oh, pleasee help me I don't know what to do. I'm a nervous wreck, please help?

Question

With senior year starting I'm such a nervous wreck. College applications and whatnot are just stressing me out soo much! So, heres my story go head and call me stupid or whatever you want but I really need help. When school started off (freshman year) I just really wasn't into school at all. While I really enjoy learning I just couldn't focus. I got Ds and Cs and Bs. As sophomore year approched I still tried and got Cs and Bs. Then, junior year I took a few honors classes got Bs in all honors classes and two Cs. Senior year, I am trying so hard. I have 3 honors classes and I promised myself to do my best, although you might say it doesn't matter anymore. I took the SATs once and got around 1500-1510. I am going to take the SATs once or twice more. What do I do?! Applying for colleges is more hectic for me than any other senior I know. I am interested in biomedical scienes, biology, and anatomy. I know I will do great in the future but right now I really dont know what I should do. help

Should I consider taking the ACTs?
What colleges should I apply to?
please, try to help as much as possible without involving the words screwed, stupid, or haha.

Answer 1

Some people do better in harder classes than they do in the easy ones. My theory is that there is more material there to hold your interest, so in order to understand the situation at all, you have to really concentrate. You live up to whatever challenge is in front of you, and if something is too easy -- well, you live up to that, too.

The fact that your classes have gotten harder and your grades have gotten better over time is a really good sign, in a way. So many seniors have their grades drop in their senior year, and that just looks lazy. A trend toward improvement shows both brains and motivation.

For the SAT, look at your percentile scores and ranges rather than the raw number. That is what admissions counselors use in determining who is accepted. This will show you areas where you are already strong, and areas where you can improve, which will allow you to focus your efforts. For the biological sciences, you will want to push your reasoning and math scores up as high as you can.

Next, take a look at the colleges you are interested in. Look at their median SAT scores and GPAs for their entering classes for the last couple of years. This should give you an idea if your goals are reasonable. Doing this little bit of research will be an incredible help -- it will give you a "real life" baseline from which to work. This reality check is both useful, and (I suspect) reassuring, as well.

Now, you'll definitely want to apply to one or two "stretch" schools -- schools where the average GPA/SAT score is just a notch or two higher than yours.

But most of your effort should be spent in finding schools that are a good fit for you -- not only academically (where the average GPA/SAT score is right around where yours is), but in terms of what you want to study (don't apply to art school if you want to be a doctor), and where you want to live (don't apply to NYU if you hate cities). Look at religious (if applicable) schools and single-sex schools. Look at big universities and small colleges. Get an idea of where you'll fit in in a 'big picture' sense. After you select a number of these "good fit" schools, it is time to look at safety schools.

You'll want to apply to one or two of these -- schools where you'll still be happy in where and how you live and what you want to study, but where the average GPA/SAT score is a notch or two below where yours is. One of these should be a "deeper" safety school than the other -- where your scores are a notch or THREE higher than their averages.

Don't overlook schools just because they aren't "well-known". Everyone knows Cal Tech is great for the sciences, but the honors program at UC Irvine or UC Riverside can give you just as good an education -- and you'll face less competition in getting in.

So take a deep breath -- things may not be perfect, but they are ok. Panicking will only hurt you, not help you -- and things really will be ok.

Answer 2

You're not screwed, you might just have to take a slightly longer path than the people who got good grades the whole time.

I knew a guy in high school, really smart kid, but he didn't care about school at all. He just liked to play music. Well, he graduated high school with a 2.3 GPA, definitely not good enough to get in anywhere "good". Well, he went to a junior college for two years, and tried really hard, and focused on his school.

At junior college he got mostly A's and some B's. He did well enough to transfer to a good University. He kept getting mostly A's and B's. And he then wound up getting a full ride scholarship to go to law school.

The moral of the story is that you're not doomed. Even if you have to go to a junior college for two years, it won't stop you from going anywhere you want to go in life.

Another route you can take is apply to a lower ranked 4-year university, and do well there, and then either transfer to a "better" school, or stick it out and get good grades.

Take the ACT, you might find it suits you better than the SAT, but just remember that it's not a big deal if you don't get into Harvard right away. City College is still college. Just keep working and you'll get where you want to go.

Answer 3

Wow! You sound very worried. Well i'm going to try to help you. I just started my freshmen year at JMU (by the way best school ever if you want to apply here) and even though there's a lot more to study than in high school it's not bad as long as you do what makes you happy. I'm a Bio major and i'm loving it. I've always dreamed of being a toxicologist and i really can't wait until i become one. It really depends on what part of the country you are from but the best school in Virginia are JMU (of course), VCU, UVA, VT, SU (shenandoah, actually not so good with sciences). Try applying to all of them. My score (SAT) was 1700 (which they considered low) but don't worry. Try getting really good grades your senior year and you'll still stand a chance to get into a really good school. Also it's important to have extracurricular activities (i was president of a Criminal Justice Club and active member of DECA which is a marketing club) so make sure you join a club or two. Looks really good on the application. You could join an Honor Society also. Don't worry...everything is going to be ok as long as you breath, work hard and prove yourself. Listen, if you need any help i will be glad to help you out. Just email me and will talk some more. Good luck and remeber to breath! :)

Answer 4

Ok girl, First chill out and breathe! You are in high school and anything is possible. Take your time on the college apps. I have been there and trust me you are going to get through this. Fill out 2 app's per day, and limit yourself in studying. Study for an hour and then take a 15 minute break. During your break do not talk to your friends about school. You will get burned out very easy. Do not do anything. Eat a small snack, wash your face, or just lay down and close your eyes. Limit yourself girl and you will do just fine. But before you start applying to colleges do your homework on them. Not all ofthem offer the classes you want. You are in a situation you are able to be picky! BE PICKY! Set up appointments, meet with dean's. But before you do make yourself a list of questions, and don't back down Ask Them. No matter how big or small, then go over all the answers you get from different colleges and then decide where you want to go. Let them compete over you! You are worth it and you so deserve it!

