Hi everyone, I have a few questions about how colleges look at someone’s gpa. I am a rising junior and freshman year I did not do great. I will be honest, 8th grade and freshman year, I didn’t really think a lot about school and try my best. I didn’t do too bad but I think I got 1 or 2 c’s. Anways sophmomore year I really decided to get back into school, was a member of 2 clubs, was the class president of my grade of 500 and ended with a 3.4ish uw gpa. I do not know exactly what my freshman year gpa was and my school is top 5 in Massachusetts public schools and does not count freshman gpa. I am wondering if colleges will add my gpa from freshman year even though my school doesn’t count freshman grades. Also do colleges like seeing upward grade trends? This year (junior year) I am taking honors biology honors history and maybe honors English and I am taking the ap exams for biology and history. I used to hang around the jocks at my school but I have changed friend groups and am hanging out with some nice smart kids; I am even starting my own club with one of my friends. Please recommend anything you think I should do
Also, will freshman grades have a huge impact in college admissions if I really do good junior year + a solid sophomore year.
Also, because I really pushed my self sophomore year, I got accepted to a very rigrorous Harvard medical school program this summer with and acceptance rate of 15 percent and I am also shadowing a family friend who is an orthopedic surgeon and I also run a stand up to cancer event each year at fenway Park that I organize I have won multiple sportsmanship awards and was the baseball player of the year award for underclassmen. ( I included this paragraph because I want to see if my good EC can make up for my below-par freshman grades)
My recommendation to you is to keep doing what you are doing. My daughter was a straight C student freshman and sophomore year. Raised her grades to Bs junior year. Got all As her first semester of senior year. She got into some really great schools, some with a bit of merit aid. (Her SAT/ACT scores were just okay, and some of the schools were test optional, but not all). Several Admissions people commented to her in interviews about how much that upward trend showed about her academic growth, hard work and tenacity. Particularly LACs and schools that truly do holistic review will appreciate an upward trend, particularly a significant one.