<p>I know that an upward trend is a good thing, but I'd like to know if it's comparable to any GPA that someone might have gotten consistently. My trend has been:
Freshman 2.95/3.567
Sophomore 3.617/4.0
Junior 4.0/4.0</p>
<p>My overall GPA is 3.689. I've been looking at schools and I just wanted to know if anyone could give me an idea of what this would be similar to if I had a consistent GPA. I know it's not likely that anyone can tell me but I would appreciate any thoughts.</p>
<p>I know it’s a weird question but can anyone give me any idea? I know an upward trend is a special case and it would be useful to know what to look for when I’m looking at the stats of accepted students. Is it close to a 3.8 or so?</p>
<p>I don’t think we can “compare” your upward trend GPA to a consistent one over 3 years.</p>
<p>There are however, many schools that do not look at your freshman year grades. Then you’d have roughly a 3.8 UW GPA. </p>
<p>Most schools don’t count freshman year, so there will not be an indication of a large upward trend in your case. A lot of schools only count 10th-11th grade, while expecting a rigorous schedule for senior year, so focus on those two things. For 10th-11th grade, you have a 3.8 or so UW GPA, so what matters next is the classes you took and your SAT scores. What schools are you planning to apply to? </p>
<p>A lot will depend on what you got those grades in. If you drove your rigor down to get that 4.0, it’s not as valuable as if you had a rigorous schedule (3-4 APs) and got a 4.0. All 4.0s are not created equal.</p>
<p>@JB1234 Do you know if any of the schools I’m applying to ignore freshman year? I am planning on applying to RIT, Bama, IIT, UPortland, Northwestern, CMU, JHU, Cornell, BU, UWash, CWRU, and URochester.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 Sophomore year I took AP World, which is really the only AP offered to sophomores, along with honors in the classes that I could take as honors. Junior year I took AP Stats, APUSH, French 3 (very difficult at my school), Pre-Calc, Adv English, and Chem. The most advanced students at my school usually take AP Chem, but it’s recommended that you take normal chem first. I am already 1 year ahead the normal track for math at my school, but people from a different middle school are on track to take AP Calc AB junior year, but I didn’t really have that option. The only class I really neglected to take that I definitely should have was AP Lang, but I opted to take a more math focused schedule with Pre-Calc and AP stats, and took Adv. English which had almost the same workload as AP Lang. Next year I will be taking AP Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Gov, and AP Calc AB, which leaves me taking all the AP classes my school offers other than Chem, Calc BC, and Lang. Is this pretty rigorous? </p>
<p>@Fobonicus I should have clarified a bit more. A good percentage of colleges do not necessarily openly admit to excluding freshman year from GPA calculations (the UC system is one of the systems that discloses their GPA formula, which only counts 10th-11th grade), but a few mediocre freshman year grades are generally not weighed highly against the rest of the application (with the exception of Ivies, where they expect 100% model students, so I would try to be realistic in regards to Cornell.) In other words, having solid freshman year grades is helpful but sophomore and junior year grades are generally seen as being of higher importance. AP and honors weighting will also help balance out a few “eh” marks from freshman year. By overall GPA, are you referring to your GPA when AP and honors weighting is included? Also, what are your SAT/ACT scores? Is your intended major impacted? These are all factors that must be considered. A weak freshman year makes Northwestern, CMU, JH and Cornell tougher unless you have an excellent weighted GPA, high SAT/ACT scores (JH excluded on this part since they are SAT/ACT optional I believe) and solid extracurriculars, but your chances with the other schools are strong. Your senior schedule is definitely rigorous and should help in convincing colleges of your dedication, as long as you maintain high marks (senior year is not weighted in admissions unless you fail a class, but schools do see your senior grades when you send your transcript.) </p>
<p>I can’t correct my previous post, but it turns out that JH is only SAT/ACT optional for transfer applicants, not undergrads, sorry about that.</p>
<p>@JB1234 I am definitely aware that my chances at the most selective schools are very low, but I figured I would give them a shot anyway. I have taken the SAT once and I got 2190 (760 CR, 710 M, 720 W). 3.689 is my unweighted GPA, I have no idea what my weighted GPA is. I am planning on going into electrical engineering. My ECs are nothing special, so that’s not going to really help me either. I appreciate the help, though!</p>
<p>@Fobonicus Your SAT score is excellent and will definitely help with your application. Your UW GPA is roughly an A- average, so I would guess that your weighted GPA is over 4.0 since you have taken multiple AP courses.</p>