Re-taking Junior Year; is it worth it for getting into top colleges (ivy)?

Applying to College
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<p>So, right now I’m currently a junior at one of the best public schools in the country, but I’m considering re-taking junior year at a prestigious boarding school on the East-Coast to do better in academics, and ultimately increasing my chances of getting into a top 20 school (USC, Georgetown, Duke, IVY LEAGUE, etc). </p>

<p>It all started like this; after having a mediocre sophomore year in all Honor classes (Received mostly B’s and one A), I was determined to do exceptionally better this year. However, I failed to live up to my expectations; this semester, I received, again, all B’s in my AP and Honor classes, but even worse, I received a C in AP Statistics. Knowing junior year is, hands-down, the most important year for college, my chances at top 20 colleges seemed unreachable. But again, I have one more semester to go, and a bunch of AP exams and Subject tests in the spring. I also got a 2350 on the SAT. I’m on the board for a few national organizations, President of my Class, Exec. Chairman on Student Council, and I also host large concerts to raise money for charity (My EC’s are extremely impressive compared to IVY league applicants). </p>

<p>So, really, my question is it worth the time, money, and ultimately the energy to re-take my junior year at a boarding school, such as Deerfield or Philips Academy, to better my academic record? I have one more semester and a bunch of tests to prove, so do I still have a chance at schools like USC, or Michigan, or even Emory? Is a C honestly the end of the world for me when applying to top 20 schools? And if I do retake junior year, how am I honestly going to get positive recommendations from my guidance counselors at my current schools, especially when I have a tight bond with them? </p>

<p>Please give me some thoughtful and honest feedbacks and responses. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>No.
Ivy leagues are a crapshoot; the risk of you not getting in after wasting a year at a private academy is very high, and therefore not worth the gamble.</p>

<p>Also, I think you should reevaluate your standing with other applicants, your extracurriculars seem pretty standard to me. Charity and volunteering isn’t worth as much as you think. Also, being “on the board” for a few “national organizations” is very vague, if you’re the president of Key Club international, that might be something worthy. If you’re just a board member for some no-name organization, it looks pretty average. It seems to me like you frontloaded a lot on “service” extracurriculars, which are not particularly impressive. </p>

<p>That isn’t to say that you’re not a good candidate, but I’m just stating my first impressions.</p>

<p>Also, that year would be better spent by taking a year at a no-name college then transferring. If you really want to go to an ivy league institution, this is a better bet. This route gives you two chances to apply, and it is much easier to be accepted to an ivy league institution as a transfer student. This way, you get more chances, and each one of those chances have a higher percentage chance of succeeding. Also, you spend less money and get to enjoy a year in college instead of wasting 3 years in high school.</p>

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<p>I don’t get it.</p>

<p>If you already attend “one of the best public schools in the country,” what makes you think expensive prep school is going to be that much more appealing to colleges?</p>

<p>If you’ve already turned in lackluster performances in public school, even after you were “determined to do exceptionally better this year,” what makes you think you actually would do better at Deerfield or Andover?</p>

<p>And even if you went to Deerfield or Andover and excelled, you couldn’t completely eclipse the transcript from your current school. You’d have to submit it.</p>

<p>I think you have a very basic problem: you want to go to a college that matches your high SAT scores, but you don’t have the grades to match. I’m not sure you can get another do-over. I think you need to start thinking about a realistic college list, including appropriate safety and match schools.</p>

<p>Not the answer you want, I know. But it’s what I really think. Sorry.</p>

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<p>So, I should just stay at my current school and finish off the year very strong? Because I’m not confident with your suggestion of taking a year at a no name college.</p>

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<p>

Yes.</p>

<p>

Don’t believe this. Ivy League transfers are difficult and rare.</p>

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<p>No no you should no do your idea.</p>

