<p>I am currently in high school and very fervently hoping to get into Harvard. However, during my freshman year, I completely screwed up. I took all regular classes, got Ds and Cs, and a low GPA and class ranking. But by summer, I changed, and from my sophomore year up, I take all honors and AP courses with straight As. I also went from speaking two languages very fluently (spanish and english) to learning two more (latin and german).</p>
<p>Currently, I think im going on the right path. But would such a mess from my freshman year in my transcript hurt my chances seeing as how there is a bunch of kids like me who got straight As all four years? Or will it improve them seeing as how I made a 180 degree turn?</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone here is enough of an expert to answer your question, but your transformation is truly phenomenal…I recommend writing about it in an essay (there is a space on harvard’s application to include an essay with additional information–this is a perfect place to explain your situation). if you are able to explain eloquently and persuasively how you changed and why it is permanent, i think you have a great chance–make sure to take SAT IIs in those languages to show your mastery…best of luck and keep up those grades…by the way Princeton and Stanford do not look at freshman grades, you might want to look into those colleges too</p>
<p>you were getting Cs and Ds, and now you want to go to harvard? while the turnaround is impressive, i must say you are setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. unless you had a legitimate reason for the screw up, such as family death and such, it’d be unlikely that harvard would pick you over tens and hundreds of other spectacular applicants who have succeeded DESPITE family death and disabilities</p>
<p>I think that such a turnaround is exactly what Harvard wants to see! you clearly have great potential–you just didn’t realize it in your freshman year. I’d say you have an excellent chance of getting in!</p>
<p>why would harvard care if someone’s freshmen year sucked, but he ended up just as good as anyone else? It’s the final product that matters, right? I think you are just as competitive as anyone. If you have a legit reason for freshmen year’s grades and can put it nicely in an essay, that might even put you ahead of the game.</p>
<p>If someone has to be perfect for his entire life in order to have a shot at harvard, then what would happen to all the kids whose parents, like my friend’s, don’t even know what AP’s are (until they had to pay for it)? As long as you show clear potential to be the best of the best, anything goes.</p>
<p>btw, if it’s not too personal, what was your reason for screwing up?</p>
<p>^^ you can be as optimistic as you want, deanthemachn. the truth is, admission is unlikely if the OP got Cs and Ds his freshmen year. if harvard did not care about freshmen year, why doesn’t it imitate princeton and stanford and discard freshmen year?</p>
<p>many many people get rejected who have done well ALL 4 years AND had gone through many misfortunes</p>
<p>MetDethGNR, if you really did make this complete overhaul in the way you think and work, then I suggest you ignore psychotickevin completely and utterly. </p>
<p>You are in a unique position to make a lasting and positive impression on the admissions committee. The two things you need to do between now and the time you apply is read and write, as much as possible. Write, because being able your ideas and feelings (and explain your conversion) clearly and honestly, without sounding like you’re kissing up, is the only skill that will prove to them you’ve changed. Read, because nothing else will teach you what makes really good (or really bad) writing. </p>
<p>Harvard cares about you taking advantage of every resource available to you in order to develop a reasoning, thinking mind. Granted, you didn’t do this freshman year. But you have one advantage: you have <em>learned</em> this value, whereas most other applicants have had it shoved down their throats and/or pursued it like robots all their lives. Demonstrate that you have learned this, and of course continue to maintain your grades, and your case for admission will be as strong as any.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me anytime if you have any more questions, I’d love to help any way I can!</p>
<p>There was no reason why I screwed up. I just went from been the stereotypical hispanic female to really wanting to succeed. I was very angry at how everyone looked at what I considered “my group” (race). I wanted to show everybody: “Look everybody I fit your stereotype perfectly well and I’m going to fail.” But then, I met a military sergeant that changed my life. He motivated me so much and made me realize that whatever the stereotypes out there, I am a worthy American citizen that can prove great to society. </p>
<p>Although I know that my freshmen year might put me in a disadvantage, I also know that I still have a chance. It’s true that alot of kids who are “perfect” all four years still don’t get in- but I realized my mistakes just in time to make a change. Instead of 7 classes per year, I took 12. The extra 5 been online. I made sure to spend my summers at the community college getting more classes that interested me. I raised my GPA from a low 2. something to a 5.0.</p>
<p>Again, thanks for all your replies. psychotickevin, its true what you say about other kids. This might prove trivial but I just want you to know that I didn’t go through any “misfortunes.” I always had everything economically, socially, and family wise. I just decided to change my life.</p>
<p>you DEFINITELY need to address this in your essay. your story is VERY inspirational and it will really resonate with the committee (tell them what you told us)</p>
<p>be confident and aim high–you may get rejected from harvard but so do tons of 4.0 students, you never know if you don’t try. as i said before, princeton and stanford would happily take you because they ignore freshman grades–actually in your situation id say it would STILL help to tell those colleges about your freshman grades because your turnaround was that great. you made up for your low achievement by going above and beyond–even straight A students don’t take summer community college courses and 5 extra online classes</p>
<p>DeantheMachn thanks for the support! To answer to psychotickevin, yes I do extracurriculars, although Im afraid they are not as strong as the ones in common Harvard applications. They include FBLA (historian/webmaster for now), BPA (historian/webmaster for now), Political commitee (Republican…hehe), and the Latin Honor Society chapter of the Classical Junior League. </p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies guys. I conclude now after all your arguments that I do have a chance (yay!) and that apparently, I must address this in my application. </p>
<p>I’m in this same situation. Don’t let anyone get you down. I know how hard you had to work to make your 180 turn, and it is impressive, shows initiative, and will get you places. Apply to a few places other than Harvard, but don’t think that anywhere is too much of a reach just because of your freshman year grades. As a previous poster said, they want the person you are now; it doesn’t matter who you were in the 9th grade.</p>