<p>I got 2 A+, 1 A, 1 B, and the rest B+ during junior year because I've been taking all IB courses as part of the IB diploma program. I did much better Freshman and Sophomore years, getting A averages in those years. (Disregard all other factors, such as SAT score and ECs in this thread). My overall average will be around 3.7 GPA. How badly will this hurt me when I'm applying to Carnegie Mellon?</p>
<p>Another note: On the application booklet, it says MCS (which is where I’m applying to) admits you “primarily on the basis of academic performance, with emphasis on strength in mathematics and sciences.” I have an A+ average in math and a lot of EC’s revolving around it, but my average in science is A-…</p>
<p>Please relax. Please. Kids like you make me sad.
Yes it isn’t great that it’s a slight downward trend from the start of high school but you still have solid grades. Don’t worry about it. The past is the past and if you work on fine tuning your essays and get good recommendations you will definitely get into cmu.
Btw they don’t even look at freshman year</p>
<p>You’re in the IB program, that’s great! Colleges know what the IB program is, and they know it’s a lot harder than classes taken in freshman and sophomore year. That is hardly ‘poor’ performance for a junior year, either. Remember that IB Classes often are weighted more heavily than honors or standard classes, so your weighted GPA may still be higher than it was in your first two years.</p>
<p>This poster on our Edge Team had a really close friend who went to CMU and had similar grades in high school so you are still competitive. Also, keep in mind that even though you have left out extracurriculars, they DO still count, especially if they are math and science based, like Science Olympiad or a Robotics team.</p>
<p>thank you guys for your input, I feel a bit more at ease now 
@Edge I have many extracurriculars, especially in math so I’m not really worried about that too much.</p>
<p>Of course your chances aren’t ruined; you may not be one of the best applicants gradewise but you’re still competitive and with top SAT or ACT scores and focused ECs, you’ll definitely have at least a good shot at getting into MCS.</p>
<p>It’ll hurt if your grades continue to slip. But those are IB classes, so they’ll take that into consideration.</p>
<p>I had a similar story, I applied to Caltech last year…made the USAMO in 10th grade but failed to make USAMO in 11th (really hard AIME that year). That might have destroyed my Caltech chances, but who knows…</p>
<p>I am glad you said this. I have a daughter who is always panicking over these sorts of things. Then I will tell her that I will just ask here and she can see that it is ok.</p>