When calculating your Grade Point Average (GPA) you use this scale:

A = 4

B = 3

C = 2

D = 1

F = 0

So you have a fraction around 3.75 for your GPA.

That is a pretty good score for a junior high school student.

You are too early in your school career to ask a college if they are interested in you, but you have made a good start. The problem is that your college could care less what your GPA was in Junior High School. They may not even notice if you played on the Basketball Team there. What matters to them is your most recent performance and that’s in high school. However, you posed this question at a good time so you can plan for the future.

You didn’t mention any advanced classes you need to take those in high school. They are harder and will give you a better idea of what to expect in college; in fact they will seem like easy courses compared to the average college course. High school doesn’t prepare students for college; the goal is to graduate the most people as possible. The goal for a college is to graduate the most QUALIFIED people as possible and most colleges take pride in their student failure rate. This makes a degree from that university or college more valuable.

My advice to you is to try for the Basketball Team in High School. You may start on Junior Varsity, but a lot of good ball players did, you have to start somewhere. If you can’t make the varsity team then you know that you are not going to get a basketball scholarship.

Meanwhile concentrate on advanced English courses. English will be the most important class to your major, followed by history. To report properly you have to know the history of the technology, the region, the people and the case. To write properly you have to be able to write and read at an advanced level and you need experience doing that. Try to get a creative writing class and get on the staff for a publication. Not just the Year Book, that’s for people who are after status and bragging rights. If your high school publishes a creative writing book then that is where you want to be seen. The first thing a writer ever has to do is to get published and the sooner you do that the better. If you get just one story into that publication then you will have proven you can get published.

Then literature is going to be your tool for advanced writing. You will study the masters like Shakespeare, but only in an advanced English class will you really get into the story with a class that cares. Otherwise the majority of the class will want it to be over with. You can’t read Shakespeare, he is too hard, you have to hear it, or better yet attend a play.

Clearly, the Journalism Club is going to be one of your major goals and if you High School has a school newspaper then you can get published there and any staff position will look good on your record.

It sounds like you can do well in classes and now you understand that good grades are important for your future. What you don’t know is that the number of really good colleges has remained the same for many years, but the number of students trying to get into them has increased; thanks to the children of the Baby Boomers. You are going to be at the tail end of those kids so competition for a slot in college will be difficult. If you are a student with an A average then you have a great chance. But, colleges want “well rounded students” so the clubs you join and your participation on the basketball team will help; even if you don’t get a basketball scholarship. If you are good enough you might make the college team; but unless you want to go pro then I would turn more to journalism.

“The Shack” went back to college and got a degree in criminology, he wants to be a police officer when he retires. I don’t think he will need a fall back job, but the man is not just a great b-ball player he is smart too. Do you know what he did in high school? I bet if you research his life you can find out, and learning how to research properly will be of huge importance as a journalism major.

You will probably only have one or two major papers due per year in high school, but in college you can expect one or two per semester. You got the smarts, you got the tools, and you have the drive to do well so I wish you luck.

Some of the schools you mentioned are good, but which ones are known for journalism? Which schools did famous journalists go to? Call up the editor of the city paper and get his opinion. The worst he can do is say. ‘go away kid’, but if you tell him you are looking for a good college and want to know where he went and what kind of schools he looks for in a reporter then you will probably get a good response (people love to talk about themselves).

What kind of journalism do you want to get involved in; magazines, books, newspapers, TV news? Arrange a tour and see if you like it there. I wanted to be an architect when I went into college, but I picked a college that was suited more for engineering. I was accepted to a college with a better architecture program; but I didn’t go there (much to my regret). I also didn’t know that I would need a master’s degree to be taken seriously. What kind of degree do you need? Sure a journalism degree is pretty good, but is it right for your type of journalism? What about photography? National Geographic might be more interested in a history major or a anthropology major; it depends on where you want to specialize. If you are a writer then you will need to know the technology of the field. You don’t have to be a computer expert to write on a computer, but you do need to be able to use a word processor very well. In a newspaper the photo will be key to the story and the first thing that attracts the eye. Photo journalists are those that go around the world taking pictures and writing about them. They appear every where from the national news, to Bugging with Rudd on the Animal Channel, in National Geographic Magazine, Time or an important newspaper. If you know the technology then you can do better in the field; so a photo course would be a good idea, or maybe a computer course with and accent on digital photography, a typing course would be a requirement, and any writing courses will only help you.

