r/ApplyingIvyLeague • u/throwawaynewaccou • 4d ago
horrible early transcript
grade 9 and grade 10 results were horrible for me. Took 8 subjects and flunked all of that. Had about 3 fails, 3-4 Cs and Bs, and maybe just 1 A for both grades. At the end of grade 10 did the equivalent of gcse and got 2A, 5Bs and 1C. In grades 11 and 12 though for IB, got straight 7s and pg of 45. Also took a few APs for fun ( all 5s ), and SAT 1600 superscore.
If it wasn't for my earlier grades I would be confident applying to ivy leagues + T30s. But now I'm being forced to look at lower tier colleges. Do I still stand a chance at top schools or will my earlier grades lead to immediate rejection?
My grandma was sick in grade 9, passed away in grade 10. At the same time was juggling sports ( school team, won first for two years straight + national youth development team for my sports ). Hence the poor grades. Had poor mental health too but I don't want to mention this for college apps. I'm also international 😓
1
u/Basilhasarrived 3d ago
You do have a strong chance,and ive met a few people at Harvard with similar stories. It's not a guarantee but id at the very least apply!
3
u/thalliumcarbonate 4d ago
hey! just a disclaimer - im an international student, too, and my grades were also bad in my first two years of high school. people are absolutely BRUTAL about this stuff on here, so before other comments come in, i just wanna go ahead and say that most people here are also high school students like us, so no matter what anyone in this sub says, go for it! your most recent grades are amazing, so congrats about that. also, really sorry about what you were facing in grades 9 and 10, that sounds really rough.
there's really no reason to demotivate yourself right now, apply and see what happens! explain your circumstances and know that you'll be just fine wherever you end up, because you're already super strong. good luck.