♥Is it too late for me?

Question

I'm not trying to get inot Harvard or Yale or any of those fancy schools. (but it would be nice).

If I made ok/ bad grades in my past, can I imporve it and if I make straight A's, perform good behavior, good reports, nice presentations, and the best grades I can make. Is there a chance i can get into Harvard or Yale?

I'm trying this new thing where I get all organized, stop slacking off, pay attention in class, and make straight A's. If I do that and succeed....can I still make it or is it to late? I bet my bad grades are in my permentant record.

Answer 1

depends on what year of school you are. but if you do what your doing now to improve, you can definitely make it. when college's look at your transcript, they'll notice that even though you didn't do well in your freshman year, you really improved the following years by getting good grades and that looks good along with extracurricular activities and SAT scores.
keep up the good work! :)

Answer 2

It really depends where you are. If you are starting high school, then it is by no means too late, if it is your last semester of senior year, then it probably is too late. And just as important as grades is your extra-curricular work. If you can show that you volunteer in the community on a regular basis, or that you have taken leadership positions in anything, it is a huge plus on your college applications.

Here's the trick that no one tells you though (because they want you to succeed of course): the whole permanent record thing is a load of crap when it comes to grades. Once you get into a college, no one really cares what you did in high school. Once you get out of college and get into graduate school or start a career, it doesn't really matter how you did in your undergrad years.

The only thing that doing well in high school will do is make the transition easier. If you do well, it will be that much easier to get into an Ivy League school. But if you don't do that well, the world isn't over, go to a less prestigious university, do a good job there, and work your way back to the top.

Worst comes to worst, and you flunk out of high school, you can still go to some 2-year community college, do well there, transfer your credits to a 4-year university, and just keep climbing the ladder.

There are always opportunities if you look for them and are willing to work for them.

Answer 3

if your grades have been previously bad, it won't matter what you do in the last year or so of high school.

just do the best you can while still having fun. the top two smartest people in your school who do nothing but study all day may stand half a chance of getting into yale or harvard. i'm sorry to be so blunt, but there is almost no chance in hell that you will go to harvard if all you do is get your grades up. colleges and universities nowadays like 4.0 gpa's but hundreds of thousands of people get 4.0's, and there isn't room for a hundred thousand people in all of the top schools. universities like people who stand out, like the guy who has a 3.8, and works at a soup kitchen and is captain of the varsity football team, or the girl with a 3.8 the helps at a holemless shelter that was on the varsity soccer team for four years.

my point is, if just try to do the best you can in school while having fun outside of class. you won't help your chances of getting into harvard by becoming a nerd now.

have fun in high school

Answer 4

Some of this depends on what year you are. If you are a senior, while I would never say it is "too late" it will be a lot harder than if you are a freshman or sophomore.

I am proud of your ambition. A few suggestions....talk to a guidance counselor about your new outlook and ask them what you should really strive to achieve to go where you want. It would also be good to know the counselor when you need recommendations for college!

Good luck and keep reaching for that star. You are young, and have the whole world and your whole life out there ahead of you.

Answer 5

It depends what you mean by "succeed." Those Ivy League schools generally look for hig GPAs (3.8+) and love to see participation in things like extra-curricular activities, clubs, community service, etc. They not only want to see that you are a good student, but also a well-rounded individual who DOES things. I have seen extremely active people with relatively lower GPAs get into those schools, while study-hounds with a GPA around 4.2 that were not involved, did not. The best thing you can do is try your hardest at everything and get involved. Good luck!

Answer 6

Their right it depends on what grade your in. But Think about this
it's never to late to do your best, we all know you can do it. Even
if your in 12th grade don't think you can't get into any other Colleges. It may not be the one you want to go, but a least you can go to a College. Keep up the good work.

Answer 7

if your in High school, which im assuming then your semester grades are the ones which counts but the most of all the final grades of the 2 semesters in 12th grade

hopes that helps