<p>I attended a low-ranked public school for 2 years (9th & 10th) then switched to a wonderful all-girls private school for the remainder of high school and my GPA pattern looks like this: 9th: 3.4 UW, 10th: 3.7 UW, 11th: 4.0 UW, 12th: 4.0 UW.</p>
<p>Would they overlook my freshman year since I have an upward trend and had straight A's at a competitive school or do they not like to see students switching schools?</p>
<p>“they do not like to see students switching schools” </p>
<p>How does this compare with schools wanting the best students possible? Why would they penalize hard to find applicants for something out of their control?</p>
<p>Regardless, congrats on your achievements. It looks likely you’ll have a very successful collegiate career.</p>
<p>Are you in a gap year now or just hoping you’ll get a 4.0 senior year?</p>
<p>I think it’s fine. You could say something in your essay like “I thrive on challenge as evidenced by my GPA/class difficulty trend”.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t have an opinion in general about students’ switching schools unless the student switched schools after, for instance, being kicked out of a school for misbehavior.</p>
<p>I’m not saying this happened in your case, but if I was looking at someone who was 3.4-3.7 and then suddenly became a 4.0 after switching to a private school, I might think that the private school was less demanding or practiced grade inflation. </p>
<p>I think how this is actually viewed will totally depend on the reputation of your private school.</p>
<p>^You might think that, but the colleges don’t. I’ve seen students go from 2.0-2.5 to 3.5-4.0 in my high school because they started working harder. You can’t assume that just because their GPAs went up that their school is easier, because then you’re implying that you don’t believe people can change. Colleges believe that people CAN and DO change.</p>
<p>The colleges also will look at the school’s profile (that includes info about % of students going to college, average SAT scores, # of AP tests taken, etc.) to determine how rigorous her school is.</p>
<p>Pose this question after you actually complete your junior year at said wonderful all-girls private school.</p>
<p>Hey, thanks for the replies. I’m expecting my GPA to improve because my level of motivation and hard work is increasing every year. I also just recently have started overcoming my depression.</p>
<p>The private school is high-ranked. Its a great school. I think that about 8% of students go on to attend Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you. I hope your new environment will give you the challenges and you fully flourish.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>