Will Little things ruin you?

Colleges & Universities University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am a sophmore in high school and Ive wanted to go to UPenn for like my whole life.</p>

<p>Lately Ive heard “horror” stories from people and family friends who have gotten denied from good schools because of some signs of mediocrity and little errors.</p>

<p>(ex. a girl i know got only a few Bs in high school, but got 1950 SAT [not good, i know] but got rejected by everywhere except UCI; that without straight As, everythings ruined)</p>

<p>Taking the most rigorous courses that my school offers,
Freshman year (not very important), i had straight As, but Sophmore year I got a B+ in Chem Honors (everything else A), and then promised myself it wouldnt happen again otherwise my chances for my dreamschool would be compromised. Then, even after extreme efforts, I recieved a B+ in Alg 2Honors (but everything else A).
I think i have strong ECs</p>

<p>People are telling me that without straight As and such i have no chance :frowning: …
i sacrificed a lot so that next year this wont happen again, but is it true that little things like this hurt you? do i still have hope if i just buckle down and get working junior year?
(plus its seems that SO many people in my school [small private prep] are serious competition and some are perfect grade-wise (5.0 kind of kids). Good thing my school does not rank :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>(sorry i dont mean to be paranoid or annoying or whatever, Penn is just the love of my life lol)</p>

2

<p>Not everyone who goes to Penn has straight A’s. It certainly helps, but I don’t think it is worth worrying over a few random non-A’s here and there</p>

3

<p> Don’t worry about those few Bs. Universities understand that schools have different policies and GPA is basically an extremely subjective thing. Universities care more about school rank/percentile than about GPA/marks.<br>
As long as you don’t get like 2.5 in GPA you’re fine.
</p>

4

<p>the little things will ruin you only if you let them.</p>

<p>first off, a B+ here or there is nothing to be ashamed of, especially if A’s every other time. Just get a decent score, and you have the QUALIFICATIONS to get in. Now let me clarify: qualifications does NOT mean an automatic acceptance. Getting into a school depends on your “other factors” (extracurriculars, essays etc) That is the real key to getting in; present yourself well on your application. Beyond the numbers, they are looking for somebody with a personality and real interests beyond classwork. People may be perfect grade-wise, but unless they have those “other factors” they probably will not go far.</p>

5

<p>“Universities care more about school rank/percentile than about GPA/marks.”</p>

<p>even though i would be in the top 10%, i would probably GPA-wise be ranked 5-7 out of 100ish.</p>

<p>what if my school does not rank at all?</p>

6

<p>^^^ they ask your counselor to estimate your rank.</p>

7

<p>you’re fine, those B’s won’t hurt you, just make sure you get good test scores and show some passion.</p>

8

<p>It depends on your school. My school sends lots of kids to top schools and it’s really competitive so they take people with B’s. Ask your guidance counselor for college placement lists and ask graduating seniors in your school how they did and where they’re going (without being rude about it).</p>

9

<p>dont’ worry…i had a few B’s in highschooo. I even had an SAT II score of 610 on US History. My SAT’s were 2200 btw. And I still got into wharton this year.</p>

10

<p>I had a B in English for two years and a B in Spanish for three and still got in.</p>

11

<p>when they ask your guidance counselor to estimate your rank…
… how does that work? since… my school doesn’t rank, other than val and sal?</p>

12

<p>last year(frosh), i got straight A’s and my classes were all honors (the most rigorous courseload in my grade). this year, i still have the hardest schedule, BUT, i’m probably getting 2 B’s (chem and algebra 2), not necessarily b/c i’m stupid, but b/c the teachers are REALLY HARD. i’m not saying it’s for sure i’m getting 2 B’s, but getting A’s would be extremely hard. tho i’m still trying…</p>

<p>thinking about getting 2 B’s just kills me. gosh, i would trade ANYTHING in the world to get straight A’s again thisyear. no kiddin</p>

13

<p>that is EXACTLY the situation that im in yournamehere. And i feel EXACTLY the same way. plus paranoid.</p>

<p>but you guys are helping to relieve my fears a little…</p>

14

<p>you’re worrying too much. a few Bs don’t mean much.</p>

<p>i got a C+ in 9th grade english first semester (but then improved throughout high school)… and i didn’t fret at all, and now look at me, a proud member of Penn '11, so everything will be alright, as long as you do everything else right, those Bs mean very little. and thank goodness my school doesn’t rank outside of top 3 candidates (very small, and plenty of people did better than me)</p>

15

<p>sleeping with school faculty members is usually a bad idea</p>

16

<p>Haven’t you seen the GPA breakdown for Penn?</p>

<pre><code>* 58% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher

  • 19% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74
  • 13% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49
  • 7% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24
  • 3% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99
    </code></pre>

<p>You’re still in the top tier; don’t worry. =)</p>

17

<p>ok i don’t get how penn would accept students w/GPAs like 2.5? no offence. i know a lot of times they reject people w/perfect SATs and i know that grades aren’t EVERYTHING.</p>

18

<p>$$$ and/or athletic prowess and/or some other major hook</p>

19

<p>Are those statistics from the College Board website? If so, they might be out of date.</p>