Chance a Strong Upward Trend-er? Thanks!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

At the start of my high school career I was irresolute and faced difficulty earning good grades. Now I believe I am a dedicated student.

Chance me for:
Duke ED
UMich EA
USC
UCLA
UCB

ACT: 34C (35E, 35M, 33R, 34S) Single Sitting
Cumulative 9-11: UWGPA~3.6 WGPA~4.1
Most Rigorous Schedule possible at my school.

09th Grade (3.1UW/3.35W): (4 Honors)
10th Grade (3.75UW/4.25W): (AP Physics B + 4 Honors)
11th Grade (4.0 UW/4.675W): (AP Stat, AP Calc BC, AP Lang + 3 Honors)
12th - I am currently expecting all As for my first marking period (4 APs + Multivariable Calculus)

Extracurriclar Activites (Just to quickly list them):
-4 Year Cross Country Runner, 3 Years Varsity, Captain Senior Year
-4 Year Winter Track, 2 Years Varsity, Captain Senior Year
-4 Year Outdoor Track, 2 Years Varsity, (Expected) Captain Senior Year
-Model United Nations (10,11,12) Treasurer/Executive Board (Heavily Involved)
-Instructor at *******, where using Legos + Lego Mindstorm I teach children various STEM topics
-Internship at a CS startup, where I learned Java + Android
-High School Peer Tutor in Physics and Comp Sci (50 Hours)
-Jersey Boys State, elected to high level positions
–Some others, but these are my main ones.

Honors/Awards:
-Several Departmental Awards at HS
-National Honor Society
-Spanish Honor Society
-Various medals/Team titles in races

Essays/Recs:
I am a strong writer (5 on Lang Exam/A in class), and I have been told my essays are strong.
My letters of recommendations should be strong as well, as I have great relationships with those teachers.

My biggest concern is my GPA. Will colleges overlook my disastrous freshman year & focus on my strong junior year, or will they simply care about the overall GPA?

Thanks!!

2

What state are you from? Any hooks? Are you being recruited to run track/xcountry?

3

I am from NJ. No hooks, and I am not fast enough to be recruited.

4

Duke and CAL are going to be a reach. UCLA, USC and UMich slight reaches. And yes, the GPA is holding you back.

5

I will be applying for Economics at these schools.

6

I think you have a good chance for UCB and UCLA where the freshman year is not considered for GPU (explicitly). You did quite well in the later years and that will not go unnoticed to atcoms! Your essays will play a big role (explain issues you had in the 9th grade and how you overcame them!):

UCLA/USC/UCB - high match
Duke - low/reach

7

Thanks, @uclaparent9 !

8

I think you can definitely get accepted in UCLA and USC

9

@seoulninja Thanks :smiley: , but I’m curious to know what makes you say that!

10

Did you calculate your UC GPA? If you are 4.3+, then it may be a very high match to low reach.
For UMich, since they resumed recalculation of GPA, now they do include freshmen grades and that would hurt your chance. Your uwGPA is way below their admission average even you have a good upward trend. 21% of the enrolled freshmen last year has 4.0 GPA from high school.

11

@billcsho My UC GPA is 4.43.
When I spoke with a UMich admissions officer during my visit, she assured me that UMich will observe any strong upward trend and put emphasis on junior year grades. Hopefully that helps me out, even though my GPA is below average for UMich.

12

Bump

13

You know, the job of the adcom is to encourage more students to apply. The upward trend is already considered and reflected in the admission stat.

14

Anyone else have any input/experience with upward trends?

15

Deleted - accidentally commented twice