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<p>To be completely honest, even if you got straight A’s during junior year, you would still not get in if you floored your sophomore year with B’s. You will not get into an ivy league college, and I doubt you’ll get into a college in the top 20, just based on your grades. Therefore, going to another (probably harder) high school has 3 implications:

  1. it won’t help
  2. you’ll probably do worse
  3. you waste a year
    Your extracurriculars don’t seem that impressive. Basically, you’ve messed up to the point where you can’t really cover up for your mistakes. You should go to your state college and transfer. If you’re not confident with my suggestion, then you will spend your years at a no-name college anyway. I know a friend from Whitman college with a 4.0 who transferred to Columbia relatively easily. Transferring is the only shot you have at an ivy league; you will more than likely not make it straight out of high school.</p>

<p>Also, you seem to think that you are entitled to an ivy league school. First of all, there are a ton of colleges that are excellent that happen not to be ivy league schools, and there are also ivy league schools that are not up to par with HYPS. Secondly, the only reason why you feel confident is because of your 2350 SAT and your national level extracurriculars no? A 2350 SAT is average for anyone who seriously thinks that they have a shot at a prestigious college, and ALL of your extracurriculars are service activities, which is the hardest and least considered ec when it comes to colleges. Anyone can serve; you don’t show extraordinary aptitude through your pure service. </p>

<p>You don’t necessarily have to go to a “no-name” school. Just lower your expectations to rank 20-40ish schools. USC, UVA, carnegie mellon, etcetc. Then you can transfer easily your sophomore year.</p>

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<p>*I just read Sherpa’s comment
I may be mistaken in assuming that its “easy to transfer”, but thats just been my experience with the people I know. Sorry if that is innacurate.</p>

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<p>The only reason it dosen’t seem impressive because I didn’t specifically list them out (and that wouldn’t really be relevant to the thread). You don’t understand, I’ve been looking through CC IVY league stat posts for years (this is my second account), and to be honest their EC stats are usually (club president of NHS, DECA, Key Club, volunteer at local hospital, etc.)-so nothing unique. I’m actually more involved outside of school than I am in school, never-mind that, I honestly do things most people wouldn’t even consider doing, just because of the fear of failing or the expectations that come with them. And I’m also not interested in disclosing the names of the national organizations that I chair. </p>

<p>And you’re saying I wouldn’t even have a chance at USC, or UVA IF I stayed at my current school?</p>

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<p>I actually just saw this post. So, you consider B’s in advanced classes a “lackluster” performance? Also, I don’t think you understand; most people re-take their junior years JUST because they didn’t perform well that year. So, most schools wouldn’t expect spotless grades that year. I really don’t think getting B’s is a lackluster performance.</p>

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<p>It isn’t going to get you into Yale or USC or Duke. Those universities, and their academic peers, can fill their entering classes several times over before they admit students who earned “mostly B’s and one A,” or “all B’s [and] a C in AP Statistics.”</p>

<p>Extracurricular activities won’t make up for a deficit in academic credentials, either. Extracurricular activities are the one of the criteria elite colleges and universities use to decide whom they’ll admit from among their highly academically qualified applicants.</p>

<p>And Sherpa was right about transferring. Although Cornell takes a fair number of transfer students, the other Ivies are notoriously difficult to transfer into. The numbers for transfer applicants are way tougher than the numbers for applicants for freshman admission.</p>

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<p>To get an idea of what your College Application will go through at a top 20 school read this article. Nothing has really changed in the last 9 years except the quality of the competition.</p>

<p>[Newsweek.com:</a> Society: Inside The Admissions Game](<a href=“University of Chicago News”>University of Chicago News)</p>

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<p>I’m obviously frustrated with this situation, and I appreciate your comments, but there’s no way I’m settling for anything less than the schools I’m focused on. My 2nd semester just began last week, and I have three AP exams, and two subject tests to take this spring. If I happen to get a 5 on my AP Stats exam, would that make-up for the C I received last semester in the class? I know I’m asking vague questions, but as everyone says, ADcoms review EVERYTHING in the application, from personal essays to recommendations from my teachers and personal connections. IS it too early for you to say that I’m out-of-luck for UVA, USC, or UPenn?</p>

