I tried to do a chance me, but most of the results were that I wouldn’t be able to go to a top tier university due to my poor 9th grade grades. However, I was able to improve it very significantly. For reference, here are my UW/W GPA’s from each year: 9th-2.73/3.02, 10th-3.85/4.02, 11th-4.0,4.83. Everyone pointed out the fact that my overall GPA was 3.5UW and 4.0W, which is not good enough for top universities, but no one looked at the fact that just if I just counted 10th and 11th grade, my GPA would be 3.92UW and 4.4W. I know GPA’s don’t work like this, but still, does 9th grade really diminish my chances of going to a top university?
Apply to UCs, which don’t look at frosh grades.
Barring some extenuating circumstances, colleges care about your freshman grades. There are plenty of students who faced hardship and worse but still managed high grades for four years. Even those kids may not get in. If there is a compelling reason why your frosh grades weren’t good, ask your GC to mention it in the letter of rec. address it briefly in additional information on the CA. But if it sounds like an excuse, such as “I didn’t realize until tenth grade that Harvard was my dream”, don’t expect it to hold much credibility.
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Unfortunately the top schools you mentioned in your other thread are reaches for all students, even with perfect GPAs and test scores all 4 years. A strong upward grade improvement is great but unless you are looking at schools that disregard freshman year, they are part of your record and GPA. It also impacts your class rank which is still considered at some schools.
That isn’t to say not to apply to a few reaches because you should, but like everyone else, you should be spending your time finding your matches and safeties. Reach schools should only be 20% of your list.
IMO, don’t get bogged down on the reach schools. You are doing great getting your grades back up and setting yourself up for college success and beyond. If I recall, you are looking to do CS. You can be successful at any number of schools that will be super excited to have you.
FWIW, you may find you have better luck in RD rounds because some schools will want to see your first semester senior grades to ensure the upward trend is continuing. I’d also make sure you are taking good course rigor so you can prove that you can handle college.
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I think that you could have some decent luck at a top LAC in either ED 1 or ED 2. If you are a very personable applicant and can show that you are more than that rocky freshman year, then they might be able to overlook that. Many of them have ED acceptance rates in the 30-40% range.
You’re basically asking the same question and hoping for a different response. Yes, 9th grade grades matter. Yes, many schools like to see an “upward trend” but those are not the schools you seem focused on. Schools like the ivies expect you to be the best from the get-go. And then still go up from there by taking more rigor, doing more in-depth EC’s, and still maintaining stellar grades. There are literally hundreds of colleges that would be happy to have you, you just seem laser focused on the top 50 or so that may not be in reach for you. One person on here telling you that you “might” get into an Ivy Is not going to actually make it happen. Look at the results list from this year on the schools you are focusing on and see how many kids with better grades, rigor and EC’s than you did not get in. Then look at schools a “tier” down and see how many kids with better grades, rigor and EC’s than you did not get in. (For example look at NYU, Wake Forest, and any of the UC’s). Just “wanting” to get in is not enough. These schools have to want you. It is time to start expanding your list and finding out what you actually want in a school besides just a ranking.
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You actually never made it clear in the other thread what your uwGPA in core courses only is…without electives, gym, health, etc. That is the GPA that many colleges will focus on/re-calculate. How many Cs do you have, if any?
The other thing we don’t know much about is your academic rigor, especially relative to your classmates. How many core courses in each subject area do you have? Ideally it should be 4 years in each core subject (E, Science, SS, Math, FL). Have you taken physics, bio, and chem? What math class will you have senior year?
AOs will look at you course selection, and also compare you to your classmates on many factors: core uwGPA, rank (even for schools that don’t rank, GCs and AOs typically can infer where an applicant falls), and number of honors and AP classes.
Your HS GC should be the one to help you build of list of schools and categorize them, knowing all of the above information. Is your HS GC helpful/capable?
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Sorry, top LACs do not have acceptance rates of 30-40%. The very top LAcs are as competitive as many of the top 15 or so colleges in the nation. There are definitely LACs this student can get into, but they are unlikely to be Williams or Swarthmore.
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If you read what I typed, I was talking about the ED acceptance rates, where a place like Middlebury admitted 392/838 applicants through ED for the fall of 2020, which comes out to 46.7%. I am well aware of how competitive the admissions are for the top LACs (I’ve had classmates who’ve gotten into Yale and Stanford but rejected by Amherst), but for a place like Middlebury that places a high emphasis on their ED pool, I think OP would have a chance.
Middlebury had a big drop in acceptance rate this year. Combined ED1/2 had a 34% acceptance rate. Middlebury College Receives Record 11,908 Applications to Class of 2025 | Middlebury News and Announcements
I hadn’t seen those published, thanks. I was going off the CDS reports that provided information for the Fall 2020 entry.
A lot of those accepted to ED are athletes or have other hooks. Keep that in mind when deciding if you are in the same pool as those with hooks.
