Hey everyone, im a grade 10 student in Ontario Canada. Just finished my first semester. Im planning to apply to high ranking US universities in the future, such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UC Berkeley, and Stanford. I know admission to these institutions is holistic and requires much more than grades. My question is that will my grade 9 and grade 10 (first sem) grades DISQUALIFY ME, (i.e get the rest of my application thrown out right away) pending I up the ante and get atleast a 97% average for the rest of my highschool career. Thanks and sorry for the horrible composition I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. (I just go to a normal high school, in a great area, by the way)
Grade 9:
Math: 94
English: 90
Science: 96
Geography: 82
Art: 81
Business and Tech: 83
Gym: 92
Grade 10 First Semester:
Gr 11 Computer Science: 94
Math: 87 (I know, I blew the exam)
History: 96
Business: 85
I just want to know if those 80s will disqualify me from those universities, especially since they’re usually in the non important subjects, even if I get much higher grades for the rest of my high school career.
Just want to say again that I KNOW admission to these institutions requires much more than grades, my only question is will those 80s in grade 9 and grade 10 get my application thrown out immediately?
Grades in your freshman year are definitely not judged as harshly as your 11th or 10th grade grades, but getting B’s in 10th would have a significant impact especially if those B’s correspond with your intended major. I’m not a 100% sure, but I think the UC’s ignore freshman year grades or something of that sort, so Berkeley won’t get impacted THAT much. The B’s in 10th grade will negatively impact your chances at most top universities because many of their competitive applicants would get near perfect grades. That said, you can still make up for it through essays and ECs, which carry more weight the more elite the university is. I don’t think it will disqualify you completely, but it would put you at a slight disadvantage to other applicants.
My advice would be to try really hard and show an upward trend into junior and senior year. That makes up for lower grades during your first two years and shows that you grew as a student. Also, figure out what you want to do early and try extra hard in those classes and do EC’s related to it.
What are your grades in your other classes this year? You are only showing grades for 4 classes. Your overall grade average will matter. Currently what you show averages out to a 89% average. 93% of students at Harvard for example have a 92% or better average and another 4.9% of students have a 90% or better average. So with just what you are showing you are just outside of the margin of the bottom of what gets in. Remember however even those with a 97% average or better don’t get in. What will matter is definite improvement in grades, you will need to get very good ACT or SAT scores and are you taking or planning on taking any honors courses or AP courses? Does your school offer those kind of courses? If they do offer them you will need to be taking them, those kind of colleges want to see you taking advanced classes.
i accidentally deleted my response so RIP.
9th grade B’s won’t hurt as much as 10th or 11th, but it still will impact your chances. Keep in mind most of these top universities have applicants with near perfect grades and reject them all the time. Getting a few B’s will by no means disqualify you, but it would put you at a disadvantage to other applicants. Try to shine in the more subjective parts and try your hardest to show an upward gpa trend in the rest of 10th and 11th grade. All of the universities listed are a reach for anyone regardless of grades, so try your best to stand out. Good Luck!
Alright thanks, I just see my grades as getting a seat at the table, my outside passion not mentioned here is what will hopefully get me in. I know now that not all hope is lost, ill take your advice and try my best for the rest of my years here. Thank you!
My school is semestered. I have only taken 4 classes. No, my school doesnt offer any advanced placement or AP course. I may have an 89 average so far but I heard schools take less into account subjects like Art (where I got an 81), also I can definitely do much better if I actually try, I rarely did homework so far for the past year. I will graduate with an average above 95, I was just asking if some Bs in Grade 9 and 10 affected the application that much.
Thanks for the advice and quick reply, appreciate it!