@Isutiger25 I have a few points to make in reference to your situation. First, enjoy your 7th grade and DO NOT worry about IMSA, just continue to do well in school, do a lot of activities, and hang out with friends. Make it a priority to apply in 9th grade because high school is a great experience in my opinion. You grow a lot more in high school than any other place. I know personally that I am a completely different person from middle school and high school. Second, getting a B in any class isn’t great for your application. It will not ruin you but try to improve. Also, being in an advanced class doesn’t excuse anyone from getting bad grades (just a general comment), you were placed in that class for a reason. A side point is that I don’t know your school district but at least where I am, it is normal for advanced 7th graders to take Algebra 1 and by 9th grade you would take Alg. 2. IMSA only uses Science, Math, and English. Just focus on those and getting straight A’s. In my view it is the 1. Essays, 2. Grades, 3. SAT, 4. Activities. A lot of the application info can be found on the IMSA website/FAQ, just go there first and they will explain it better than us. Finally and most important, enjoyyyy middle school and keep having fun. Use high school as a time to grow and don’t worry about your sister making fun of you. That is what siblings are for 
Good luck!
@theeedog Thanks! If I get straight A’s from now til like January of 2016, will the grades be ok?
@Isutiger25 Yeah they want to see growth. Keep taking hard classes and excelling and you will be fine. They might excuse some of your past troubles if you apply in 9th grade because they won’t see any of your 6th grade.
@theeedog Also, will I have to write an essay in order to get into IMSA?
@Isutiger25 4 to be precise. Check out this link for all of the application info https://www.imsa.edu/admissions
@theeedog I am reading this website, and I am confused on what they mean by “turn in evaluations and transcripts by March 1st,2015?” What are transcripts and evaluations and how would you get them?
Transcripts are your grades and evaluations are like letters of recommendations @Isutiger25. Make sure to utilize your sister when you apply.
@theeedog So in your application you do not mention your grades, but then you send your grades through mail to IMSA? And for evaluations, is it like the school has to recommend you, or like teachers, or whom?
@Isutiger25 Everything is online and your counselor does the grades. The evaluations are done by teachers. Just keep reading all these questions are answered in different spots, just click around and explore.
@lsutiger25 just google imsa application PDF and you’ll see the 2014 application online, it’s nearly the same as the one I filled out, except for the dates being different
@SquadLeaderZ do you consider essays the most important thing? If one was a bad writer but still tried and revised essays as many times as possible would that hurt? I don’t consider writing a strength of mine…
@lsutiger25 no offense but taking advanced course work does not make you special. It would be rare to find an applicant who wasn’t taking classes like you, and those cases are mostly because they come from a school where those classes aren’t offered. The typical imsa applicant has been in an advanced track for a while, so yes they expect advanced classes and like seeing A’s in them. There is a place on the application where you can explain the reasons for getting a lower grade than you wanted, but if you consistently get B’s and C’s that won’t help you. Sorry if that sounded rude, it’s just what I know about the process.
@ptvnicorn Don’t worry, it isn’t so much about your writing skill as it is what you wrote about. A kid is more likely to get accepted if they wrote badly about how much they love science than a kid who wrote really well about how much they don’t like doing work.
Yes, the essays are the most important thing: the admissions team rates applicants through essays and recommendations before they consider grades and scores. Nobody gets cut solely on their essays (unless it’s horrifically obvious that their parents wrote them), but they are your first impression.
@ptvnicorn my friend from rich south i was talking about is taking AP Bio as a freshman. since rich south is an economically disadvantaged school i think he got some advantage
does imsa look at past accepted students from your school and compare you to them?
guys, so… I’m taking the hardest classes offered at my high school next year. im taking honors bio, so does that mean i’m in a disadvantage against other people who were already taking honors chem.? i mean, it shouldn’t matter right because i’m taking the hardest classes in MY school?
@vniatge It shouldn’t matter what class you took in terms of division of science. You took an honors class and that is all that matters in this case. Think of it like this, IMSA is an academy for math and science, which means ALL math and science. As long as your passion for either of those things are there, they don’t care. @sherlocked221 They only look at each class’s pool of applicants. They do not even compare applicant to applicant in the same class so they do not compare from previous years.
i can’t believe this thread has been going for so long- we’re getting really close to may! i can’t even think about imsa decisions bc school has been getting so intense. how about you guys?
@kidfood thanks. does imsa always search an applicant through google? just curious
Yeah school has been getting pretty intense. All the clubs and activities and sports are taking their toll. Basically every day of the business week I’m arriving at school around 6:30 and coming back home at 7 and then on saturdays I have tournaments for 1/3 of the day. It’s getting pretty exhausting. Not to mention it doesn’t leave much time to study for the AP exam and finals. I’ve literally uninstalled the windows OS from my mac just so I’m not tempted to waste my time on online games this final 1-2 months.