OP, why should the top schools accept you? I’m serious. What makes your application with a 3.5 gpa worthy? If they have hundreds (thousands) of applications that are similar to yours (same type of ECs, strong essays and recommendations) why should they take you rather than one of the others that also have good grades all 4 years?
It’s not that you have no chance, you just don’t have a good chance unless you can somehow beat out those other kids who are starting way in front of you by having near perfect gpa’s. Are you an athlete? Are you a science prize winner? Student leader in many areas (student council, tutor, eagle scout)? Why should they pick you? Just saying “Oh, my gpa has shown a big improvement” is not enough.
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I think the bigger issue is - and this is no different than before - you are only equating what you perceive as top - tier to success. Let me tell you - a lot more kids with better overall #s are going to state flagships, etc. than are going to to the elites.
The elites are either turning down or losing due to finances many many many thousands of kids - at every state flagship, there are many kids who CHOOSE to go there over the so called top tier you are concerned about.
As others have said, apply to your dream schools. If you get in - then great. Just make sure you have your match and your safety schools as well. Too many kids with a lot higher GPAs than you - apply to 8 reaches - and end up with no college at all.
You are over-thinking this. You have a wonderful chance to end up at a great school - regardless of if it’s a Harvard/Chicago/Duke, etc.
As I mentioned on the other chain, Common App gives you a space to speak to unusual events - so not sure why your first year was so much lower than your other years - but you can explain as to why it is.
Also, I believe on the other chain, you said money is not a factor - when you apply to need aware schools, that will give you a leg up.
Focus on making a list that’s inclusive - and stop worrying about what people think - because the colleges themselves will decide. If you have a comprehensive list - and there’s many great public Honors Colleges out there - you’ll be fine.
But to give an example - my kid had a 3.98 / 4.53 with a 32 ACT and got into U of SC and UGA Honors…but turned down at Pitt Honors and FSU. Got into both schools - but not Honors.
Your record is your record - explain the 9th grade away, work on your common app essay, get great LORs - and you’ll be what you’ll be.
Whether you go to Harvard or Michigan State, you’ll be as good as you are - the school can give you opportunity but it does not bring you success. That’s where you come in.
Good luck.
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This is exactly SPOT ON!
You are overthinking this and appear to assume that anything less is beneath your capability.
The ivies are all VASTLY different and THEY get to pick and choose from hundreds of thousands of applicants. (There are about 35K Valedictorians, from the US alone, who tend to apply.)
After the selection of recruited athletes, URM’s, international celebrities and prep school legacy-kids’-parents-donations-of buildings, the seats are gone. The ivies only have a few, finite spots. There is not a lot of space left.
Each school has a “personality” and the “ivies” know what will fit each of their classes. The same goes for the student who visits a campus and just doesn’t meld with the feel of the school. It has to do with fit.
Freshman year is over; you can’t change it, so you learn from it. You apply to schools where you fit. Apply to a couple of reaches and see how it goes.
I do know that a number of ivy-type candidates (daughters and son included) seem to ooze organization and balance in their: studies, tri-sports, social justice EC’s and part-time jobs.
The Principals know these kids, their siblings, and the parents on a first name basis, for all 4 years, and the Principals WANT to write the LOC’s (even if the school has several thousand students). Teachers and counselors do talk and will speak highly of the polite, respectful, bright, ivy-caliber students and they remember how these kids performed at each grade level.
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My suggestion with the LAC ED route was just a suggestion, and I have no idea if the OP would want to go that route. I know that those acceptance rates are misleading to an extent, but if you want to have the best statistical chance of getting into a “top” school, then the OP’s best chance would be applying ED to a LAC like Midd or Colby, where it does make a big difference if you apply ED as opposed to RD. I do not think OP will have much of a shot at the top national universities outside of the UCs, regardless if it is an RD or ED applicant.
Where the OP has to get his mind around is - he has a shot at a “GREAT” university!!! Who is to say which is tops? That’s what’s gotten wrong with our society.
Thanks. Yea, the more I think of it, the happier I am if I go to a college that’s not necessarily a top 50. I think that I’m fine not going there now cuz it doesn’t really matter in the long run I feel
I will reiterate what Lindagaf said, that one can’t use ED acceptance rates to suggest OP apply to these highly selective reach schools. I doubt there were many unhooked ED applicants with 3.5 uwGPAs accepted this year at either Midd or Colby. So even though the ED acceptance rate might be relatively higher than the RD round at some elite LACs, the same is true at some T20 universities with ED as well (such as Duke, Brown, WashU and more).
You can always aim to go for a “Top” ranking school for your Grad studies if you still feel strongly about it after 4 years of college.
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Success may not be guaranteed, but Legal Founders argue that getting straight A’s doesn’t hurt either. With a high GPA, you’ll be able to earn more money, go to college, or change careers. The more you spend on your college education, the more you should get out of it.