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<p>On your extracurriculars; I didn’t mean to say you weren’t a good candidate, just that you didn’t seem like one to me at first glance. You may be right in saying that you are more competitive in this aspect. However. Do not judge this based on those “acceptance threads”. The ones that have just two or three EC’s that barely take up a line are the most competitive; they stuck with what they had and capitalized on it. Also, as I said before, service is not that impressive.</p>

<p>On your grades-
Yes, straight B’s in advanced classes during your sophomore year is worse than just “lackluster”. Realize that this is the ivy league. The worthy ones accept less than 10% of the people who apply. Most of the people who apply have perfect gpa. Your performance isn’t just lackluster, its ground for an easy rejection. Adcoms are LOOKING for reasons to reject an applicant. 6-7 B’s already sophomore year? With avg ECs and SAT? Auto-reject. Of course, this is in the scope of the ivy league. Plenty of colleges would be happy to accept you with your rigorous courseload.</p>

<p>Also… I don’t know what school you come from, but this is literally the first time I’ve heard of people retaking junior years because of bad grades. I have literally never heard that in my life, and that notion is just startling to me. Who is “most” people? I have NEVER heard of this happening! Even if this were true, the fact that these people could do well the second time around but not the first signal laziness; these people won’t survive in the ivy league anyway. And yes, ivy leagues expect spotless grades generally. One or two B’s are OK. Maybe if you had some sort of disease or other excuse, a few B’s concentrated in a single year would be ok. A full year of B’s sophomore year and Bs/Cs junior year? that is not even close. I think you are severely underestimating the competition for ivy league colleges and overestimating yourself as well.
Just a thought- if you’re already struggling in high school, how do you expect to survive in an ivy league institution? Ivy league classes are much more difficult to comprehend, and the workload is tremendous. This is a root issue where even if you DID make it into an ivy league college, you would probably do horribly there. And there are no second chances in college.</p>

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<p>Let’s just take IVY league out of the picture. Would USC, Michigan, Boston College, NYU, Emory, be more plausible choices?</p>

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<p>But I also want to point out you were also in my situation. After looking briefly at your posts and threads, I just don’t understand why you’re being SO negative to me, when you were also in my shoes? Can you explain?</p>

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<p>I really don’t mean to keep coming back and saying the things you want not to be true, but…a 5 on your AP exam isn’t going to put you in line ahead of the applicants who have a 5 on the exam and an A in the class. And these universities are going to have more than enough of those.</p>

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<p>For Penn? I’m sorry, but I sincerely think that ship has sailed. I know less about USC. I think your chances of getting into a so-called “public Ivy” from out of state are pretty remote, too, unless you can dunk a basketball with two hands.</p>

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<p>The trouble is that with admission to highly selective universities–as with all highly selective processes–the outcome is essentially out of your hands. You can want with all your soul to win a Nobel Prize, but you can’t actually win one unless the Nobel Committee selects you. In a very similar way, you can’t get into Stanford just by wanting it enough.</p>

<p>You have focused in this thread on universities that turn down lots and lots of honors, AP and IB students with unweighted GPAs of 3.8 and above. These universities may occasionally take someone who’s been a mostly-B student in honors classes, but when they do, that student will have an extraordinary hook.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your comments, and when the day comes (college decisions arrive), I’ll let you know where I’m going. </p>

<p>Best.</p>

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<p>Good luck. </p>

<p>And I mean that sincerely–not in a “Good luck–you’re going to need it!” kind of way. There are lots of fantastic colleges and universities in the country where you can be admitted, be successful and happy, and get a great education.</p>

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<p>Maybe you could offer me advice, considering you were also in this situation in your junior year…</p>