I am currently a junior in high school with straight A’s. But I didn’t do so well in Freshman and Sophomore year. I currently have either a 2.13 or 2.4 cumulative GPA, but I would have a 4.0 GPA for junior year assuming I continue to have straight A’s. Now let’s get to the point. I know that definitely your Junior year is very important and so is your Senior year, and sophomore year and Freshman year are not as importation. But I’m curious about Senior year, so from least considered to most considered, what are the top 4 years do colleges look at?
I feel it’s dependent on when you apply honestly, junior year has been said by many colleges to be the most important but your final transcript is also extremely important. I know some colleges like Penn State consider your GPA to be 2/3 of the application and SAT/ACT for 1/3. I recommend applying EA to all schools so you get deferred instead of rejected. Also, the significant upward trend this year will help you a lot in the process and you should talk about your grades in the essays. If you’re on the quarter system, I also recommend sending in the first quarter grades when finalized so they get a good chance to see where you’re at next year. For my case, I got deferred here and they wanted to see my first semester grades so I’m sending those in on monday
I had a 3.5 ish in 9th, then a like a 3.04 or something in 10th, and junior year I had a 3.95. My school doesn’t weight. That’s 6 classes, one A-. I was accepted as a direct admit to engineering, but my sat score was a 1520 (new, one sitting), and my grade jump was explained through alleviation of extenuating circumstances outside of my control (ADHD diagnosis). I also had great letters of rec… I don’t think my Boulder specific essay was that fantastic if I’m being honest though. It was a good topic poorly executed.
I think my situation definitely shows that they are willing to make exceptions given extenuating circumstances (even if it’s just ‘I wasn’t mature yet’ you still might have a chance). But, you have to prove that you’re otherwise qualified. If math was your worst area, and you got better grades by taking easier math classes, that won’t help. I got a C+ one semester in algebra, but went on to get an A in advanced calculus.
Make sure you do well on the SAT/ACT, take a challenging course load, and keep up the good grades. You might not get into your major, but I think you have a decent shot of getting into Arts and Sciences.
Having struggled can show that you won’t fall apart if you start to struggle in college, but you have to prove that you learned to tackle challenges and do well without quitting. Do as well, or better, than an average admit to your college of choice would do. Make yourself a perfect applicant with a caveat.