Freshman Year

[dmonalor]

My grades for the freshman year were as follows: A, B, B+, A, A-, A, B. I am in an honors math course and an honors science course, but have gotten a b in one. Next year I am taking 2 AP courses and 2 honors courses, but did not get into another honors course. If I get mostly As next year, will my situation look a little better? (will I get in to a very competitive school??)

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[i am the moon]

Are you a freshman in high school?

If so, if you can get all As for the rest of your high school career, you should be more than prepared for a top/Ivy college as long as you have a lot of long-term ECs and volunteer work and hold down a steady job. If you can maintain all As and Bs for the rest of high school, you could be competitive for a top state school.

As with med school, what they really want to see is a marked upward trend.

 

[dmonalor]

yes I am a freshman in high school and I do a lot of extra-curriculars (about 10 hours a week)

 

[Future Doc1]

Are you a freshman in high school?

If so, if you can get all As for the rest of your high school career, you should be more than prepared for a top/Ivy college as long as you have a lot of long-term ECs and volunteer work and hold down a steady job. If you can maintain all As and Bs for the rest of high school, you could be competitive for a top state school.

As with med school, what they really want to see is a marked upward trend.

I agree

 

[NickNaylor]

My first piece of advice: relax and enjoy high school. Don't be so bent on getting in to the absolute "best" school you can. You'll more than likely come to realize that attending a top college does not correlate to acceptance to a top med school. If your grades suffer to have a little fun and enjoy being in high school, then so be it. I personally think it's a worthwhile sacrifice to make, but to each his own.

With that said, if you do well the rest of your high school career, you'll be fine. Perfection isn't necessary. As long as you do well and demonstrate that you did things other than classes, you'll get in wherever you want to go.

 

[xnfs93hy]

My first piece of advice: relax and enjoy high school. Don't be so bent on getting in to the absolute "best" school you can. You'll more than likely come to realize that attending a top college does not correlate to acceptance to a top med school. If your grades suffer to have a little fun and enjoy being in high school, then so be it. I personally think it's a worthwhile sacrifice to make, but to each his own.

With that said, if you do well the rest of your high school career, you'll be fine. Perfection isn't necessary. As long as you do well and demonstrate that you did things other than classes, you'll get in wherever you want to go.

Heed every bit of this advice, OP.

 

[FuturaDocta]

Well, when I made good grades in high school, my main motivation was the scholarship money. I think you should definitely do extra curricular's and do a lot of volunteer work. This helps you get use to what you will be doing as a pre-med.

But, don't let your high school grades fool you from thinking you will be top notch in college. It is much different and you have to form much firmer study habits (when I say study habits, I mean that you should be as productive as you can for the limited amount of time you have to study in college).

In college, everything demands more of you. It is to make you more prepared for the real world. But, yeah, I don't see anything wrong with making good grades and having fun at the same time in high school. I personally thought high school was pretty relaxing compared to college (not to say that I took the easy path in high school at all, it was rather rigorous and I added on all the executive positions I had in clubs, extra curricular activities, volunteering, community college classes on the sides.... you get the point).

Also, try landing a leadership position such as being president of student council. That always looks good on scholarship applications. Money money money. If you don't like to think about money, just think about how much happier you'd make your parents feel about you going to college!

 

[i am the moon]

My first piece of advice: relax and enjoy high school. Don't be so bent on getting in to the absolute "best" school you can. You'll more than likely come to realize that attending a top college does not correlate to acceptance to a top med school. If your grades suffer to have a little fun and enjoy being in high school, then so be it. I personally think it's a worthwhile sacrifice to make, but to each his own.

With that said, if you do well the rest of your high school career, you'll be fine. Perfection isn't necessary. As long as you do well and demonstrate that you did things other than classes, you'll get in wherever you want to go.

I should have mentioned something like this in my original comment. Definitely pay attention to this post. Good grades are important, but so is being a kid and having fun. Like Cole said, you don't have to go to Yale to get into a really good med school.

 

[FuturaDocta]

I should have mentioned something like this in my original comment. Definitely pay attention to this post. Good grades are important, but so is being a kid and having fun. Like Cole said, you don't have to go to Yale to get into a really good med school.

Plus, if you apply to Yale, chance are you won't get as much money for your education. I also would not advice ending up in medical school with over 100k in debt (assuming you are paying for your education). And, as eveyone as pretty much said. HAVE FUN! You should always do this no matter what state you are in, even as a pre-med, resident, etc. It is what helps you live a happy and healthy life.

 

[ACGator09]

work hard, play harder

 

[IndianVercetti]

You guys in hSDN need to calm down. Enjoy high school guys... my god you're only a freshman, why are you worrying about every little grade? Do you guys realize that you can be "pre-med" and get accepted to medical school from ANY university that offers a science curriculum? Even if you are close to FAILING, which will not happen, considering you guys are bright individuals, you can attend a 4-year university.

Work hard, do your thing, but my goodness, stop being so anal about every little thing.

 

[CoolWhipp]

You'll more than likely come to realize that attending a top college does not correlate to acceptance to a top med school.

I would go as far as to say that for many students it may have been better for them to attend a less competitive university if it meant getting a higher gpa.

 

[CoolWhipp]

You'll more than likely come to realize that attending a top college does not correlate to acceptance to a top med school.

I would go as far as to say that for many students it may have been better for them to attend a less competitive university if it meant getting a higher gpa.

 

[bigbad]

Also, try to remember that grades aren't the only thing that gets you into college. A big mistake I made in high school was focus too much on grades and test scores, and while I did have a GPA above the averages for most of the schools I applied to, I ended up not getting in because of no volunteering/ECs.

In fact, I remember rushing to do a few hours of volunteering days before I submitted my application just so I had something to put in the blank spaces.

Sometimes these things can be more important than grades and test scores themselves. Don't put this stuff off until the last minute.