I’m currently a junior and working on GREATLY improving my GPA this year. I currently have a 3.3 uw and 4.2 w gpa and I’m taking 5 APs this year and plan to get all As, I had a weak freshman and sophomore year transcript and that’s what’s really bringing me down, I had 3 89s that should’ve been 90s and are killing my GPA, I could’ve been in honor society if they had been As. Anyway I’m really looking at UNC and I hear that colleges like to see improvement in transcript but how will colleges look at me to those who have been strong from the start of high school? If you have any other suggestions for looking strong for UNC please let me know thanks!!
Are you IS or OOS? If OOS, your odds drop dramatically. Do you have any SAT/ ACT scores yet? What is the EC you spend most of your time on? Given your expectation of an upward trend, you may want to speak to your college counselor about when you apply. Since your grades are low for freshman and sophomore year, it has been recommended by colleges that students not apply in EA rounds unless they have very solid freshman, sophomore and junior year grades as for EA that is what the colleges have before them to make decisions on. If you apply RD, it gives the school an opportunity to see a strong senior year trimester or semester transcript. UNC, as most schools, are interested in more than a GPA and test scores so start thinking about how you will present who you are in your app.
I’m IS and MANY people from my school end up at chapel if not then NCSU. I know a few expectations of people who have gotten Cs and still manage to make it to chapel however the majority who get in at my school are pretty smart (aka high GPA). If I explain in my app that I had struggled with family issues freshman and sophomore year then they will see why my grades haven’t been as strong as this year? I’m planning to take the ACT later this month and SAT in march and I expect them to be stronger then my GPA (above 31 ACT and 1400 SAT) I want my standardized test scores to show colleges what I’m capable of.