Downward GPA trend??

Applying to College
1

I am very concerned about my UW GPA; it has been on a downward trend throughout high school. Keep in mind that my classes have gotten significantly harder throughout high school and I am on a 7-point scale. Here’s my grade history:

Freshman year:
Honors Geometry: A
Honors World History: A
Honors English I: A
Computer programming I: A
Orchestra: Guitar I: A
Health/gym: A
Sports and Entertainment Marketing: A
Honors Biology: B
3.875 UW, 4.375 weighted

Sophomore year:
Honors Algebra II: A
Latin I: B
Drafting I: A
Adobe visual design (photoshop and graphics stuff): A
AP Human Geo: B (surprisingly, a very difficult class at my school)
Honors Chemistry: B
Honors English II: A
Honors Computer Programming II: A
3.625 UW, 4.375 weighted

First semester Junior year (current year):
AP Environmental Science: B (one of the hardest classes at my school)
Honors English III: A
Latin II: A
AP Psychology: B
3.5 UW, 4.75 weighted

Second semester Junior year (current):
AP Statistics: probably an A, a bit too early to tell
AP U.S. History: probably an A
Honors Pre Calc: probably a B, maybe an A. Too early to tell
Lifetime sports (needed a fun, easy class to lighten course load): definitely an A
ESTIMATED GPA: 3.75 UW, 5.00 weighted

CURRENT CUMULATIVE GPA: 3.7 UW, 4.45 weighted
ESTIMATED FUTURE GPA: 3.71 UW, 4.54 weighted

I’m very worried that schools will look negatively upon my downward UW GPA trend. However, this year, the only B’s I have made so far have been in 2 AP classes that most students get low B’s or C’s in (my high school is the best high school in NC, academically.) I’m applying EA to: UNC-Chapel Hill (in-state), UT-Austin, UVa (reach school), Vandy (big reach but I am a legacy), UGA, Tulane, Wake Forest, and the honors college at Ole Miss. I’m anticipating high test scores soon (been studying A LOT) and I have a lot of EC’s so I’m not worried about those. How will these schools look at my GPA?

2

Regarding Vanderbilt, not all legacies are remotely equal:

  • Most parents graduate, get on with their lives, financially donate occasionally and too not generously, attend an event or two annually, and have never devoted any substantial time or talent to their alma mater. Understandably, the “hook” their child receives is minuscule.
  • One the other hand, a FEW alumni devote great energy, time, talent, treasury, and leadership to their alma mater. Their donations are magnanimous (especially compared to their wealth) and frequent, they lead local alumni organizations, they serve of oversight and governance boards and executive committees, they chair class reunion committees, they help to plan and execute charitable gift campaigns, they provide internships, entry-level jobs and career advise to students, they utilize their professional experiences to “team teach” with faculty, and so forth. In fact, generally these alums have done several of the foregoing – and more. Obviously, the “hook” their child appropriately receives is significant.
3

@toptier I know, I’m just saying it helps a little bit because I’m a legacy and my dad has donated money there… That was a very small point in the post

4

@agc1998‌ (re post #2): I understand. I simply wanted you to appreciate FULLY the “legacy” issue. Some individuals – not you – have a very distorted view of its significance.

5

@toptier Yeah, it’s not like my dad donated a new ward to the hospital or anything but he’s given donations to the University from time to time I’m pretty sure

6

bump

7

Perhaps the value of legacy is “low” at some universities of which I am not familiar. But generally it matters a great deal. The guidelines for when it counts and when not depends on admissions protocol, which is explicitly stated. Often the rules are that it counts for early decision only. But it truly counts.

For alumni who make significant donations legacy can count still more.

8

Since the classes you’re getting slightly lower grades in are more rigorous than the ones you had A’s in, I don’t think you have a problem when it comes to the trend