I’m pretty certain that by the end of junior year I will end up with at least 3.8 cumulative GPA (3 B+'s) , and in sophomore year I got one B+. I might be setting myself for further discouragement here, but can anyone provide some advice on how I can still appeal to the admissions committee?
You can’t do anything about your past grades.
Unless you have some incredibly compelling story about why you have that GPA (e.g. working 20 hours a week to support your family and taking care of your disabled sibling), there isn’t much to appeal to the admissions committee about your academics.
And even if you do, that isn’t enough since they look at more than your academic performance.
The shot that you have is in the rest of your application that you do control. What are you planning to do in the next 9 months that will also make your application stronger?
Remember, plenty of people with 4.0+ get rejected.
Plenty of people with compelling ECs get rejected.
But, there are people with less than a 4.0 GPA that get accepted.
Agree with ^
As someone who is at Stanford I can tell you that if there is an elite school that doesn’t stress grades as much as the others, it is Stanford. A 3.8 is still a solid GPA. All your GPA, test scores, and other academic stats need to show is that you can handle Stanford coursework. I’m sure you can if all you have in 4 B+'s in 3 years. If you think this might be a problem show how difficult your course load was.
Otherwise Stanford will not reject you over a 3.8, but a 4.0+ would not entice them to accept you either. So until the application deadline you need to make sure you have a way to entice Stanford to accept you. What makes you special? What makes you a valuable contribution to our campus? What would students like me get from interacting with you? etc.
^ Agree as well. Higher GPA (and upwards trend) is of course ideal. But coming from another student at Stanford who didn’t have a 4.0 in high school, you haven’t “ruined” your chances. The rest of your app needs to be compelling but it’s still possible. Focus on doing well in other areas and really exploring what makes you special (and of course try to get good grades!).
And remember that the admit rate is crazy low so apply to a variety of schools and don’t have too high of expectations for the most competitive schools.
Sorry for replying so late, but thank you so much for all the helpful advice! It truly means a lot 