If your child is worried about their weak freshman year GPA, they should focus on improving it by excelling in their remaining high school coursework. Many high schools weight grades in AP, IB , and other honors classes—meaning that a high grade in one of those classes will especially offset earlier lower grades.
Plus, the types of classes your child takes still matter—frequently more than the grade itself. Your child might also consider enrolling in online coursework or classes at your local community college.
Suggested reading: Weighted vs. If your child is stressed about their GPA, they should use that energy to focus on other parts of their application.
Yale University , for instance, tells students that an explanation from a counselor or another school official is more valuable than notes in the Common App Additional Information section. A counselor can explain how your child went on to succeed despite their circumstances, demonstrating resiliency and drive, without seeming defensive, as your child might if they wrote it themselves. Getting involved with clubs, societies, and teams freshman year gives your child a chance to dive deep into an area of interest.
Joining early can help them achieve and assume leadership roles within those organizations as an older student. Your child should not overcorrect for a low-activity freshman year by joining as many activities as possible later on.
They risk seeming scattered and unfocused. Instead, they should select few extracurriculars that are meaningful to them. What activity will give your child the chance to really make the most of their talents and interests?
If, during freshman year, your child devoted most of their time to one demanding primary activity, such as a sport or musical instrument, they should not feel they have to take time away from that activity simply to pad their list of extracurriculars. For example, if they spend most of their time playing soccer, they might find time to volunteer at soccer camps for younger children or to referee youth games. Or, if they play violin in a youth orchestra, they might share their talent by performing or giving lessons in a local venue like an elementary school or a retirement home.
If your child pursues what is truly meaningful or exciting to them, this will come across in their application. Summer and school breaks are also opportunities for your child to become more involved in the community.
They could volunteer for a political campaign, find an internship at a local hospital, or write a play. For example, your child might recruit other students to get involved politically or direct a production of their play with the high school theatre troupe. For example, a part-time job or religious involvements should be included.
Admissions officers want to know who your child is as a student and community member. They recognize that your child is not defined by their freshman year. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.
Another way to make the case that you haven't actually performed up to your potential is to really do your very best on the SAT or ACT test. A high score will show that you have untapped potential. Sometimes what happened in high school should just stay in high school. If you let your work slip, but now have come to you to a sudden realization that you need to refocus on academics, then what you really need is some more time to show what you can really do. Then this might be the time to rethink your target schools, and then try to transfer midway through your college career.
For example, you could first go to community college for one or two years, and then apply to a state or private university as a transfer student. Another great option is to seek out a university system and first enroll at a less selective campus, eventually transferring to one of the more selective ones. Explore your options in our guide to applying to college with a low GPA and our roundup of the best colleges with low GPA requirements. Thinking about planning your high school curriculum?
Then check out our discussion of the classes you should take in high school. If you'd like to see what a rigorous course load would look like, read our article on planning a challenging curriculum in high school. One of the single most important parts of your college application is what classes you choose to take in high school in conjunction with how well you do in those classes. Our team of PrepScholar admissions experts have compiled their knowledge into this single guide to planning out your high school course schedule.
Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia.
She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers. How to Get a Perfect , by a Perfect Scorer. Score on SAT Math. Score on SAT Reading. Score on SAT Writing.
What ACT target score should you be aiming for? How to Get a Perfect 4. How to Write an Amazing College Essay. A Comprehensive Guide. Choose Your Test. Posted by Dr. Anna Wulick Aug 15, PM. So which part of high school is that all-out sprinting finish line? Read on for our answer. All Years Are Important Before I tell you which is the most important year of high school, let's be real: you can't really snooze your way through any of these four important years.
What's more, if you really slack off senior year, your acceptance could even be rescinded Finally, if you're taking AP classes, good grades on AP exams can get you college credit or at least place you out of intro college classes. Junior Year Is the Most Important If you were paying careful attention, you might have noticed that the last section kind of gave short shrift to 11th grade.
Show off your academic chops The main reason that junior is the most important year for your college applications is because it's the last full year of high school that colleges see. Make up for past mistakes Another key reason that junior year is so crucial is that it can be the time when you redeem a lackluster freshman or sophomore year. Want to build the best possible college application? Anna Wulick. Marg: Sophomore year of college is kind of a dud.
Jimmy: 4th grade is the 7th grade of elementary school. Your mom kinda dresses you still but you have just enough freedom to wear your Penny Hardaway jersey twice a week should you choose.
No more finding out what color marker the bar is using so you can mark your own hand and sneak in the bar. This is the last year you go to the Homecoming Dance and the year you discover cunnilingus. Jimmy: 6th grade is a year full of extreme highs and extreme lows. On the plus side, you merge schools with all the other elementary schools in town so your friends that you used to only see during the summer are now in your classes.
And last but certainly not least, makeout city, population you, bro. On the downside, going from king of the school in 5th grade to insignificant nothing three months later is probably the most brutal school transition there is, especially when you consider how big of assholes year-olds are.
Marg: Sixth grade is a right of passage: middle school. This is when it gets real. Bras, boyfriends, Limp Bizkit, wearing a two-piece on field day, and of course, Britney Spears. Addition and subtraction are easy as fuck so your report card is perfect and your parents buy you presents for your good grades. Jimmy: Ah, high school. Where a boy becomes a man, a girl becomes a woman, and your possibly gay 8th Grade classmate is now Definitely Gay Gary.
Freshman year is tough when it comes to hooking up with all of the sluttier freshman chicks blowing upperclassmen because… cars, so the odds are certainly not in your favor. Also, signing up for five honors classes seemed like a great idea when you were a little overachieving middle schooler, but halfway through your page book report on To Kill A Mockingbird you realize that it was really fucking stupid.
Marg: Freshman year, first day of high school: Adidas sneakers, jean skirt, baby tee, brand new Jansport. This is what the kids wear right? This is a crucial year for making friends, so you need to choose the right clubs and sports teams to join.
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