<p>so I began freshman year very badly during 1st marking period with a 67 average... but now I'm a junior with a 92+ average and 3 AP classes. my overall average for all 3 years so far is an 88, but that's with all the weight of my AP classes. it's probably much lower without the weight (I assume 82-84). Will colleges disregard the fact that I took challenging courses? also, do they look at junior year more closely? I'm looking to go to a college looking for a strong 3.0 GPA. I also scored a 1750 on SATs, but they don't look at that until you apply for classes.</p>
<p>I meant college is looking for a strong B average** my bad</p>
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also scored a 1750 on SATs, but they don’t look at that until you apply for classes.</p>
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<p>???</p>
<p>colleges will look at your grades, courses, gpa, and SAT when you apply to the SCHOOLS.</p>
<p>^your SAT score will matter for your admission indeed. If you took it only once, take it a second time. Prepare with some books or use number2.com, a free website that helps you find and correct your most common mistakes.</p>
<p>Look at your in-state universities - if you tell us what your state of residency is, the posters here will be happy to give you some names.</p>
<p>Look at Colleges that Change Lives: they’re colleges that take strong B students and focus on the undergraduate experience. There’s a book you can get, or look at ctcl.org. Their admission rates vary greatly. Academically, Hampshire, Centre, Rhodes, St Olaf, Whitman, and Reed would be reaches for you, Wooster, Allegheny, Earlham, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Goucher, Agnes Scott (girls), Southwestern, Austin, Hendrix, Willamette would be matches. </p>
<p>Look at each profile, then run the Net Price Calculator to see how much each would expect your parents to pay. Then bring the results to your parents and (after the shock - most parents don’t know how much college costs have increased!) ask them what’s a reasonable budget for your college.</p>
<p>^ good advice. And to answer a couple of your other questions… Yes, colleges look closely at junior year grades. The fact that you seem to have a strong upward trend (increasing grades as well as rigor) is definitely a plus. And no, they don’t “disregard” the fact that you took challenging courses, in fact that is what they want to see. They want to see that you challenged yourself and still did well. You seem to be doing well in that regard!</p>
<p>But remember that the UNweighted GPA is the one colleges use. They usually have their own method of assigning weight based on your high-level classes, but when you are looking at admissions stats for various schools, the GPA listed is UNweighted. Just keep that in mind.</p>
<p>So, take the advice above. Study HARD for the SAT. Colleges absolutely use SAT or ACT scores as a basis for admissions! It has nothing to do with class placement… maybe you are thinking of the AP test scores? Anyway- study. The College Board web site has a $80 online study/practive program that is good to use in conjunction with their “blue book” official practice tests. Maybe try the ACT as well, since some people score better on one versus the other and many colleges will accept either one. </p>
<p>Do some research on colleges for B students. Make sure that you run the Net Price Calculators for all of them to make sure they are affordable for your family. I can’t emphasize how important that is. It makes no sense to fall in love with a school and put a lot of effort into applying, only to get accepted but not be able to afford it.</p>