Simple question how do colleges look at an upwards trend in gpa?
My sophomor year of highschool I had a 2.9 GPA (I know it is low)
But a 3.7 gpa on my junior year in the IB Diploma Program
Is this a positive thing if so by how much?
I know my gpa is so low that my 33 act and subject tests might not compensate it but I was hoping at least an upwards trend would help me
P.S. Nothing bad happened to me I just didn’t study on my sophomore year and cared more about other things but I think I matured on my junior year.
Purdue, georgia tech are a couple of schools I’m thinking of
Unweighted gpa btw
PU will like your ACT. GT may be more difficult. Are both affordable? PU has practically no fin aid for OOS students
I am an International (who is from a country with very little competition unlike say China) so Fin aid or a Scholarship is off the table anyways for public universities even though money is not a problem I think I can get one after my freshman year. Also looking at Ohio state Berkeley UCLA, and Texas Austin but the uc’s are just to try my luck I know that they care about an applicants GPA ALOT so my GPA trend basically is irrelevant.
An answer would be great how important is GPA trend?
It’s important, but the most competitive applicants typically have 3.8-4.0 every year, so the upwardness is minimal.
Most state schools only look at the cumulative GPA from 9th to 11th grade. It depends on where you plan on applying.
UC’s use only 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation so having low Sophomore year grades will have a definite negative impact. Upward grade trends are always good but how much significance is placed on it will depend on each school evaluating your transcript.
Should I mention that I have an upwards trend and maybe give some explanations for my low gpa (varsity basketball) or would it be better if I do not make the admission officer focus on my gpa
They will see the upward trend. But basically they only have a few years to look at. An upward trend means that your GPA is higher than it would have been if your performance were level. If you did not improve, your GPA would be something like a 2.9 right. Instead it is higher. Naturally the upward trend is good but it won’t compensate for not having a consistent 3.7. The fact that it was sophomore year and not freshman year is unfortunate since some schools are more likely to disregard freshman year grades (as mentioned above). I would not make excuses because your essays are best used to highlight strengths not weaknesses. I guess an exception would be if you are so good in basketball that you might be recruited for it. Being a recruit would be a big leg up. But even then you don’t want them to think you can’t handle a sport with your academics.