This fall I will be going into my junior year of high school. Currently, I have a weighted gpa of 3.97, but my unweighted is a very low 3.5. Prior to this I thought my unweighted gpa was much higher and I was looking at colleges like Whitman, Bates and Berkley. Do I still have a chance at them? Sophmore and Freshman year I took all honors classes. So far I’ve taken AP euro (the only AP class my school offers to sophomores) and next year I will be taking AP chem and Apush. Senior year I plan to take 3 Ap’s. I’m worried as my classes get harder my unweighted gpa will continue to drop. My extracurriculars are impressive though. I’m heavily involved in my school’s marching band, symphonic band and honors ensemble (one of top in the country). I’ve been class treasurer and I will be class rep for the rest of my time in high school. Additionally, I run a successful social media campaign against gun violence and work as a summer camp counselor. I have other clubs as well but those are the biggest activities I partake in. My application will also likely include a recommendation letter from my school’s principal to whom I talk to for our school council. Basically, I’m terrified that all of my dreams are dead and that I’m going to live in a hole on the side of the road.
I will only address UC Berkeley in regards to your question. UCB like all the UC’s will only use 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation for their application review. They will look at Freshman courses/grades to make sure you completed the UC a-g course requirements and they will look at your in-progress and planned courses Senior year but no grades since they are not available at time of application.
The UC’s will look at your Uw UC GPA, Capped weighted UC GPA and Fully weighted UC GPA. If you are not a California HS student, honors courses will not be weighted. If you are a CA HS student, then you look up your weighted courses for the UC GPA calculation on this website: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
Here is the UC GPA calculator so you can post your results once you have completed the calculation. Based on what you have posted, unless you have around a 4.23 UC Capped weighted GPA, UC Berkeley will be a high Reach school.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
In general, your application will be reviewed within the context of what your HS offers in terms of classes. EC’s are important along with your test scores, application essays and LOR’s (not required but you are invited by UCB to submit if wanted).
There are thousands of colleges in the US so there is a college for every student that wants to attend. The issue will be that you need to find where your stats make you a competitive applicant.
Please post all pertinent information/stats at the end of Junior year and CC posters can help with a balanced college list.
It’s not binary. Dreams can ( & do & should) evolve as we grow and evolve. There are plenty of choices for a student who likes Whitman, Bates & UC-B, at a wide variety of selectivity levels.
As all future college students should, start with the hardest part of getting a college education: paying for it. Have a blunt conversation with your parents: what’s the budget? If you are OOS for UC-B,at $65K+/pa is it even an option?
Then, once you have test scores & at least mid-Junior year GPA start looking for schools that have the things you like about Whitman, Bates & UC-B, where your stats put you way at the top end of applicants and that you can definitely afford. Nail down that list, and then look for similar schools where you are solidly in the middle of the pack stats-wise. Lastly, see how your (current) first choices stack up.
Be prepared to change your ideas of what is your ‘dream’ college. It might stay the same, but given how fast you are changing right now, you might discover things that you haven’t even thought of yet. One of my collegekids had her full list of colleges, including an ED choice that she was absolutely in love with, set by spring of Grade 11. In autumn of Grade 12 she applied ED to a school that she hadn’t even considered until that summer- and the list of schools she applied to was completely different.
So, go do your best- b/c it is a good way to live, and overall it will get you farther in life. But be open to dreams you haven’t even had yet It’s a big world 
As you currently stand, you may get in to a school such as Whitman, and if you expand your range a bit to include other matches or realistic reaches such as St. Lawrence, Wheaton (MA), Denison and URichmond, I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine.
Look at the website Colleges that change lives. You’ll find lots of possibilities.
Run the Net Price calculator to see if the college will be affordable.
Do you know your EFC? Can your parents afford it? what state do you live in?
Thank you that’s so reassuring!
BTW, in addition to the other great advice here, I think that you should be dreaming bigger dreams. You should be dreaming of all the great things that you can do in your life, not about being accepted in any particular college.
I’ll put it this way - imagine that you are going of a trip around the world, would you be dreaming about the car which takes you to the airport?
That’s a great point!
Since you need cheering up, AND since you mention living in a hole by the side of the road, this is for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nL6isGPhzk
Yes, that’s John Cleese and Graham Chapman in their pre-Monty Python days.
And Marty Feldman. Thanks for the cheer, MWolf.
Oh and produced by David Frost.
That was perfect! I love Monty Python
All I can say is that if you can grind on SAT/ ACT studying and get a good score, that will counteract the lower GPA. Also try to do research with a professor next summer (preferably at Bates, Berkeley, and Whitman) and get a rec. I made a mistake on not starting to ask for internships earlier, but literally anyone can get one if they email a bunch of professors and try.
Test scores don’t make up for lowish GPAs or vice versa. OP needs to hit all the benchmarks the colleges look for to be competitive for admission.
Connecticut College, though highly selective, might be within your range and could be another school to consider for your greater list.
Can you do internships at colleges as a high school student? I thought those were just for currently enrolled students, not prospective.
Whether you can depends on your qualifications and their needs. I doubt you’ll be able to fly to some distant state, support yourself, for this. So look locally. We don’t know your major. You could also get involved in other ways, outside the hs box. That poster who presses for an internship is assuming it tops all else. Or that a better SAT will mask grades.
On that subject, it’s not GPA alone. They’ll look at the transcript and see rigor and grades. What matters more is what classes caused the GPA concerns. Directly related to your possible major is different than, eg, an elective.
And each college has its own flavors, things it values and looks for in applicants. Spend a little time looking into this. Whitman and Bates are very different and UCBerkeley is the big reach.
Meanwhile, get a Fiske Guide to Colleges and see all the wonderful colleges out there, that might be a great match,