Hello! I finished my freshmen year of high school 3 days ago and my final grades are:
Pe/Health: Both A’s
Adv English: C
Theatre: A
Honors Algebra 1: B-
AP Human Geography: A
Adv German 1: A
Adv Biology: B
My top 4 college choices so far are Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Will my one C in English screw up my chances of getting into Stanford, since that is my first choice? I plan on volunteering abroad in Bosnia during the Summer of 2016 and doing so again in 2017. If I get straight A’s, 4/5’s on my AP and 6/7’s on my IB exams, have 1,000+ hours of volunteer hours, be committed to 6 extra curriculars, start playing tennis, show more leadership etc, will my chances of getting accepted into Stanford/Harvard be high? I’m worried that my one C will make me go to a state university/community college.
There are so many wonderful schools between Harvard, Standord, Princeton and Yale. It is way too early to worry about this but one C does not mean you will go to CC. Take rigorous classes, study hard and find ECs and activities you truly enjoy.
Cool the exaggeration. You fear going to a state school? Really? UCLA, UVA, UNC, and Mich are really that bad? I would’ve never known. Nice to know that if you were presented with the opportunity to go to South Harmon Institute of Technology, you would go.
There is nothing wrong with state schools. Get that outta your head.
Onto your concerns, you are off to a very bad start if you aspire to go to an elite college. If you pick it up and maintain a 3.9+ for the next 2 years, you will be competitive.
Oh and your chances of getting into those schools will never be high. Each year, the admitted class gets more competitive so whatever the common data set says for this year, anticipate the numbers and stats being much higher when you actually apply.
Some of the most elite colleges are state schools. There are some public universities ranked higher than some elite colleges. You need to bring your parents back down to earth. There are 4.0 and 2400 students who have been rejected by every Ivy League and elite college. Check out @dividerofzero. Tell your parents that they should stop living vicariously through you because as of right now, your GPA isn’t elite college caliber.
When you have your junior grades, it would be easier for us to advise. I see no basis to know that all your grades will be As from this point onward. You are a good student, but this is too early to tell anything. You also need to broaden your scope of colleges you like. Don’t fall in love with any one college. You need to make sure that the school is strong in the area you want to go into, not just high on the US News and World ranking list.
Ok so when you don’t get into any elite schools your parents will prefer you don’t go to college? Your whole family needs to chill out. I had a friend that went to a mediocre state school, not even near a flagship and went to Stanford for grad school. Another went to a little better but still 2nd tier state school and went to Cal tech for grad school. I know a guy right now that started at CC and got engineering degree at okay state school 2nd tier and is happy at Boeing. My sister went to another 2nd tier state school and has had very high paying tech jobs for long term.
As long as you are planning to do all these things, why don’t you plan to do something really impressive?
Nobody’s chances are good at Stanford. They reject 95% of applicants, most of whom have superb academic credentials. So, you probably won’t get in. There! They also do not consider freshman grades in admission.
I’m pretty sure there are private schools beyond HYPS. Northeastern, Embry Riddle, BU, Patrick Henry, Hilsdale, etc. That’s a broad scope of schools right there that aren’t state schools (I think) but would be great places to go for various reasons - if you want a degree in something engineering/aviation related, Embry Riddle would be a dream school. If you are a die-hard Christian and want that sort of environment while getting a degree in journalism, that would be a great place to go. Northeastern or BU are solid schools all around. Plus all the liberal arts colleges. The point is that there are plenty of private schools beyond HYPS. I assume that if your parents intend you for places like HYPS, they can afford such prices?
HYPS are pretty much out of your reach unless you go to an insanely hard school and are still in the top 10% of your class, or are going to be a recruited athlete.
It’s not just a C, you can’t keep on getting several Bs too. If what you say you are going to do happens, your chances will improve. But keep in mind that the schools you want to get into are reaches for everyone.
Simple answer: no. Because nobody has a "high" chance of getting into those schools. Nobody.
To quote MIT: there is no formula. Even if you could do the above- and btw, you can't- you are missing the "and". The top schools expect to see strong grades/test scores/ecs- "AND" something else - something that is you.
Straight As + 6 (meaningful) ECs + a sport + 1000 volunteer hours + top grades is exceptionally rare for anybody- do the math on how many hours a day that adds up to. And you aren't even getting top grades now, without all that: in your academic classes (which are the ones that count) you have 2 As, a B, a B- and a C- ie, a GPA of about 3.2.
Freshmen grades aren’t fatal- especially at colleges that don’t count them- but you need to:
understand why things went the way that they did this year: what will be different next year that you will go from a C to an A in English? from a B- to an A in Math?
think about what is important to you. 6 ecs and a new sport are not as impressive to an AdComm as 1-2 ecs that you are serious about, in which you show growth and leadership, etc. 1000 volunteer hours is completely unimpressive if it is clear that you are doing it just to get into a brand-name college. Put your energy into things that speak to who you are.
@collegemom3717 Point number 1 is not true. The 40 intel finalists this year got into almost every ivy league school which they applied, and if irc more than 35 of them were admitted to Stanford. They were joking about Yale being a safety, and it was true for most of them. There have also been students famously admitted to all of the ivies in the past as well. Also, don’t forget the nation’s top athletes.
However, I agree that OP’s chances of admission aren’t remotely close to “high” and the future straight A’s, volunteer hours, etc. won’t get him/her remotely close to “high” either. And he/she really shouldn’t be condescending about the possibility of going to a state school after those B’s/C’s freshman year.
"My parent’s expectations are so high and they would never let me go to a state school, which is why my only choices are the elite schools. "
It’s too early to really say, but so far, it doesn’t look like you will have a choice of any elite schools. Unless you instantly become a straight A student, and do experiencingly well on your SAT/ACT, top schools will not be available to you. These schools will overlook an occasional B+ or B, but not much beyond that. It is especially important that your grades improve to just about perfect starting in your sophomore year.
Just replied on your other post. I don’t think you will get into these schools. So what happens if you get rejected by all of the HYPS and you didn’t apply anywhere else? Will your parents allow you to go to a CC while all of your classmates go off to their colleges?
@RihannasRockstar This is absolutely ridiculous. What’s wrong with going to state university? If you don’t apply anywhere but Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, you’re going to end up going to community college.
I know so many people who only play sports or instruments for their college applications and they are all awful at their EC. Think about what you’re passionate about and stick to it, not being “committed to 6 extra curriculars”. Plenty of people on my tennis team are JV alternates because they’re only doing it to pad up their applications.
Volunteering is great but if you’re going to do 1000+, actually enjoy it because universities will see right through you. If you’re just doing it for college, don’t bother, it won’t help you at all.
No a C won’t kill your chances but everything you’ve written is insane. My advice to you, be passionate about something and do what you love not for college.
