I’m a sophomore and the third marking period, things were really hard and I was having some personal issues and got a C in APUSH. My parents say that there goes any chances for top schools. Is this true and should I just set my goals on 2nd rate schools instead? The rest of my grades are As
Is “third marking period” your final semester grade?
If so, that’s a significant negative on your transcript for an Ivy or WASP level school. That’s just the harsh reality. You’re now in a category (“Students with a C on their high school transcript”) that is at a huge statistical disadvantage at those few schools.
But you’ve got a long way to go. Junior year for tip top tier college aspirants is significantly harder than soph. year. The heavy AP schedule is a big jump in difficulty soph to junior. That C may not end up making a huge difference.
And then you have the issue of the ACT/SAT, if you don’t score in the top 1% (or very close) you’re not going to have much chance no matter what your grades.
Nothing wrong with setting your goals at the top, though. Just keep doing your best.
The good news is even if you don’t get into Harvard, Yale, Williams or Amherst there’s a decent chance you’ll still be ok somehow.
I have one more marking period left.
idk what to do now that I cant go anywhere in life
Generally only year end grades go on the transcript sent to colleges but check with your guidance counselor to see how your HS does it. And even as a sophomore you must keep in mind that even with a perfect GPA, perfect SAT and everything else in great standing that Ivy schools are a reach for almost anyone. This year acceptance rates were generally under 10% so these school can fill up many times over with qualified candidates. So do your best, apply to top schools, but also cast a wide net. There are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there so don’t limit yourself or your definition of success.
Two thoughts. As long as the C isn’t in a field you intend to major in, then one C isn’t going to make or break you. Independent of that, you should not be limiting your college thoughts to Ivy League schools. There are hundreds of great schools out there. Why reject 99.9% of them?
Schools will only see the final semester grade. So you have time to pull it up.
“idk what to do now that I cant go anywhere in life” — and your life was predicated on attending one of eight colleges? Do you see how overly dramatic you’re being? Don’t be that kid who cries b/c they didn’t get a 4.0.
Enjoy HS and push yourself. It’s not the college that makes you. You make your own life and college (practically any college) is simply a stepping stone. Been there, done that. You’ll be fine
@encadyma , don’t worry about your grades. Your acting is great. You can look forward to putting that Oscar on your fireplace mantle. 
Seriously, though. Please have some perspective. A C is not going to ruin your life. Even an F won’t. Even failing out of high school and doing a GED won’t ruin your life. You are, let’s say, 16? You have many years ahead of you to be successful in life. I am living proof. I failed classes in high school. It took me six years to finish college. In that time I was put on academic probation because I was getting Fs, not a C. I have since travelled the world, had a lot of fun, live in a nice house with nice kids, nice husband, nice pets.
What you do now is pull yourself together and do the best YOU can do, not the best that anyone else wants you to do. And let me speak plainly, the Ivies are 99.9% not going to happen, so the pressure is off. Please look at the many threads in this forum right now that are all called “I have a 4.0 GPA and 2400 SAT and I didn’t get in to HYP etc…Why?” As soon as you find some colleges that fit your stats, you will feel much better about things.
Like others said, colleges only look at the final year grade. So if you have A A C A for marking period grades, that would average to a B+/A-.
Also, read some of the other posts on CC these days. Alot of “I got 2340 on SAT and didn’t get into Ivy’s!”
Do the best YOU can, get help for the personal issues, and push on. Just because you get all As doesn’t mean you would get into an ivy…there are many many many awesome schools out there.