<p>So I'm currently a freshman in highschool. I'm taking AP Macro/Micro Economics, PreCalculus, Honors Chemistry, French II, AP Government and Politics, Honors English Language, Honors English Literature, and PE. Trimester 1 I received a 3.25 unweighted. Trimester 2 I received a 3.14</p>
<p>My course selection for next year: AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Calculus AB, AP Chemistry, French III, AP European History, AP English Language, Honors Physics, and PE.</p>
<p>My question: I know my GPA right now is not that great. I hope to improve my GPA for my final grades. I also hope to have a better GPA next year, as well.
I am scared I will not get into a top college because of my GPA (I eventually want to work on Wall Street or for a hedge fund). How well do colleges look into the rigor of a curriculum rather than just GPA??
Is there anything else I can do to possible get into a college like UChicago, Stanford, Berkley, Cornell, Columbia, etc.</p>
<p>Besides academics, I play basketball (club).</p>
<p>You are 3 grades ahead in math, but are only taking calculus AB instead of BC? When I went to high school, any student more than 1 grade ahead in math was assumed to be a top math student who would take BC, get an easy A in the class and 5 on the AP test, and then do well in following college math courses. The good news is, quants (e.g. math majors, statistics majors, economics-with-lots-of-math majors) often do find their way into finance type jobs.</p>
<p>As far as rigor versus grades go, the standard answer is that they want to see you take the most rigorous available courses and get A grades in them. Upward trends are considered, and UCs (like Berkeley) and CSUs do not include 9th grade course grades in the primary GPA they recalculate (though UC holistic review readers will see all courses and grades).</p>
<p>Lacrosse appears to be a favored sport in Wall Street, perhaps because it helps select for “favored demographics”.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’ll want to aim high if you want to work on Wall Street; these top schools choose students who not only take a rigorous course load but succeed in those courses. Obviously your gpa will be taken in the context of the courses you’ve taken, but that only means a little leeway if you’re taking the most rigorous courses (they’ll still expect ~3.9+ gpa and at least top 10% of class assuming your school is not known for being particularly difficult/competitive in which case they would account for that) . </p>
<p>The good news is that freshman year is the least important year from an academic standpoint so use your experience as a chance to think about what you’ll do differently. You are taking a lot of courses sophomore year so it would be worth considering cutting back on a course or two if you know your gpa will take a hit. 5 APs sophomore year is far from expected let alone 4 APs so your schedule will look rigorous regardless. In this case the potential gpa boost outweighs the marginal benefit of taking one more AP. Otherwise, get involved, see how you can make yourself stand out.</p>
<p>No. AP Calc AB is required for AP Calc BC.
Also, my school is known for its curriculum. It is ranked the number 5 high school in the nation. I am concerned, though, because other students have 4.0 GPAs and such.</p>
<p>Your GPA trend is downward, why? If you haven’t put your best effort into it, try to do that. If you’ve worked your hardest, then cut back your challenging courses. There is just no way around it. No matter what your HS ranks, your current GPA won’t get you into one single school on your list. Sorry, it sounds harsh but you need a reality check.</p>
<p>From Stanford CDS, for example:</p>
<p>Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class: 94</p>
<p>Percent who had GPA of 3.75 and higher: 92.27
Percent who had GPA of between 3.50 and 3.74: 5.24
Percent who had GPA between 3.25 and 3.49: 1.77</p>
<p>BTW, I think the GPA listed above is misleading, maybe the 5.24 + 1.77% are recruited athletics?, but at least you can see something concrete.</p>