<p>Would it help or harm me to provide a short explanation of my poor grades and class rank in high school, that explanation being something to the effect of: I was lazy, I screwed up and I know it, I'll own up to my mistakes, but I'm changing, I've realized the magnitude of such mistakes, and what they beget...albeit, with prettier words. Or would that seem too pathetic? It seems a little like begging to me. But I have to find some way to explain my laziness throughout high school.</p>
<p>Well... how bad is "poor"?</p>
<p>A 3.2, and in the bottom 50% of the class (like 170/320) where the school's average GPA is 3.5-3.6. My ACT score is above their average (30) but I don't know if that can make up for my subpar grades.</p>
<p>Well, I definitely wouldn't say "I was lazy," as that would only look poorly on your profile. The best you can hope for at this point is just a gpa that's been increasing every year.</p>
<p>Is there anyway to reword that, do you think, or should I just not attempt this?</p>
<p>I'm not known for being skilled with words, so I'll leave that to someone else... I'm only really good for explaining situations that were unavoidable. Sorry I can't be of more help.</p>
<p>Hmm, I'm in your situation as well.</p>
<p>My average (our school uses a 0-100 scale and we just call it an average, not a GPA) is 87.8, but it went from 85-83-93 over three years. Will this even affect the adcoms?</p>
<p>that's a nice upward trend though, so I doubt it will hurt you. I only experienced a slight upward trend in junior year...very slight. I remained pretty consistent throughout high school...low-to-mid B's, and a couple C's in math because I'm miserable at math. Strangely, once I started taking AP courses in junior year I did better in those than the Honors classes in prior years.</p>