Is this gpa/grades trend inadequate for selective schools?

Applying to College
1

<p>In freshmen year, I took only one honors class (English). I got an a- or a in almost everything, and one b in spanish and the (weighted) gpa was about 3.85.</p>

<p>Sophomore year is almost over, I switched to all honors except spanish. I have an A in spanish, B+ for a one-semester honors elective, B+ for another elective which is full-year, B+ in Biology honors, and a B+ in world history honors, with A's in all my other honors classes.
However, I believe the GPA will be higher because my school weighs a B+ in an honors class as more than an A- in a non-honors class.</p>

<p>If I get straight A's in junior year, where I'm taking four APs (US history, Calc AB, English, Art History) with all other classes being honors, will this be enough to mitigate the amount of B's I've received?</p>

2

<p>Your grades look fine for for selective college admissions. Unless our definitions of selective vary widely of course.</p>

3

<p>I heard its common for the non-hooked acceptees of ivies to have mostly a’s and only a couple of b’s so my grades are bothering me quite a bit now</p>

4

<p>Top schools use your unweighted GPA for admissions, not the weighted average. So even though your school weights your GPA, colleges will ask the guidance counselor, and you, for the unweighted GPA.</p>

<p>Thus the “B” in an Honors or AP class will be counted as a 2.0 rather than 3.0 class by top schools.</p>

<p>It is hard to say how your B’s will affect admissions. It depends on how selective the schools are and what your class rank will be. Just try to earn those stright A’s and then decide what college you might be qualified for. It is too early to tell now.</p>

5

<p>Zeezus – Are those B+ grades in your honors classes unweighted grades or are they your grade after the weighting. If they are weighted grades then fauve is correct. If they are unweighted don’t worry about it (at least not as much). While B’s don’t spell disaster, a bunch of Cs aren’t going to get you into Harvard.</p>

<p>BTW, I see that we define “selective” very differently. You really mean “ivies.”</p>

6

<p>Oh okay. Sorry if I got something mixed up, as I was told colleges look at both the weighted and unweighted GPA. The B+ in the honors is the unweighted grade, so I believe unweighted they would still be a 3.3 unweighted, but 3.795 if weighted. Whenever I say a letter, I refer to the unweighted grade, but I’m assuming the actual number being plugged in to calculate the gpa will be higher if that letter grade is weighted.</p>

<p>I have confidence in my EC’s, awards, and future testing scores, so it would just be disappointing for me if the grades I had are enough to kill me x_x </p>

<p>and yes, I should have said ivies. Though to be more specific, my dream school is Brown :x</p>

7

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<p>I feel compelled to mention that there are more than just 8 really good colleges and universities in this country. Please, please, please don’t get stuck on the Ivies.</p>

<p>But if you want to know about getting into Harvard or Brown or one of their peers, here’s the relevant question: are you, without question, one of the 5 best students in your class? If you are, then those grades might be good enough. If you can name 5 or more students who clearly have a better record than yours, then those grades are probably not good enough. (If you go to a very large high school that sends a lot of graduates every year to top colleges, you might be able to fudge a little bit on the 5, but you get the idea.)</p>

8

<p>@Sikorsky my class is 700-800 students, but yes I do understand what you’re getting at xD Also my school only shows percentage and not rank. I understand there are other great schools besides ivies but it’d be nice to get a vague idea of where my chances are</p>

9

<p>Wow, that’s a big class. Nothing personal, but I’m kind of glad I won’t have to go to your high school graduation!</p>

10

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<p>A “B” is a 3.0, not a 2.0. </p>

<p>Anyway, if you’re an unhooked applicant not in the top 2-5% of your class, your chances are * very * low unless you cure cancer or something.</p>

<p>There are many schools just as good as the ivies, and many great schools that aren’t quite as selective. Ask yourself what you want to get out of college, not what you want to be able to buy for a car decal.</p>

11

<p>The weighted B translates to an unweighted C, as the poster indicated his school weights those grades. </p>

<p>The unweighted GPA is usually calculated by the HS, but if they do not include it, the top colleges will calculate the UW GPA themselves.</p>

12

<p>I guess it makes more sense for them to want to see an uw to even the playing fields…</p>

13

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<p>I have never heard this reasoning before. My transcript shows the grade I earned in the course, and the weighted ones are marked with asterisks then the extra point is added in the weighted GPA calculation. They don’t put an “A” instead of a “B” for a B in an AP. It’s simply a B, which is then weighted in the weighted GPA.</p>

<p>The OP: “The B+ in the honors is the unweighted grade”</p>