Bad GPA my Junior Year
Hello!
I’m a Junior and I’m struggling with my GPA this year. To give some context, I’m 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’m not doing well in Chem and pre calc honors and as the end of the first semester nears, I’m afraid there’s not much I can do about my grades.
Pre calc I’ve been improving in and I’m 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’s 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’t get him to the hospital when we did. Although I really don’t want this to impact anything, I am under some stress and perhaps that’s 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’t really stellar. On top of that, I still might have one or two Cs this year. Otherwise I’ve had 97 and 96 GPA past years and my extra curriculars are pretty decent—I have leadership positions inside and outside of school, I volunteer, I take music lessons and have received an award, I’ve received awards for French, and I’m in my school’s NHS.
My question is, with all being said, do I still have a shot at getting into some “decent “ colleges? I obviously don’t 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!
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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!
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Thank you for your advice! My major concern is the Cs—how much will they affect me if my GPA is 3.7?