<p>I'm currently a sophomore and I had an extremely chaotic freshman year due to certain family emergencies, as a result of which I ended up missing a good twenty-five or so days of school from the end of first semester up till the end of second semester. As a result, I naturally didn't come out of things with anywhere near what I wanted or was hoping for grades wise - I had a 3.15 unweighted GPA.</p>
<p>Currently, this year, I'm in either the highest or the second highest lane classes everywhere, honors english and math classes am getting solid As everywhere. However, I was wondering when I came across my unweighted GPA from freshman year, if I would really have any chance of getting in at any top level colleges?</p>
<p>I've not yet taken the SAT or ACT but I had very high marks (99th percentile math and science, 90th percentile English) on the Explore and PLAN tests. I will be taking high lane classes throughout the remainder of my high school years including several AP and honors classes. I have decent extracurriculars between two sports, music lessons, and model UN. I am also in student government. </p>
<p>Will the 3.15 GPA freshman year have a really significant negative impact on me getting in to good colleges? I've calculated that the highest unweighted average GPA I could get at this point is about 3.85, with a 4.0 from now until senior year, which I'm really not confident in my ability to achieve, so realistically I think I'll end high school with about an unweighted 3.7 (hopefully around 4.2 weighted). </p>
<p>If I write a good essay and my standardized test scores remain high, will I have a shot at places such as Stanford or the Ivies? Or will the rather average GPA completely lock me from any possibility of getting into that level of university?</p>