<p>Hello, I am a senior at a small private school in Southern California. I had a bad freshman year in terms of my grades (3.28 unweighted), (3.85 weighted). I became much more motivated in my sophomore year, I took 3 honors classes and got a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.42 weighted, and tied for the third highest gpa in my class of 180. My junior year I took 3 AP's and 1 honors, and obtained a 4.0 and a 4.57 weighted, and tied for the send highest gpa in my class. I have stayed active as a varsity swimmer, been involved in many clubs, including starting my schools very first surf club, which was a raging success.For my volunteering, I have done 4 missions trips, and tutored my peers in spanish through the school. I am applying to colleges such as USC, UCSD, Pepperdine, Northwestern, and University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth as reach schools. However, I am worried that my low grades freshman year will keep me from getting accepted into these universities. Should I be worried? Do I still have a chance at my reach schools? Thanks</p>
<p>UCSD will not use Freshman grades in the UC GPA calcuation:<a href=“GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub”>http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/</a>
USC will use Freshman grades but an upward trend will help.</p>
<p>Your dedication for improvement is a definite huge plus. I would recommend doing something “big” for a particular activity that you care about the most. Think about your four years. What specific extracurricular/activity have you spent the most time on? Emphasize on that throughout your senior year. I would also recommend getting a few recommendation letters that showcase your improvement. Also, apply Early Decision and Early Action to your first choice college. This will significantly improve your chances.</p>
<p>For Example: Dartmouth College’s regular decision admission rate is 11% and their early decision admission rate is 29%. </p>
<p>Your Standardized Test Scores might also make a difference.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1705599-cornell-ed-or-princeton-ea-chances.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1705599-cornell-ed-or-princeton-ea-chances.html#latest</a>
Chance Back</p>
<p>Sat or act score…?</p>
<p>you won’t have a problem at UCSD if you have a fair SAT score</p>