How do schools view improvement over a student's HS academic career?

Applying to College
1

To what degree do schools consider a student’s improvement in academic performance over their high school career? If a student does not perform up to their potential their freshman year (think 3.2-3.5 UW GPA) does it kill their chances to get into a strong school even if they pull close to a 4.0 their remaining three years?

I have read that some schools recalculate students’ GPAs omitting non-academic classes like Health, PE, etc. Do any schools perform a similar calculation that weights freshman grades differently than the other three years?

2

The UCs don’t consider freshman grades.

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3

Thanks for the timely response. We are in MI and the chances of him applying to schools in CA are approaching zero.

4

It probably depends on what you consider a “strong school.” Lots of great schools don’t expect perfect grades.

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5

Upward trend is better than downward trend for the same overall GPA when it matters (typically when there is some subjective evaluation). But how much difference it makes is not necessarily obvious.

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6

Thing #2 seems interested in business school. My guess is he will want to stay in the Midwest, so let’s start with UIUC, MSU, Indiana and other schools of that caliber.

7

Every school is different in how they evaluate but in general upper is better.

No reason he can’t get into MSU and IUIC. Will need a higher GPA and a test score for assure IU.

Schools like Pitt, Iowa, Miami def in play too.

Is he just a freshman ? Just encourage now and come back in two years. There’s a Midwest school out there for him.

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8

Yes, he just finished fall semester, freshman year. We are working with him to improve his executive functioning skills since the main reason he is not pulling straight As is that he forgets to submit assignments. The frustrating thing is that he does the assignments, puts them in his backpack, takes them to school on the day they are due, and then… wait for it… forgets to turn them in.

9

Yes, schools definitely do consider upward trend.

Routines and alarms help with ADHD - you have to have a system. I throw things in front of the door so I cannot leave without them, and I set an alarm on the phone to go off at the appropriate reminder time. Maybe he could set an alarm on his phone the night before to remind himself to turn assignments in, that vibrates right as that class begins?

10

Thanks for the advice. We tried the phone idea, but phones are forbidden in classes. We are working on a system where he has a daily assignment checklist.