GPAs vs. Cum. GPA?

Applying to College
1

<p>So my Freshman year of High School I really screwed up. I got a 2.9992, so basically a 3.0. This year for my first quarter I got a 3.47, so I brought it up quite a bit, second quarter (1st semester) I got a 3.43. Next quarter I'm hoping to get into the 3.6-3.7's. Then 4th quarter (2nd semester) I'll probably end up around a 3.4-3.5. Next year I'll definitely kick it into high gear and hopefully get into the 3.7-3.8's.
My cum. GPA looks awful though when I calculate it because of my freshman year, even though I got into the 3.5's+ my other years.
So basically what I'm asking is do colleges really take a look into your Freshman/Sophmore/Junior grades rather than looking just at the cum. GPA?</p>

<p>I hope to God. I definitely learned my lesson after Freshman year.</p>

2

<p>Exactly same thing happened to me. Freshman year I got a 2.85 and first quarter of this year i got a 3.47 and im hoping to get a3.8-4 from now on but my cum gpa will still not very good because of freshman year. But i think colleges will taking our upward trend into consideration.</p>

3

<p>I definitely hope so.
What colleges are you considering?</p>

4

<p>I really want to go USC or one of the UC's. What about you?</p>

5

<p>I want to go to Purdue, Indiana University-Bloomington, Loyola University of Chicago or Penn State.</p>

6

<p>haha same here 2.85 fresh year trying to recover</p>

7

<p>i wish all colleges would just not count freshman grades...that would make everything so much easier</p>

8

<p>psh I'm glad they count them...it rewards all of us who realized "Wow, I'm in high school, grades actually count now"</p>

9

<p>Bittersweet: UC does not count your freshman grades so bonus for you. If you keep getting higher grades you'll be in the running for USC. </p>

<p>Many schools either don't count freshman grades or look at them and use them to help the student.</p>

<p>Most of transcripts I see tank between spring of sophmore year and fall of junior so if you are improving then, keep it up.</p>

10

<p>USC is not a UC.</p>

<p>USC also was not one of the colleges the OP mentioned.</p>

11

<p>I know USC is a private school. Also, I was responding to bittersweetie33 who said " I really want to go USC or one of the UC's. What about you? "</p>

12

<p>tennisgal:
We're not mentally challenged, we do realize we're in high school, it's just a hard change for some of us.
I have 1600 kids in my school, now tell me that isn't hard to adjust to.</p>

<p>I see you're from Michigan, where in Michigan?</p>

13

<p>ummm...UCs do count freshman grades.</p>

14

<p>^^ No they don't</p>

15

<p>im a high school junior with a 4.0 GPA and am 29th in my class of 604. i am also in at least eight clubs or extracurricular activities. i know this is respectable but is it really good enough to get me into ivy leagues (or maybe schools like rice and northwestern?)</p>

16

<p>Depends. Clubs usually do nothing to an application unless the club has had a visible effect. Hanging out in Spanish club is complete BS and colleges know it. Granted, it's better than nothing, but awards are vastly more important than clubs. A 4.0 is great, but it really depends on your courseload and your rank. 29th is not bad, but it shows that you're not at the top, so you really need to get good SAT scores. Teacher recs will probably be fine, but my advice is to go "above and beyond" in two of your favorite classes. Raise you r hand several times, get perfects on the tests, volunteer to help students who need help, etc... SUCK UP. It will pay off in the recs.</p>

17

<p>thanks whoamg...its funny cuz when i was typing that post i was thinking of how i went to spanish club and basically sat there yesterday. but what do you mean "visible effect"? i'm in interact and we go to the nursing home to help with the senior citizens of our community-like that? but i do all the tutoring stuff for mu alpha theta and spanish club. u sound really well informed. are u still in high school?
o and i'm in all ap and pre-ap or watever so i guess my gpa is 5.0 or over</p>

18

<p>From the UC website:</p>

<p>"What classes are used to determine a student's GPA for admission to UC? If a student took geometry and biology as a freshman, can he use those grades in calculating his GPA?"
In calculating the GPA, the student cannot include courses taken in the freshman year. Only "a-g" courses taken in the sophomore and junior years are used for the preliminary GPA. Please visit Doorways for more information.</p>

19

<p>what are a-g courses?</p>

20

<p>Each year your school must submit to UC the courses that your high school offers that meet the UC eligibilty requirements. UC reviews and approves them. When you are actually completing the UC the application online, there is a drop down menu, based on the HS you've listed, where all your eligible classes will be listed, by department. If your class isn't listed, it doesn't qualify you for eligibility. Every school in California should have a UC a-g list </p>

<p>From the UC website:
What does "a-g" mean?
The "a-g" subjects are history/social science, English, mathematics, laboratory science, language other than English, visual and performing arts, and college-preparatory electives. We label them by the letters "a-g" rather than numbers or some other labeling system</p>