My grades and college

[Hey Nikki!]

Ugh...how do I explain this? So I'm a junior in HS. I can be really mature and I think I'm intelligent; it's just that one little thing I really need...motivation.
My GPA used to be a 3.2. Now it's 2.9...I swear I'm not dumb, but there's a part of me that just says give it up, but where will that get me? I get so stressed out and jealous of everyone else, I defeat myself before I even start. And sometimes I don't do projects entirely because we have to present them to the class. I'm terrified of speaking and participating in class, so that affects my grades too.

A review of my classes:

Chemistry: Well, I've always had an interest in science, so I find it easy to follow. I always do homework and experiments completely. It's just the tests. If there's math on a chemistry test, I'm screwed. My current grade is an 82.

Spanish 3: I got into Spanish Honor Society last year, but I think I got kicked out because we had a project to do, and I had too many other things to worry about instead. My grade here is an 86.

Literature: I'm extremely good in vocabulary- I can spell words really well, and I can look at a word's definition once and remember it; it's my special gift. And then there's grammar. After years of reading stories and fanfiction, I can tell good writing from bad writing. Parallel sentences aren't a problem for me. I'm taking the SAT in January, and I'm pretty sure the 3 english parts will be fine. My grade's an 80 though, because I don't do homework all the time...

Geometry: I won't lie- I suck at math. Ever since 6th grade, my math teachers have downright sucked. You either get math or you don't, and they don't stop and explain anything. But I always do my homework and classwork; I just bomb the tests.

Government: I don't know if it's because I strongly dislike the teacher, or if it's because it's just boring, but my grade here is only 81. It's wierd. Last year in World History, I was at the top of my class and always got good grades on tests. Yeah, I'll say it's the government teacher who I can't stand.

Art: I have a 96. This is an improvement from last year, where I had a C in regular art. I always had a talent for art- I'm a professional at making Ugly Dolls. (search them up- they're so fun to make!)

What do you guys think...? This is not me at my best. I always used to get honor awards as a kid in middle school. Ever since the 2nd semester of freshman year, though, my self esteem plummeted (actually, I think this is the reason for all my problems) and I stopped caring. Please help me- I'm terrified that no college will accept me.

[InSovietRussiaORGASMGotU]

Chemistry, both in highschool and university involves math, although depending on how in-depth you go and what aspects you do, you'll have more involved. Generally in high-school and first-year university it's not complicated math but as you go up it begins to scramble your brain (I've seen some of the stuff my friend does in his 3rd year courses and I'm not sure what on Earth it's about).

For geometry, try to get extra help, possibly from other students, Internet, other books, here, etc... . You have vast amounts of resources so don't just throw your hands in the air and give up because your teachers are poor at explaining it to you. If you want the grades, you need to work for them.

For government, well I found the class pretty boring too and the teacher was pretty smart, just it was given in a pretty dull way. There were the occassional jokes he made but other than that, it wasn't great so I can sympathize with you on this one. That said, don't stop trying just because you dislike the teacher as it will only result in a poor grade and that only affects you, not the teacher.

For Spanish, I'm confused. You said you think you got kicked out and if that's the case, then the grade shouldn't matter.

For English, do the homework especially if you're good in it. No sense in getting a poor grade because the homework is easy yet you don't do it. You have the ability and liking for it, so do it.


Overall, I cannot tell because universities look mostly at your last two years of high-school but if they're about the same as the ones you listed, you shouldn't have too big of a problem. You have plenty of time to boost it up. Also, different universities have different requirements so chances are some will take you but the question is if they're the ones you want. Remember that different programs have different requirements (i.e. getting into Life Sciences vs. Linguistics) so depending on what program you want you may be fine or need to aim higher. Without knowing where you want to apply and for what program, cant help you.

[Hey Nikki!]

Originally Posted by YourNightmare

Overall, I cannot tell because universities look mostly at your last two years of high-school but if they're about the same as the ones you listed, you shouldn't have too big of a problem. You have plenty of time to boost it up. Also, different universities have different requirements so chances are some will take you but the question is if they're the ones you want. Remember that different programs have different requirements (i.e. getting into Life Sciences vs. Linguistics) so depending on what program you want you may be fine or need to aim higher. Without knowing where you want to apply and for what program, cant help you.

The last 2 years, you say? Thank god. My first 2 years of high school grades weren't my best at all. I didn't flat out fail, but I might've gotten a D once or twice. This year's are better, thank goodness. I also forgot to mention that I go to a private school, so a B+ here is like an A in public school.

I didn't get kicked out of the Spanish class, just the Spanish Honor Society. I'm still unsure about it. Only me and another person in my class last year got accepted into it.

Also, I'm interested in graphic arts and chemistry. It's a tie between these 2.

[InSovietRussiaORGASMGotU]

Originally Posted by Hey Nikki!

The last 2 years, you say? Thank god. My first 2 years of high school grades weren't my best at all. I didn't flat out fail, but I might've gotten a D once or twice. This year's are better, thank goodness. I also forgot to mention that I go to a private school, so a B+ here is like an A in public school.

I didn't get kicked out of the Spanish class, just the Spanish Honor Society. I'm still unsure about it. Only me and another person in my class last year got accepted into it.

Also, I'm interested in graphic arts and chemistry. It's a tie between these 2.

For me, the universities only cared about the last 2 years. If your grade 11 mark was absolutely, positively amazing, you may get early acceptance or just wait until grade 12. Either way, your admission isn't a guaruntee because they'll send you a letter say that if you're accepted, you need to maintain a certain mark, otherwise your acceptance is revoked. Generally this happens before your final exams in grade 12 so that's the year you don't want to do bad in.

Your first two years don't matter for a few reasons I can think of. First, the first year of high-school is a transition so it's expected you're going to be uncertain and have lower grades. Second, in your first two years, you don't specialize a lot as you do in your last two years so chances are, the grades are reflecting generalized courses. Third, if you get into grade 11 and 12, then it means you passed grade 9 and 10 regardless if you had 50% or 100%.

Your entire transcript will be sent so they will see your marks in the first two years but they don't base it off that. If they see you improved in your later years, then that is good.

As for going to a private school I'm not sure how much that counts. Usually they look at the courses you did and assess the difficulty, such as AP physics vs. basic English. It's reasonable to assume the course in AP physics will be harder and thus, a lower grade so also take that into consideration. I'm not positive that they do but it's what I've been told before.

If you're interested in chemistry, then you better prepare for math. University chemistry has plenty of labs and the marking and requirements can be different than high-school, so if you're struggling in it now, then get some help with it otherwise it may be difficult. First-year university is generally a way of "weeding out" students and so it can be hard depending on the course and professor.