How is this gpa trend percieved?

Applying to College
1

<p>I am planning on applying to the UCs and a couple of other schools that more competitive ( NYU stern/Cornell ect) however I just recieved an offical transcript of my junior first semester grades..and they were not pretty. My major concern is that this apparant "downward trend will over shadow all of the hardwork I put in during the previous years"</p>

<p>My GPAs:
Freshman: 4.0
Sophomore: 4.0
Junior 1st Sem: 3.4 <--three Bs out of 6 classes
Junior 2nd Sem: 3.7/3.8 <--- projected</p>

<p>[All of the classes I have gotten Bs in were either APs or Honors]</p>

<p>I am worried because I have been hearing that UCs do not even count your freshman year grades in their admissions process. This would significantly lower my over all GPA and I know how much emphasis UCs place on numbers. MY QUESTION is to what extent this trend will impact/hurt my chances at the schools I have listed. I was also wondering how exactly the UCs computed thier GPA [ im instate btw]. Assuming my standardized testing and ECs are at par with each of the schools [ a huge assumption I know] do you think that my GPA would be a bad enough factor to get me rejected by itself?</p>

<p>Please let me know</p>

2

<p>You kind of screwed up on that one, but if you can pull out a 4.0 second semester they won’t think much of it. Also the fact that they were AP classes will help, you should really strive to score high on the AP exams and maybe that will take a little of the sting away from the drop in GPA.</p>

3

<p>Grades are very important to the UCs and they do not count freshman grades. Here is the eligibility index to help you. <a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html[/url]”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/paths_to_adm/freshman/scholarship_reqs.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Junior grades are the most important. And most schools will tell you that the transcript is the single most important factor in admissions, above AP scores. It doesn’t look too good to get a bad grade in the class and a 4/5 on the exam–it makes you look lazy. Of course, a B is hardly a bad grade, but when it’s half of your junior GPA, you’ll have some difficulties getting into upper UCs and more competitive privates.</p>

5

<p>If OP took the most rigorous courseload he/she should be fine.</p>

6

<p>I have a similar problem to OP, 4.0 all the way until first semester of junior year. </p>

<p>Both B’s I got though, (91 in Honors Pre-cal and 92 in AP English 11) were above an 89. </p>

<p>Isn’t it true that anything in the 90-92 range is a 3.75 to a college?</p>

7

<p>First off thanks for all the input!
How much do you think this screw up will impact my out of state university admissions like NYU/Cornell/UChicago? Also, would it be accurate to say that unless I get a 4.0 second semester and through senior year a university like UCLA/UCB would be a reach at best ( once more this is assuming all my other stats are at par with the college).</p>

8

<p>Junior grades are the most important. What a lot of people seem to ignore when thinking about that is that junior year is usually the first time you have really hard classes. So if your GPA drops at the beginning of junior year, I would highly advise against expecting to be able to pull a 4.0 the rest of your time at high school.</p>

9

<p>I completely understand. I dont expect to pull off a perfect 4.0 but I was just asking whether I would still be a competitive candidate if I was to recieve one or two more Bs before graduation.</p>