Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, I’m not entirely sure of this site’s layout yet. Anyway, I’m currently enrolled in the international baccalaureate program (IB) and I had pretty good grades freshman year (A’s/1 B), but the advent of sophomore year coincided with a few problems that adversely affected my performance. I ended the 1st quarter with bad grades and that brought my GPA down quite a bit to 3.67 uw / 4.25w. A couple of things transpired such as my cousin attempting suicide, moving houses, tensions at home between mother and my sister and I, etc. I’m currently on track to end the semester with a high 3.8-4.0 (all A’s and A-). I’m working hard and have moved beyond those circumstances. Would I be able to bring up my GPA by the end of junior year to somewhere between the 3.8-4.0 uw GPA range? Would it be a factor that could singlehandedly destroy my chances at one of the more prestigious universities? Thanks~
That is not a poor GPA. Have you seen those GPA calculators online? You could play around with those and see realistically different scenarios. Just google that.
Nah, you should be fine.
Work to bring it up. While that isn’t a bad GPA (like rtdsmith said), you’ll almost definitely want to bump it up for top-tier schools.
As long as you do that, those adverse experiences may actually help you by giving some inspiration for good college essays.
Good luck!