All right so I am incredibly nervous and quite honestly borderline depressed because of the predicament that I am in. First things first I would really appreciate honest answers so please stick to that criteria. So my gpa is incredibly bad, around a 3.5 weighted or a 6.23 weighted on an 8.0 scale. I’m pretty smart, however my freshmen and sophomore years were abysmal due mainly to lack of motivation etc. However this year, my junior year, I have done much better, almost all A’s first semester with 3 ap classes, and I am on track to get all A’s this second semester. I plan on taking 7 AP classes next year and I believe that I could get a 33+ on my ACT and 2250+ on my sat. I got a 207 on my psat so hopefully at least commended if not semifinalist national merit. EC’s: I have an internship at a hedgefund this summer (I’m interested in business) and I did very well in an online stock trading competition last summer. I had a job at a dog salon the summer after my sophomore year and I went on a community service trip to new orleans to help rebuild the wetlands the summer after my freshmen year. I’m a member of the national honor society, i have been a member of youth and government and world affairs club. also this year i founded and am president of a student managed investment fund club where we invest actual money in the stock market. I rowed crew freshmen year and have played golf since sophomore year. I have gotten the presidents volunteer service award all 3 years and have accumulated 300+ hours of community service. So obvioulsy my largest downfall is my gpa but i was wondering if maybe some of the schools that I would like to go to would notice my strong upward trend and if there is anyway i can explain to them that I’m a very different student now. These schools include UPenn(father legacy), duke, harvard, uva, wake forest, dartmouth(father legacy), vanderbilt and other good schools. Thanks for reading this!
I suggest coming back after getting real numbers for the ACT and SAT. It would greatly help in deciding your chances as these standardized test scores are a huge factor in the admission process. Your ECs are also not outstanding (there is a good post on this page about what counts as a good EC).
Also, a 207 on the PSAT will not be a semifinalist score. I am 99% sure that it will be above a 220.
So, get those SAT and ACT scores in, and the community and myself will be able to give you a better analysis.
Good luck!