Answer 5

Focus on getting the best grades you can this year and apply to schools that have realistic admissions requirements. If you want to shoot for a few schools that are a little out of your range, fine, but I guarantee that you can get in to hundreds of universities in the US with your grades and scores.

You aren't "stupid" or "screwed", but you do have to accept that your choices may have limited your options at the moment. However, nothing has made it impossible of even all that difficult for you to achieve anything you want to achieve!

A GPA of 2.0 or higher and your SAT scores would get you into every university I've ever worked for and you would get a good education at any of them. In addition, if you really applied yourself, earned high grades, and took difficult classes during your first two years at my college, you could transfer to virtually any university in the country (depending on how well you market yourself)!

I did the same thing you did (even a couple of Fs sprinkled in) with just enough As to demonstrate that I had some brains. My ACT scores were good and I was easily admitted to the state university. Even there I still messed around for three and a half years racking up an impressive 2.3 GPA before I figured out how to do well at school and made the dean's list my final semester.

I didn't like the jobs available to me (as compared to the ones available to those students that earned better grades) and begged my way into the MBA program...excellent grades there got me into a Ph.D. program and now I have an awesome, high-paying job working beside people who earned As in high school and attended Ivy League schools! If I can do it, you can too.

Quit worrying about the schools whose doors may be closed to you because of bad decisions you made as a child (ok, teenager if you prefer). Concentrate on learning as much as you can this year to prepare for college and look for colleges with open admissions or at least less competition than the top-tier schools. Prove yourself at one of those schools and you could end up graduating from a school that would have rejected you based only on your high school record!

Answer 6

Yes, consider taking the ACTs because most people find them easier. And you have to realize that science is difficult, more so than high school. Consider majoring in biology because the major is offered at almost every school, but it's still going to be difficult. You really really have to apply yourself more from now on. If you put your mind to it, you can definitely do it, but also be realistic with yourself. You may want to consider going to community college for two years, doing really well, and then transferring to a really good school, then receiving your degree from the latter.

BUT there was this girl when I was in high school who had a similar situation to you, and she was accepted to: University of New Hampshire, SUNY-University at Buffalo, University of Arkansas, and Kansas State. So consider these schools!

The Princeton Review publishes articles on what students say about the schools they attend. Here are some excerpts about the above schools.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
"University of New Hampshire captures the social appeal every student wants and provides every academic opportunity he or she needs," students at this midsize state university agree. With "so many students and majors it is impossible not to find some activity or major to interest you." UNH allows students to pursue their ambitions as aggressively as they like. Some choose to take advantage of the "excellent nursing and nutrition programs," "the awesome business school," "a great education program," "strong departments in music and computer science," an "incredible aggie school," and "one of the best programs for marine biology on the East Coast." These students tout the "excellent internships and study abroad programs" available here, as well as the "great research opportunities. The business kids are always working on outside projects, and every class I have had has ended with some type of individual research project. There are tons of opportunities for research grants from your sophomore year on. . . . The list is endless." Others pursue an "all play, no work" option, cruising through with a carefully chosen curriculum of easy courses. The presence of this latter group partly accounts for the perception that "UNH is really underrated academically." Undergrads warn that the school "lacks a personal touch at times, but in general, it works well for a university of its size."

SUNY-UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
Offering "more academic programs per dollar than any other university in the state," SUNY Buffalo (UB for short) "is about choices. You can choose many different . . . combinations of academics and social activities with the support in place." Students brag that UB's "Programs are all of the highest quality, translating [into] a best-value education for students." The School of Engineering and Applied Science in particular "is well respected" and "works with corporate partners in a variety of ways that range from joint-research ventures to continuing education to co-op work arrangements for our students." Other stand-out offerings include: pharmacy, physical therapy, a popular business and management school "that is ranked highly," "a solid undergrad and grad architecture program," and "one of the top nursing programs in the state." Of course, a school with this much to offer is bound to be large, making it "easy not to attend class and fall through the cracks, so one must be self-motivated to do well." Administrative tasks are occasionally Kafkaesque, with "a lot of red tape to go through to get anything done. I feel like a pebble being kicked around when trying to get support or services," notes one student. Many students point out that support services and contact with professors improves during junior and senior years when students are pursuing their majors and forging stronger relationships within their departments.

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Kansas State University was founded under the Morrill Act, the nineteenth-century federal legislation designed to promote progress in agricultural science, engineering, and military science. Nearly 150 years after its founding, K-State still fulfills its original mission admirably; students here praise the school's offerings in pre-veterinary medicine, ecology, agronomy, biology, economics, engineering, and agriculture. "This is an ag school in the middle of farmland and the Bible Belt," students agree, noting that the liberal arts, while taught, definitely take a backseat to the more popular programs. Research opportunities abound here for ambitious undergrads, as "Students turn out papers and projects and often are required to meet people in industry to practice solving industry problems." Experiential learning options are popular, too: "K-State does a great job helping students to get the experience they need while they are still taking classes," undergrads tell us. With nearly 20,000 fellow students, undergrads must be assertive to get the most of their educations here; one student points out, "All professors and administrators here are accessible, as long as the effort is made by the student."