Hi. In my first semester of sophomore year, I got a weighted 3.1 GPA…really bad. But second semester I got a 3.67 so I improved a lot. Both semesters of junior year I got 4.1 each time. Is the 3.1 GPA going to really look bad? Thank you
An upward grade trend is always helpful. Much will depend upon how you do Junior year, since only 10-11th grades are included in the CSU GPA calculation. All you can do is try your hardest to do well next year. At the end of your Junior year, calculate your CSU/UC GPA: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Also work on some test prep for either the SAT and/or ACT. CSU admissions is based on your CSU GPA and your test scores which are calculated into an Eligibility index (EI).
Good Luck.
The counselors at my high school always told us that 10-11 grade are most important for a CSU school, but that CSUs also look at your cumulative GPA over all 4 years. Of course it would have been better if you got a 4.0 your first 2 years. However, it also looks good to schools to see that you’ve drastically improved. GPA isn’t the only factor that goes into admission - what APs/Honors level courses were you taking?
The CSU’s will consider course rigor, so even though you only get 8 extra honors points (8 semesters/4 year long classes) for AP/IB or DE classes, it is important to make you a competitive applicant for many of the top CSU’s.
UCs reward course rigor and significant improvement in GPA.
Because they all use a calculated index that weighs each a-g course equally, none of the CSUs would have a window into an improving GPA. Cal Ploy SLO is the only CSU that looks at course rigor. The others simply look at your 10-11 grades and SAT/ACT. A couple of programs at a couple of campuses (STEM at CSULB for example) modify the index somewhat but it still comes down to a simple formula you’ll find here: http://www.csumentor.edu/planning/high_school/elig_index_calculator.asp
and the CSULB STEM admission is here
http://web.csulb.edu/depts/enrollment/admissions/res_eligibility.html