked high school athlete who is being recruited by a college’s athletic team (think: basketball, football, hockey, soccer, baseball, crew, fencing, swimming etc). Then, colleges tend to look at your athletic ability first, and your academics second.</p>
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The sentences in the first quote block above have several grammatical errors. I think most professors would shudder at the though of reading a 10-20 page paper written like this.</p>
<p>So what else to consider? Read all you can in the English language, take as many English classes as you can. Preferably with tough graders who are going to mark up your papers so you learn to write better.</p>
<p>Those majoring in International Relations are aiming at fields where what you have to sell is your ability to comprehend, explain, advocate. If this sampling is a fair representation of your writing skills then you’re not at the level you need to be in order to get good grades at schools like Georgetown and Amherst. Bad grades mean you won’t be attractive to future employers in your chosen field, nor will anyone be keen to retain or promote you if your memos and reports can’t be shared with clients or others at your company/agency.</p>
<p>You are in 10th grade. You have plenty of time to improve this, provided you start now.</p>