Should I redo my sophmore year of high school?

Question

If I retake my sophmore year (the year that I made three F's) and then make straight A's throughout the rest of high school, I will have a 3.5 GPA. But If I don't redo it, and just move on to my Junior year, i'll have a 3.2 if I don't make anything else but A's. What should I do?

I went to Kindergarden late because of my Birthday and if I stay behind, I won't graduate with the class of 2009 anymore and I also will be two years behind.

But If I don't do this, I'll never get to go to college. I'll have so many more choices if I stay behind.

Do colleges consider if you repeat a grade? Would it look worse or better on my transcript?

Do I have other options like Summer School or something?

Answer 1

I went to school in california, so some of these things may not work for you, which is why its good to talk to your counselor. Be frank with him/her.

In my school, you were allowed to do summer school for courses you flunked. Check with your counselor if summer school grades remove the F's from your transcript. The transcript is what the college admissions people look at when they wanna know your grades. If thats the case, this is the best way to go.

Otherwise, you have the option to repeat your 2nd year. I would personally go ahead with junior year and try very hard to get A's. When you start applying for college in your senior year, you can include your grades from your first semester of your senior year, and provided they're all A's too, you can then explain in your personal statement (when you're applying to colleges) why you did so poorly your sophomore year and why you decided to change things your junior year. My guess is that you'll be able to get into good colleges, not neccessarily elite schools, although you never know. At this point, you can settle for the good school or go to a junior college for 2 years, pull straight A's there, and then transfer to an elite school.

The reason I recommended going onto junior year versus repeating sophomore year is that it really is a big change changing from a mediocre student to a great student, mainly because you'll now be spending a lot of time doing hw and studying for exams, and not watching tv or doing what you did sophomore year. I don't know you, but if you weren't a straight A student before, my guess is that you won't pull off straight A's now, although you could probably become a good student and be a 3.5 student, gettings half A's and half B's, with sheer effort.

Another option you have is taking the GED, getting out of high school, and then going to a junior college for 2 years, and getting A's there, and transferring to a good college from there. This is the fast track option, but you'll miss out on things like the high school prom and the college dorm experience and time to discover yourself.

You have a lot of options and this is a very important decision, so make sure you know that you're making the right one. And after you make your decision, the actual day-to-day work is going to be getting those A's all the time!

Answer 2

If you got three F's in your sophomore year, it seems unlikely that you will get nothing but A's if you just continue to your Junior year. I don't say that because I think you aren't capable of A work, but because for the most part, your Junior classes will be based on knowledge you should have picked up as a Sophomore, and since you didn't get that knowledge, you will be behind from the very beginning. It just isn't possible to skip a whole year's worth of material and go on as an outstanding student with nothing but A's, in most cases.

Doing things over gives you an opportunity for a fresh start. If you know that you didn't put full effort into your work last year, it makes sense to wipe the slate clean and start over again.

Yes, colleges consider it if you repeat a grade, but they also consider the F's that you never made up. It would look worse to go on and do poorly as a junior and senior than to do the sophomore year over properly and then go on to a successful junior and senior year.

I can't speak to your opportunities for Summer School, since that depends on what is available at your particular school. If that is an option for you, of course you could do that instead. In my experience, however, three classes is a lot to make up in one summer. Unless at least one of these classes is in something you won't be taking a more advanced version of as a junior, so that you can take that course between your junior and senior year and just take two classes this summer, it may not be a possibility. Ask your counselor.

Don't worry too much about your age. I teach college, and last year, my best student graduated from high school at 16 and from college at 20. This year, my best student graduated at 26 (I'm not sure at what age she graduated from high school). If I didn't know their ages, I wouldn't be able to tell you which one was older to look at them. Right now, they are both successfully employed in jobs they like, so what does it matter how old each of them is?

Answer 3

First of all, you're talking about 3/10ths of a point here. And you have said nothing about your SAT or ACT scores - at which colleges will look a great deal harder than your GPA.

Can you take all three classes in one summer-school session? Since you're just a junior next year, maybe you could do one or two this summer and then the other one - or two - next summer.

Answer 4

That's pretty much an impossible goal to make straight A's for 3 straight years. Especially since you have already failed 3 classes.

You would be wasting a year of your life in High School in my opinion. Get High School over with as soon as possible and move on to real life.

Answer 5

Talk to your Guidance Counselor and explore all your options, You may be able to retake the courses you failed in summer school and clean up your GPA that way.

Answer 6

colleges now take a GED just study for that and pass it and get into college and don't worry about what you didn't do.

Answer 7

i don't think that you should do that do what you got to do and get out of school.