To sum it all up; grades are important, just as involvement in activities. You want to concentrate on taking the advanced English courses, even if it hurts your GPA a little; because you need the experience at that level and you need to test yourself and make yourself work harder; otherwise high school won’t prepare you for college. Getting a post on the High School paper or somehow published will be very important. You need to decide which is more important; becoming a pro b-ball player or a journalist. You can do both, but not as well. What will you be willing to sacrifice to get into college? Answer that question and you will have a good idea of your course plan.

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A 94.5 GPA is excellent. I think it’d be about 3.78 on a 4.0 scale, but I’m not really sure how the conversions work. While your GPA certainly could fit the bill for many of the schools you are going to apply to, you should also remember that scores aren’t everything. It’s like how getting a perfect ACT or SAT score doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get into an Ivy.

Don’t worry about your freshman GPA too much (unless it’s very low). The colleges will get your transcript and as long as they see an upward trend in your grades, that’s great!

All colleges also look for your high school school activities and extracurriculars. What clubs are you in? Teams? Where do you volunteer? Do you have a job? What are your hobbies? That kind of stuff.

Some colleges require teacher and/or guidance counselor recommendations. These give the colleges and idea of what you are like in the classroom and how you compare to other students in your school. You will want to get recommendations from teachers whose classes you’ve done well in and who you think will write a strong recommendation for you.

Your essay will also play a fairly significant role. The essay will give the college and idea of who you are as a person or why you want to attend a certain school. While some essays will ask questions specifically related to a school (ex: Why do you want to pursue _______ at Duquesne?), others will not. If they do not specifically ask about the school, you don’t have to relate your essay to why you want to attend. In short, sell yourself to the school, but don’t turn it into an excessive plug.

Also consider scheduling interviews with the colleges. The purpose of the interview is to to set a positive impression on an alumni or admissions officer – basically to have them sell you to the school. For private colleges especially, the interview can have some influence on how much scholarship money you are offered.

Hope that helped and good luck!

The principal in our high school said that colleges look for a trend towards improving grades and extra curricular activities that make you an interesting and intelligent person. There are lots of smart people (though it doesn’t always feel that way!) in the world, but some are not so interesting. Be able to show them why are you are unique and worth selecting over another batch of applicants, not by bragging but by who you are. Besides, sometimes they want to bring diversity to their student population so they will not want ONLY kids with perfect grades….its the trend that showed you improved that I would focus on, noting that as you matured education was more valued. Go for it!! And also, sometimes if you are from a great school district they get too many applicants and limit the number of slots that they will fill from your region so that they can offer slots from a more geographically diverse area. It’s not always just about you, but what else they are looking for – in other words, you may be perfect, but not apply at the right time. You can also transfer to a college from another one if you don’t get in first try.

According to collegeboard Middle 50% of First-Year Students Percent Who Submitted Scores SAT Critical Reading: 520 – 620 94% SAT Math: 560 – 660 94% SAT Writing: 510 – 610 94% ACT Composite: 23 – 28 22% If you are interpreting this data correctly it will tell you that if get (Math 660+ reading 520+ and writing 510+) you have a 94 percent chance. You would have a very high chance if you have roughly a 3.5, but for NC 3.0 is should be sufficient.

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schools 945 gpa

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i think that you would be able to get into those schools with good essays, and test scores……

and for those who don’t believe that is a gpa, it is some schools work on a 100 point system instead of a 4 point system

Honey, there’s no such thing as a 94.5 GPA. The best thing would be to go to those school’s website and see what they consider for acceptance. Good luck!