Will my upward Grade Trend make my application serious? Do I have a chance at upper level schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Here is my story:

Freshman and sophomore year were not great in terms of GPA. Freshman year I got a 3.57 and then a 3.73 weighted GPA leaving me at about a 3.65 cumulative at end of freshman year. However, my lowest point occurred in first semester of sophomore year when I got a 3.61 weighted GPA and my first “C range” grade (C+). Second semester sophomore year I started to work much harder and I got a 4.24 weighted GPA. My grades really improved my junior year as I earned a 4.67 weighted GPA. I am working to get a 4.75 this semester and a 4.75-4.8 first semester senior year. For more detail I will give a list of my classes and grades up until this point of my high school career:

Freshman (Both Semesters) : English 1: A-, B; Spanish 1: A-, A-; Algebra 1: A-, A; Honors Geometry: B+, A-; Physics: B+, B; Health/PE: B+, B

Sophomore (Both Semesters): Honors English 2: C+, B-; Digital Photography: A, A+; Spanish 2: A, A-; Honors Algebra 2: B, A; Chemistry: B-, A; AP World History: B+, A+

Junior (One Semester Completed so far): Honors Pre-Calculus: A; AP English Language: A; AP Studio Art: A; Spanish 3: A; AP US History: A; AP Environmental Science: A-

My Senior Year course load should consist of AP Calculus BC, AP Literature, AP Economics, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science (A or Principles)

If I reach my GPA goals for the next two semesters I should finish with around a 4.2 weighted GPA. (I currently have a 3.9735)

In terms of testing I have taken the SAT once. I got a 1420 with a 790 on the math and a 630 in English. I plan on studying very hard this summer to increase my reading score and overall SAT score.

Also, I plan on majoring in either business or some branch of engineering (mechanical engineering or computer science).

FYI I go to a pretty challenging school and colleges are definitely aware of my schools rigor. We get about 35-40 kids into USC each year and last year we got 19 out of 54 applicants into Notre Dame.

Does anyone think I have a chance of being admitted to upper level schools such as USC, U Michigan, UCLA, UCB, Notre Dame, or Boston College.

Will my upward grade trend be valued by these top tier colleges? Could a strong SAT score along with my upward grade trend help present me as a strong applicant and show how my freshman and first semester sophomore year grades are not a true representation of the student I am?

Please let me know. All feedback is helpful.

2

In state or OOS for UCs? If OOS then the weighted 10-11 grade GPA takes into account AP/DE/IB only since honors courses from OOS will not get the extra GPA weighting.

3

In state for UC’s so the approved UC honors courses I took will be weighted. Most of them are approved.

4

your story is very similar to mine. i took a lot of AP classes, I went to a difficult high school, and I took similar classes to yours. i had a really bad gpa in my sophomore year (3.5 UW) but i worked hard in my junior year and got a (4.7 UW). I got a 35 on my ACT, and although my grades werent that good, i got mostly 4’s and 5’s on my ap exams. I also planned on studying computer science / engineering.

Im a senior now, and when i was applying to colleges, i thought my upward grade trend would compensate for my low gpa in my sophomore year, but i was wrong. Out of all the UC’s i applied to (UCLA, UCI, UCSD, UCSB), i didnt get accepted into any, and got waitlisted into two (UCSD, UCSB)
Out of all the private, elite, out of state schools i applied to, i got denied from all of them.
The unfortunate truth is that computer science and engineering is a very competetive major nowadays, and in order to be accepted into a good school for that major, your gpa needs to be near perfect

but im not too sure if its the same story for someone applying as a business major, so idk

5

@Hamurtle In state for UC’s so the approved UC honors courses I took will be weighted. Most of them are approved.

6

You should ask your school counselor if the upward trend helps at the state schools. I know that a downward trend is a real killer. My one son had a very steady upward trend. The schools that paid careful attention to each applicant did note that. He was accepted to schools that his cousin and his close friend with similar gpas, rigor of courses and better test scores were denied. I had the school send transcripts that broke his grades down into quarter so the upward trend was even better noted. Plus his GC made mention of it in her recs.