Have I totally messed up my college potential?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I’m a 16 year old male living in Canada. </p>

<p>Grade 11 has ended, and my grades don’t look very good.
Here’s my final average for all my courses:</p>

<p>Biology 11 Honors - 81%
Chemistry 11 Honors - 91%
English 11 - 81%
French 11 - 75% (yea, I suck at french)
Computers 11 - 80%
Physics 11 Honors - 93%
Math 11 - 91%</p>

<p>(btw here, over 86% is A and over 73% is B)</p>

<p>Yea so my main courses are alright, but classes like french and computers have dragged my average down. I do have a reason for the lower grades though. Starting from second term, I had to prepare for three AP science exams at the same time. So basically I had to self-study Biology, Chemistry, and Physics 12 on top of my schoolwork. </p>

<p>My AP exam results were three 4’s. </p>

<p>Right now, I’m pretty depressed because I think these marks might totally destroy any of my chances for my dream universities. I really want to attend second tier universities like University College London, Imperial College London, UC Berkeley, UCLA, or University of Michigan.</p>

<p>(My dream college is University College London for Engineering)</p>

<p>I have many extracurriculars, the main ones being that I’m a webmaster, I’m really good at swimming, and I had a part time job for a long time. I also founded some clubs/minis etc but nothing special there. </p>

<p>In october, november, and december, I will take 4 SAT II’s and the SAT I. I’ve started studying a few days ago, and I’m determined to get good results. </p>

<p>So in conclusion, I just want to ask those of you who are really clear about this topic that whether my grade 11 performance will fail my chances for imperial college or other descent universities, and if I still have a very good chance at my dream colleges if I get good SAT’s and exceptional gr12 marks. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>They do not look at you GPA.
But Imperial and Universtiy college are all high reaches for you.</p>

3

<p>All those schools are tier 1 institutions. Your GPA will most likely be recalculated based on 90+ = A, 80+ = B, etc, so it’ll be lower than what you think.</p>

<p>I don’t chance people but be sure to pick some schools that you will get into for sure [safeties] and that you can afford.</p>

4

<p>On your Transcript does your school put the numbers or the letter grade of your courses.
If it Is letter Grade then you appear to have a ~3.4UW for this year, and depending on sophomore/Freshmen year, that likely makes many of those first tier colleges reaches for you. Find some Great matches and safeties that you love and are confident you can get into! Your Chances aren’t completely shot, you never know! Apply and see what happens!
Good Luck!</p>

5

<p>All of the U.S. schools on your list are first tier schools, very difficult to gain admission to particularly hard for people who aren’t residents of the state the colleges are in.</p>

6

<p>I am quite familiar with UK institutions. They care about your AP scores, and SAT can be a helpful bonus.</p>

<p>Interviews “make or break” your admission.</p>

7

<p>Your GPA is what it is – it looks good enough to not give up just yet. If I were you, I would focus all of my attention on prepping hard for your SAT’s and subject tests. My son prepped and it was intensive but worth the cost to get the help. His GPA is about like yours but his SAT’s are extremely high. Read the book A is For Admissions by Michele Hernandez! It’s fascinating about how the Ivy’s calculate an applicants AI (Academic Index) – they take your GPA and plug it into a formula with your SAT scores and subject tests. So don’t feel doomed yet – focus all of your efforts on getting the highest scores possible. Also, interstingly, get a job if you can (if you don’t have one already). Top colleges place a lot of weight on applicants that work P/T – flipping burgers is fine. Actually flipping burgers is much better than having an internship in your father’s law office in their eyes. </p>

<p>You obviously are a bright kid and are capable. Just focus on those SAT’s and subject test :).</p>

8

<p>just saw that you have already been working! You’re doing fine, don’t beat yourself up.</p>