Originally posted in the Cornell section.
Freshmen: ~3.6 UW (1 Honors/ 1 AP Class)
Sophomore: 3.66 UW(I guess this rounds to a 3.7?) (1 Honors/ 1 AP Class)
I plan on taking 4 Honors and 2 AP Classes next year(as a Junior) and know I can get a 4.0 UW GPA. I hope to really step it up and start trying next year. Also as of know my EC’s are pretty weak, but I hope to do a ton of volunteer work this summer and throughout next year and get involved in some clubs.
I am also pretty sure I can get a ~2200+ on the SAT.
Also, senior year I’ll be taking 4 AP courses and 1 Honors class.
I’m just wondering if I’ve screwed myself beyond repair. I’d like honest answers, if I do exceptionally well the next 2 years and on my SAT’s, start volunteering, and get involved with my school, will this upward trend assuage my two years of mediocrity?
Schools I’d like to attempt to get into: Cornell, Columbia, Stanford, Caltech, University of Chicago
This has been bothering me for a bit, and I’d appreciate any and all input.
All the schools you listed are reaches. Even if you get a 4.0 UW GPA, your chances are lowered a lot by your Freshman and Sophomore Year performance.
If you get a 2200+~ on the SAT, start volunteering, get involved, it will not necessarily ‘make up’ for your mediocrity as there thousands of applicants with 4.0/2300+SAT/volunteering/getting involved who were rejected from the schools you listed.
Obviously, I’m not an admissions officer so I can’t really say if you have a chance or not. Essays, recs also play a big role in the admissions process and those are much later.
Definitely apply but just know that over 90% of applicants get rejected from the schools you mentioned.
Put yourself in the position of an admissions officer at one of these schools.
Why would you pick someone who screwed around for a couple years and only lately decided they had to get on the stick and make things look better when you already have too many applicants who have done well all four years?
If you do exceptionally well in the last 2 years, colleges will like and appreciate your improvement, which is still second to a consistent 4.0 GPA.
Do something creative. Not just what everyone already has
The freshman year performance is not very important for Stanford, because Stanford does not consider your freshman year in its admissions process. That said, it’s still going to be a high reach for you thanks to your sophmore year, but it’s always worth a shot to try. Best of luck.