<p>I go to a reasonably tough/competitive private school in New York, and I screwed up pretty bad freshmen year (I got a 93.1 overall average). However, sophomore year I cleaned up my act and finished with a 96.3 overall, and hope to finish with an even higher (or at least relatively close) average this year. </p>
<p>I should probably also mention that my school does not weight grades because all students take a core liberal arts curriculum with no electives, so those grades are what would be "unweighted" in public school I guess... although I did take AP tests in European History and Biology (4's on both) last year to demonstrate that my classes are on par with actual AP classes.</p>
<p>I've heard that Stanford as well as the UC schools disregard freshmen year... does that mean they will look at my average as around a 96.5? or will they figure in that 93.1 from my freshmen year...</p>
<p>Stanford does not consider freshman year at all.</p>
<p>On the application, it only allows you to mark ECs since 10th grade and on the counselor recommendation form it says they prefer your class rank and GPA since 10th grade only. On their web site it says specifically:</p>
<p>"We will look at your choice of coursework and your performance in 10th, 11th and 12th grades, mainly in the core academic subjects of Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Language. We want to see that you have challenged yourself by taking some of the accelerated, honors, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate courses, if they are offered at your school. We will re-calculate your GPA on an unweighted 4.0 scale; we do not consider 9th grade or your electives outside the core academic areas."</p>
<p>See: <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_2e3_transcript.html#transcript%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/1_2e3_transcript.html#transcript</a></p>
<p>So, your freshman year is not considered in any area.</p>
<p>Since when is 93.1 terrble? Especially if you attend a tough school.</p>
<p>I never said it was terrible... but obviously when compared to the rest of the applicant pool a 96 or 97 is going to help me out a bit more than a 93.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! I'm glad to hear that.</p>
<p>i dont think there is a distinction between a 93 and a 97.</p>
<p>they just look at the letter grade.</p>
<p>my school doesnt even send averages, just letters.</p>
<p>Mathson took an AP freshman year. I've always wondered if Stanford ignores that too. Hope not!</p>
<p>"i dont think there is a distinction between a 93 and a 97.</p>
<p>they just look at the letter grade."</p>
<p>My school doesn't give us letter grades though... we only get averages.</p>