Bad GPA my Junior YearAnswered
Hello!
I鈥檓 a Junior and I鈥檓 struggling with my GPA this year. To give some context, I鈥檓 taking 7 courses this year, with 5 being academic, one being an elective and one being an in school leadership position. Out of the 5 academic courses, 2 are AP (lit and Chem) and 2 are honors (French and PreCalc). However I鈥檓 not doing well in Chem and pre calc honors and as the end of the first semester nears, I鈥檓 afraid there鈥檚 not much I can do about my grades.
Pre calc I鈥檝e been improving in and I鈥檓 hoping to get a decent grade soon, but Chem seems to just not work out for me no matter how hard I try. I have a C in both of these classes. More disappointing is that I receive outside help for both these courses.
Although I do not want to use my circumstances as an excuse, I am struggling this year at home. There鈥檚 some tensions in my family and my dad is also extremely ill and has had to visit the hospital multiple times this year and is currently not able to move. We were told that this could be fatal if we didn鈥檛 get him to the hospital when we did. Although I really don鈥檛 want this to impact anything, I am under some stress and perhaps that鈥檚 affecting my grades too.
I think that by the end of the year, I can hopefully get a 90 unweighted GPA and a 92 weighted GPA which I understand isn鈥檛 really stellar. On top of that, I still might have one or two Cs this year. Otherwise I鈥檝e had 97 and 96 GPA past years and my extra curriculars are pretty decent鈥擨 have leadership positions inside and outside of school, I volunteer, I take music lessons and have received an award, I鈥檝e received awards for French, and I鈥檓 in my school鈥檚 NHS.
My question is, with all being said, do I still have a shot at getting into some 鈥渄ecent 鈥� colleges? I obviously don鈥檛 expect to get in Ivy League, but would colleges like University of San Diego or Urbana Champaign be reasonable?
Any and all advice will be appreciated! Thank you!
Earn karma by helping others:
1 answer
Hi @deys_ly,
First I want to say that having your dad so sick and being under so much stress is definitely a factor. Not the only thing, but that is definitely a good reason to be stressed. In elementary school, my grandfather was super sick and we were at the hospital often. Thankful I was not in hs yet and I am a homeschool student, but it did affect me and my siblings' school. Keep doing your best and be sure to have much grace for yourself. True, you do not want to blame your grades on your circumstances, but our circumstances do affect us.
Colleges like University of San Diego or Urbana Champaign are definitely reasonable for you! Although a 3.7 GPA is slightly below the average for both schools, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't be admitted. Strong test scores (note: this does not mean a perfect score, just a strong one), essays, letters of rec, and extracurricular activities can help compensate for a slightly lower GPA. Here are some posts I made about essays and SAT (a reply to another person's post): collegevine.com/c/junior/49537/make-your-essay-stand-out and collegevine.com/c/junior/49374/how-much-should-i-be-studying-for-sats
Hope this helps you! If you have any additional questions, please reply and I will be happy to help!
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don鈥檛 ask 鈥渃hance-me鈥� questions. Use 黑料不打烊鈥檚 chancing instead!
Thank you for your advice! My major concern is the Cs鈥攈ow much will they affect me if my GPA is 3.7?