@trfox7 Thank you very much. The middle school grades being submitted are high school level classes that I, being the student I was at the time, probably shouldn’t have taken because they seriously hurt my GPA. One of these classes, as you probably know being a New Yorker, was Living Environment. I was a lazy student who got by without doing hw and found a way to get an 85 on the regents. I hope to compensate this grade by getting a 7 on the IB test (the equivalent of a 5 on an AP test). I have already redeemed my low Spanish 2 grade by getting a 97 overall last year. The newspaper in my school is very large and I am starting to prove my worth by writing consistently excellent articles each issue. My problem is that I have very little power or say in what goes on. I have been trying to push for more environmental articles as well as more publicity for the science students. Regardless, I will submit some articles to the contests you have listed. Lastly, I am going to look more into the Columbia Honors Program. Thank you again!