<p>Although no specific value is given to upward trends in Academics, how helpful can they be in admissions?</p>
<p>What schools heavily consider upward trends?</p>
<p>It is of interest to me because my first two years of highschool i had no ambition or care for school and got by with a 3.2 each year. Then, before my junior year, i actually had a vision for my life and goals set for getting into great schools and doing great things. </p>
<p>Last year i had a tremendous leaping upward trend. I went from a 3.2 student to getting nearly straight As (3.8uw, 4.3w). Next year will be even better, and i am expecting a 4.0uw and 5.0w first semester, with 4aps and 3honors classes.</p>
<p>I took only solid academic classes last year, and i am completely dedicated to academic study.</p>
<p>How helpful and heavily will my upward trend be considered? Especially at top school (non ivy... Schools like USC, NYU, McGill, Hopkins, Chicago, NU, and others)
My essays are amazing, as will be recs and my ACT is 32, and will probably go up by application time.</p>
<p>If my gpa is slightly out of range for some schools like NYU and USC, is it possible that my huge trend will make up for my previous shortcomings?</p>
<p>Also, how does excessive language credits look on an application (my intented major is in East Asian Studies). I took Spanish 1- honors 4, and Japanese 1 at the university of Chicago and will be taking Honors 4 and AP this upcoming year.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I am in the same situation, so thanks for posting it =D</p>
<p>yay for kids who slacked off for a few years! the upward trend will show the colleges that you can do well in harder classes that are close to college level, and that while you obviously have made mistakes in the past you're over it now. it' so much better than getting 4.0s 9th and 10th grades and then dropping down. sorry i don't have any specifics. some colleges don't look at freshman year though, i believe.</p>
<p>Its like one of those things that if you do it, they dont care, while if you dont do it (downward trend) they freak out. Its like not getting a criminal offense - most colleges seem to 'expect' you to do it unless the fluctuations are so small it doesnt matter.</p>
<p>it seems to be the only problem for me is that i slacked off sophomore year...which is much more important than freshman year because sophomore gpa is calculated in pretty much all college-recalculated gpas.</p>
<p>School was kickin me in the ass till one day, i decided ide turn around and kick it back in the face. Been that way ever since.</p>
<p>I was slacking sophmore year too but then in the 4th quarter I stepped it up and got nearly 100s in most of my courses, which saved my GPA (~3.75) for that year.</p>
<p>Most schools really like upward trends, the only problem is the trend can really go either way. Colleges can't tell whether you are suddenly working harder because of caring more and having goals or whether you just know college is coming and you need better grades now that application time is so close. Then again, there is the one big positive that the trend shows you can handle the tough courses if you try.</p>
<p>I can't give a percent, but I'd guess colleges view someone who gets Bs then gradually goes to As similar to someone who always got A-s.</p>
<p>Upward trend is better than downward trend.</p>
<p>McGill consider 10,11,12 and especially the courses that are relevant to your major.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Grade 10, 11 and 12 academic results will be considered, but special attention will be paid to results from those courses most relevant to the intended program of study.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Upward trends are great. But the bottom line is your upward trend won't beat the applicant who has demonstrated solid academic performance all four years of their high school careers. And universities like, UChicago, NYU, USC, Northwestern, and Johns Hopkins have no shortage of stellar applicants (all of them except UChicago, and maybe USC accepted 30% or fewer), so though your upward trend may be great, it may not be enough to beat out others with static success.</p>
<p>So what, it's better than no improvement. Colleges might see that as overcoming obstacles and the kids that have straight As as boring kids, perfectionists, those that would get into depression at the first B( ok exaggeration here). But Imperfection is interesting, Einstein for example. No one really knows. However, in general the closer you are to college years, the better your transcript should be. Do not be put of by tons of stellar kids, just go ahead and apply, unless money is a problem then that is another matter altogether. For example, I read someone on this CC got rejected from every Ivy but Harvard, had that person not applying to Harvard, that person will never know.</p>
<p>Obviously AAA is better than CBA.
But then, CBA is better than ABC or sth like that..</p>
<p>An upward trend won't really matter at top schools, for the reasons fhimas mentioned above.
But at a lot of other great schools, it can help you out.</p>
<p>Is Columbia a top school? In the Columbia forum, one kid got in with 3.3 UW GPA. he applied ED, not sure if he was a URM or not.</p>
<p>Of course Columbia is a top school, it's an Ivy. The occasional person with a low GPA or a bad rank/good upward trend will get in, but the average applicant shouldn't count on it.</p>
<p>I saw on the USC website, and I'm paraphrasing, they will consider a strong and dramatic upward trend. They stated that they realize for many reasons that students don't always start strongly. It's imperative that you continue your upward trend into your senior year. </p>
<p>You can find out by doing your research on the schools in which you are interested. While you will be hindered at some colleges, there are many schools that will look favorably on your maturity and progress. You will need to explain your situation during an interview or in an essay. My S was in an almost identical situation and will be starting at a highly ranked LAC next month.</p>
<p>Most kids are in this situation. Frankly, it's a better situation to be in than a downward trend.</p>
<p>TooRichForAid, I'm sorry to say that your illustration of the straight A student is more dreamlike than any of Picasso's paintings from his Surrealism period. Somehow, top schools (Ivies + top LACs) are able to find enough talented, interesting, and bright applicants that many can reject 80+ percent of those who applied. In fact, the Ivies recjected an average of 87% of their applicants this year. When top schools have such a concentration of highly performing students from which to choose, students with Bs and Cs are hardly competitive. As GoldShadow pointed out, there are a few exceptions here and there, but on the whole, it is the top students with the top scores who make the cut.</p>
<p>I did not say students of B and Cs are going to go to Ivies, I think you stretch them to make a point, I don't even think they get to go to top UCs. I was referring to upward trend, there are kids who have 3.5/3.6 in Freshman/Sophomore year and get 4.0 in Junior year and perhaps first semester in Senior year. That is an upward trend. I don't think you can say those kids have no chances, especially if the high school is very competitive. There are still a lot of factors not just grades. Straight As from a average high school vs and upward trend at a competitive school, let's say Andover and Exeter for example, who would get admitted, nobody really knows, unless you read the whole application carefully.</p>
<p>my friend goes to exeter. Freakin psychopath. He got only one B last year, and the rest As (B in english...he leaned it in 7th grade cause he is from Korea)</p>