<p>Would anyone mind helping a poor junior out?</p>
<p>I’m scared ****-less. I cannot imagine going anywhere but a nice, relatively big college far away from my hometown… let alone going to the community college right up the street!</p>
<p>I believe what I say in the title of this post because my freshman, and most of sophomore year were not good. Even now as a junior, I’m beginning to get lazy again. :s </p>
<p>Anyway, what probably scares me the most is this: ranked 70 in a class of 180, top half, but yeesh! I have read that class rank has become not too big of a deal, but it does come from something, which are my grades:</p>
<p>8th grade</p>
<p>Earth Science - 96, exam 92
Algebra - 86
Spanish 1 – 89</p>
<p>9th Grade</p>
<p>In 9th grade, I was in only 3 honors classes! And even in the standard classes, I did not excel.</p>
<p>English – 77
History – 91
Biology (honors) – 85, exam 91
Geometry (honors) 79
Spanish 2 – 77
Math A exam – 86</p>
<p>10th Grade</p>
<p>During the very end of 10th grade I started to pull my **** together. I was in mostly honors levels classes.</p>
<p>English – 81
AP World History – 84 (this is the only AP class offered, and I got a 5 on the exam)
Chemistry – 78, exam 76
Trig – 87
Spanish 3 – 84
Cad – 95
English Exam – 88
Global History exam – 96
Math B exam – 68
Spanish exam – 95</p>
<p>11th Grade</p>
<p>This is what I’m in now. I’m taking the full I.B. diploma program, which means by the time I graduate I will have taken the most rigorous classes offered and will have completed 150 hours of creativity, activity, and service (basically, community service, sports, etc)</p>
<p>Grades so far,</p>
<p>Theory of Knowledge – 101
English HL1 – 86
History of Americas HL1 – 90
Biology HL1 – 92
Math SL – 88
Spanish SL – 86
ITGS – 99</p>
<p>Now, I know that I’m really inconsistent and basically an average student. This really makes me ****ed at myself for not working to my full potential early on, because (this sounds pretentious, but oh well) I’m pretty smart.</p>
<p>Ext. Cs.</p>
<p>Clubs – none 
Sports-
9th grade – none
10th grade – swimming, tennis (both varsity)
11th grade – soccer, tennis (both varsity)
12th grade – tennis (varsity)</p>
<p>The following gives me hope:</p>
<p>-I’m taking the hardest classes now, and getting low 90 averages, I have read that the ability to improve is valued by some colleges, rather than the same old scores.</p>
<p>-I will have the IB diploma and 150 hours of service when I graduate (hopefully) </p>
<p>-I have played three different varsity sports, though not consistently </p>
<p>And… I got an 185 on my PSAT, without studying or ever doing it before. 66 math, 60 c.r. and 58 w.s. 90’th percentile. This gives me great hope, because I am a great test taker and full of random knowledge. I honestly believe that with study and practice I could achieve between a 1900 - 2000 on the SAT. </p>
<p>So, anyway, I know that this is a very long read. And I am grateful to anyone who read it, either partially or fully. </p>
<p>I was just wondering – do I need to stress more, or less?</p>
<p>These are schools that I don’t EXPECT to get into, but they are the ones I have done research on and would LIKE to get into:</p>
<p>Columbia (just for fun, why not)
NYU (probably my most desired, probably a huge reach)
U. of Maryland (dad = alumni, connections, possibility of in-state tuition due to grandparents)
College of Charleston? (not sure, cousin went there)
UCSB (Or some others in Cali, which I’m not sure if I would move to yet, but I am a surfer)</p>
<p>I know that each one of these would be very very tough for me to get into. But, they honestly are really the only schools I have done research on. I’m not very knowledgeable in colleges. If anyone has any suggestions, which I would love to get, my preferences are:</p>
<p>-Relatively big
-Near City
-Near Beach
-Not in N.Y. state, unless NYC (I’m from upstate, and I’m done with it)</p>
<p>Anyways… thank you, and let me know what you think.</p>
<p>Oh, whoops, I forgot to mention - I’m unsure of a major, but at the moment I’m very interested in film.</p>