Here is my GPA situation (i won’t count freshman year):
Sophomore: 2 B+'s
Junior: 4.0
Senior: 4.0
I’m really bummed out because Stanford will count my 2 B+'s as 2 B’s, which hurts me a lot. I was wondering how much this would impact my chances if I have outstanding ECs and decent standardized test scores, and good essays too. Also, for Stanford GPA recalculation, is Junior year weighted more than sophomore year? Does Stanford only consider Senior GPA if you apply RD?
Gosh I have so many questions… Any response would be greatly appreciated
The thing is, I did pretty well in Freshman, then did worse in Sophomore, but I’ll end up with 4.0 in Junior year and 4.0 in Senior year. How will that impact my chances? Also, does Stanford care more about the weighted or unweighted GPA (as in points added for AP/honors classes)?
If you are an attractive applicant for them, then two Bs in sophomore year will not keep them from admitting you. They turn away lots of people with perfect scores if they are not what they are looking for in total. It all comes down to your whole package and what you can offer to them. Stop worrying about the Bs.
If there is a B+ on the transcript, they will see it. But I’ve never heard S stops to recalculate. Few schools do. Makes me wonder how well you know the college. Think about it.
Stanford’s decision to accept or reject you will not be as the result of 2 B+'s. Aside from that, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it anyway. Same goes for how/if S recalculates GPA; it changes nothing with your transcript. Worry about things you have control of; this is not one of them.
Does Stanford still recalculate GPA as of 2015, or do they just take the GPA that the high school provides? I know that they ignore +'s and -'s, but how do they weight your different years? If they do recalculate GPA, then does the midterm senior year count more than the junior year and the junior year count more than the sophomore year?
Admission reps for Stanford have said they recalculate GPA without freshman year, including only core classes. The recalculation method sounds quite similar to the UC system. One school likely influenced the other. The majority of the hundreds of colleges surveyed in the NACAC reports say the recalculate, so I don’t think doing so is unusual.
That said, while Stanford focuses on grades 10-12, they see the whole transcript and do consider what happened in freshman year. 2 B+ grades isn’t going to kill your application, regardless of whether they occurred in freshman or sophomore year.
They look at the transcript, so while the B+'s may be counted as 3.0’s at your school, they will be looked upon differently than a B- on the transcript.
2 B’s will not be the reason Stanford rejects you. They reject way too many 4.0’s for that to be true.
If you apply SCEA, then only 10-11 grades will be considered. If you apply RD, 10-11 and first semester senior grades will be considered.
But for a school with 5% acceptance rate, GPA/stats probably gets you past the first round or two. Then it’s all about recs, essays, EC’s, and possibly the interview for them to admit you.