<p>Like most people on this forum I am applying to college pretty soon. I go to a public high school that I would say is pretty average but sends a good amount of kids to top #100 schools; mostly in the 50+ range. Freshman year I had a 2.885, Sophomore 3.405, Junior year I had a 3.405 because of low grades in Alg2 (C and B- were lowest grades), and my first trimester of senior year I will have a 3.8. When I went into high school I had no idea how college applications worked, especially GPAs(B vs B- etc). Would it be worthwhile to explain this in my essay or should I focus on other parts. Both of my parents are immigrants so they got degrees way after they were my age so they didn't understand the process either.</p>
<p>How would colleges look at my GPA? What type of schools should I aim for(assume a 31 act)? My ECS are related to business and they are few but focused.</p>
<p>Writing about your low GPA in essays only makes students look like they’re finding excuses. </p>
<p>Do you have any explanation for your lower GPA? Moving, death in the family, part-time jobs, etc. are acceptable things to write about as “Additional Information". </p>
<p>Upward trends are great and schools will probably want to see your mid-year reports.</p>
<p>Are we assuming that you’ll receive a 31 ACT, or is that your score? What’s your average GPA so far and how rigorous is your curriculum? Focused ECs are great, but do you have significant leadership positions? What type of school would you like to attend?</p>
<p>My gpa now is a 3.3. Freshman year I took 2 honors(4 classes per day), Sophomore 1 honors and 2 AP(6 class schedule), Junior 2 Honors and 1 AP(6 class schedule), Senior year courseload is 3 AP 1 Honors(6 class schedule). I could have taken more Honors/AP but scheduling conflicts with French were a problem. I’m in French 5 btw. No significant leadership inside of schools or involvement in school(I know). My AP econ teacher is writing one of my letters and I think she will write about my initiative and my leadership in her classroom. I attended a public school that sent like 10 kids to U of MN-TC, 2-3 to Macalaster, 1 to Notre dame last year.</p>
<p>There is nothing for you to explain…they will see the grade trend and the rigor of your courses on your transcript. Use your essays to make yourself stand out so that they want you for being you and for what you will bring to campus with you. Don’t waste your essays on something that is self-evident.</p>
<p>My son is in a similar position … 9th grade 3.3, 10th grade 3.5, and then the lightbulb moment came and he kicked ass junior year and got a 4.2 ( many honors and AP each year, also taking more each year). Senior year is off to a good start with all A’s ( 2 AP, 3 honors) he also has worked for the past year at a video production company and started his own photo/film business 2 years ago. SAT’s were 1980 before the October test so he’s hoping they went up a bit. The issue is that his overall GPA is 3.7 weighted and now that he actually feels “smart” he really wants to go to a top school ( not Ivy) just a very academic school. We are nervous that they will just look at the overall GPA and not even take the time to notice the upward trend? He did not address it in his essays because his only excuse is it took him until junior year to care, to get that grades will impact his future. I’m hoping maybe the guidance counselor will address it and I would suggest to you that you discuss this with your guidance counselor so he/she can address it in the counselor recommendation. (Oh and he goes to a pretty competitive high school, 20% go to Ivies and a large # to top tier schools, 99% go to college not sure if that helps him or hurts him)?</p>
<p>my son did mention his upward trend in his essay. It wasn’t the focus of the essay, by any means, but in talking about his personal growth (the failure prompt) he mentions that by junior year he became significantly more focused & dedicated, etc. which resulted in higher grades and more AP recommendations for senior year. He figured it can’t hurt to call attention to the trend, without making excuses for the lower GPA freshman year.</p>
<p>You don’t need to explain anything. What you’ve just said is more or less what people are going to assume: you woke up to the importance of your grades during high school.</p>
<p>Use the rest of your application to tell them something about you that they don’t already know.</p>