<p>I’m currently a junior in highschool and I honestly did not do well freshman year, for many reasons. Like I was going through some stuff and blah blah I didn’t do as well as I hoped. I’ve gotten my grades up and am taking challenging classes and trying a lot harder, but freshman year has impacted my overall GPA (which I’m not sure of at the moment) badly.</p>
<p>I want to major in English or journalism, something along the lines of that. I’m just not sure where to go, maybe somewhere in the Northeast area. And because of my grades, I don’t think I’d get into places like Duke or Cornell, which are basically my dream schools.</p>
<p>I’m a strong writer so I could write a mean essay, I have my EC’s in check and am taking SAT prep, but I want to know which schools would be achievable for me, with my 95avg (my school only does number grades), recently an 188 on the psats, and AP classes and such. Thankssssssss</p>
<p>Can your family afford to pay full freight to any school or will you need some aid?</p>
<p>After you take your SAT and ACT, you’ll have a better idea of where you’ll get accepted. Writing killer essays may only take you so far. :)</p>
<p>And, money may also be an issue. Ask your parents how much they can spend each year on your education.</p>
<p>Just because your freshman year grades were bad doesn’t mean your chances are gone for good. If you have an upward trend, many colleges will be understanding. Also some schools don’t even consider freshman grades.</p>
<p>wittywonka - Do you have a list or any examples of those schools that don’t consider freshman grades (especially in the NE)? </p>
<p>The only ones I’ve heard were on the west coast. It could really help the OP and others to have that info.</p>
<p>OP, if I’m reading your correctly you have a GPA of 95? Which I assume is an A? That’s fine for Duke and Cornell, especially if unweighted. Your problem with those schools, it sounds like, would not be your GPA but your SATs, if they match your PSATs. Scores of around 620 or 630 on each section, while perfectly respectable, are usually not high enough for those schools.</p>
<p>There are certainly plenty of good schools that are good places to study English where a person with a 95 GPA and that kind of SAT can get in.</p>