<p>Does anyone know how significant a role upward grade trends play in admissions selection?</p>
<p>well its definitely better to just begin and end ur college career with good grades. but its not worse than getting mediocre grades throughout without improving. if u started out slow like in a 3.2 range but ended up with a 3.8ish in ur last yr and brought ur overall gpa to like a 3.5, i would think that that would be better than having a 3.5 throughout</p>
<p>Take a look at the following extract from Berkeley’s transfer info pamphlet:</p>
<p>SELECTION
Because more transfer students apply to our
campus than we can admit, Berkeleys selection
criteria exceed the UC eligibility requirements.
We admit applicants primarily on the basis of academic
performance and preparation, as assessed
by a review of:
GPA
Completion of freshman/sophomore prerequisite
courses for the intended major and/or
college breadth requirements
Grade trends</p>
<p><a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/12626_5.Info_TransAdm.pdf[/url]”>http://students.berkeley.edu/files/Admissions/12626_5.Info_TransAdm.pdf</a></p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>yes grade trends are valuable. It is, of course, better to have high GPA through your whole career but an upward trend is second to none. Upward trend looks better than just average GPA throughout. Also, if someone has a 3.7 and a downward trend, yet you have a 3.4 and an upward trend…I would think the the upward trend gives you the ability to compete with a high GPA like that. I started with a 2.5 and then averaged a 3.8 my second year which brings me to a 3.45 total. So with my upward trend I think I look really good to certain schools like Berkeley</p>
<p>Thanks guys, i was just wondering cuz, while i was in HS i took classes at my local CCC during the summers, and like i got 2 Bs, a C, and an A, but after I graduated and came here i’ve had a 4.0 every semester.</p>
<p>how’s about someone that received 3.5, 3.0, 3.0 his first year then 3.7 on the grade update for fall qtr of his second year? would this be considered a trend or just fluctuation?</p>
<p>that’s called finishing strong. Upward grade trend is an easily identifiable upward trend in both overall GPA, and Yearly GPA. Semester GPA means less than two semester GPA (one year) average. For example, I’ve got one B this year and averaging 3.88 for the three semesters in 2009. However, in 2008 I kicked off freshman year with a 2.5, and averaged 2.9 for the year. This is my definition of upward grade trend. The average GPA for year 1 vs. year 2.</p>
<p>do those that finish strong have an advantage as well?</p>
<p>Just try your best. The best way to do it is to be consistently outstanding each quarter/semester. If you are going to dip, it would be best if the drop in grades occurred at the beginning of your college career rather than later so you can attribute it to “adjusting.” </p>
<p>When it comes down to it, colleges look at your GPA and don’t worry too much about grade trends. Only when the trends are extremely interesting (say from a 2.0 the first quarter to a 4.0 the second quarter and then on) do they really put a lot of weight on them. Upward grade trends (sometimes) can make up for a below average GPA due to a bad start if they see that you now can perform at the level that they expect.</p>
<p>well i’m well into my second year at a cc so it’s too late for me</p>
<p>Yes finishing strong is an advantage. It’s the last thing they see before admitting you so it’s definitely better to finish strong. Think of it this way: I’ve been told that ad Coms would have rejected some people if thy had not finished strong. If u have a 3.3 going with 40 units going into fall, then you have a low GPA but not many units, which gives u the opportunity to significantly raise it in fall to like a 3.5. Now if u have two candidates, one finished fall at a 3.45 dropped from his total average of 3.5, he is less attractive than someone who finished fall with a 3.45 total up from 3.3. So the stronger your fall semester (for border lines, and low gpa) the better chance you got of getting the spot that another guy would have got with a higher GPA who didn’t finish strong. It’s my opinion that fall before transfer is the most important semester of all. It can be the deciding factor in admissions. Spring before transfer is probably one of the least important</p>
<p>I agree about the grade trends part, I am a CC student myself and in Spring 2009, I had a 0.5 GPA and in Spring 2010 I got almost a 3.0 GPA (busting my ass off in school for the very first time ever in my life btw). When I tried for the 1st time, I made lots of mistakes, but what mattered was is that I learned from these mistakes. Which is an important lesson if you want to get good grades.</p>
<p>Also I am planning to get 3.5+ GPA for my transfer units and I struggled with severe learning differences in High School too as well.</p>
<p>Some say that grade trends play a bigger role than overall GPA. True story: one friend applied to all UC’s with a 3.7-8 GPA but didn’t do amazing fall semester prior to decision (3.4ish). Got in everywhere except for UCLA and UCB. The other friend who also applied to all UC’s had only a 3.5… however he did really well summer and fall prior to decision (3.8-4.0). He was granted admission into both UCB and UCLA. Both were comp sci majors who took the same classes pretty much during the same time…</p>
<p>Well that means you are agreeing about the grade trends part then Lmendoza. You are right.</p>