I messed up my freshman year of high school in 2020 because it started online due to COVID-19. Failed classes because online learning was difficult (as I’m sure it was for everyone, I am not trying to make an excuse for myself) This ruined my gpa, one of the failed classes was an honors class.
I recently finished my first semester of junior year. I have really upped my game. My current year GPA is a 4.0, my cumulative unweighted GPA is a 3.0, and my weighted GPA is a 3.87.
I take AP, Honors, and AICE classes. I worked very hard this year to get near perfect grades. Years prior, my current year GPAs were significantly lower.
This is my burning question:
I know colleges look at everything they can, but cumulative GPA is usually the biggest one, my cumulative is a 3.0 … Will they see the grade changes (all A’s one B) I have for junior year and the current year GPA of a 4.0? This will hopefully show them my upward trend.
If I get straight A’s for second semester, what can my cumulative 3.0 GPA be brought up to by the end of second semester? Almost all of my classes are advanced, however, I’m unsure how many credits are offered for sure by each. I am taking 8 classes. 3 are AP, 2 are AICE, 1 is Honors and the last two are regular classes.
Do colleges even look at your current year GPAs (individual year) ? Do they take it into consideration? What do they think about our weighted GPAs?
Take a deep breath. Colleges are going to look at your transcript, not just your GPA They will be able to see the upward trend that you’ve had over the last few years. Many colleges will also recalculate your GPA, based on their own internal system, as schools across the country do not weight classes the same.
When you apply to colleges, there will be more than your GPA for them to look at. They will see your standardized test scores (if you submit), they will see your essays, letters of recommendation, extracurriculars and leadership, etc. Many colleges do holistic reviews of applications, meaning they look at the whole application, not just seeing if some minimum GPA/score threshold is met. Additionally, some colleges (like the U. of California campuses and Emory) do not include 9th grade scores when they calculate GPAs.
You, like all high school students, will want to develop a list of schools that include schools where you are extremely likely to be admitted, that are affordable for your family, and that you would like to attend. That’s where I (and many others on CC) recommend you start when building your list, as those can sometimes be the hardest schools to find. But once you have those, you can also shoot for schools where your odds of acceptance aren’t as high if those are schools that you think would be a good fit for you.
If you need any help of schools to consider, please let us know more about your interests, budget, etc.
I do not think that “cumulative GPA” is the most important thing. For many, many very good universities, having a strong sophomore and especially junior year of high school is more important compared to your overall GPA for the first three years of high school. Universities will look at your individual grades. Having a strong upward trend will help you.
Your freshman year might make Harvard and Stanford very unlikely (for undergrad). However, your strong uptrend and a strong sophomore and junior years will help you a lot in getting accepted to very good universities.
One acquaintance of my younger daughter had a similar “really bad freshman year”. She was so worried that I think that she ended up applying to something like 30 colleges and universities. I think that she ended up with at least 20 acceptances (which led to the next problem which was deciding where to attend).
Yes, admissions will look at your individual grades. They will see the uptrend.
I have seen students come back from a lot worse and still do very well.
Also, do not be surprised if a few universities ask for your midterm grades senior year. You will want to continue the good work through your senior year both to help you prepare for university, and also in case any schools ask to see senior year grades.
If you had D or F grades in 9th grade, it may become a problem in terms of counting required high school courses for some college admission. For example, if a college requires you to have 4 years of English in high school, but your 9th grade English course ended with a D or F, that could pose a problem unless you take an additional English course, or if the college allows some other means of fulfilling or replacing that year of English.
You can calculate your GPA with the hypothetical of 8 additional A grades added to your previous grades.
You are going to be fine. My son was in a similar boat and brought his unweighted up to a 3.16. Colleges will definitely take into account the rigor of your curriculum and your SATs will weigh heavily. Nail your essay and make sure your ECs are good and you’ll be good to go. Also, apply early action wherever possible.
To give you an idea son has been accepted into every school he has applied that has an issued a decision so far with the stats below for Computer Science, the most selective major there is. Though we weren’t expecting it we have also received over 750,000 in scholarship offers (and counting) from the following schools accepted into so far:
University of Pittsburg
Penn State
Rutgers
NJIT
Drexel
Temple
Kettering
Rowan
Rider
Stockton
Seton hall
Kean
Dakota State
Harrisburg
New Haven
Mount St. Mary’s
Saint Peter’s
Stats:
GPA: 3.2/4W 5.6/8W
SAT: 1360 super / 1340 best
Honors/AP/Dual Enroll: 11/9/7
Rank: 266 / 507
Residency: Non-Resident (Out of State)
Early Action: Yes
Applied: 11/1
Decision Date:
Major: Computer Science
Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate you adding all of his stats and course history, congratulations to him!!! i will keep this for my own reference as well
