Hey guys! So admission decisions will be going out for CSU’s and UC’s in the forthcoming months. I must admit, I am nervous. Basically, first semester junior year I earned a 4.4 GPA and second semester I got a 3.8. It’s a huge drop, I know. My total UC GPA ended up being a 4.1 for sophomore and junior year. I took a heavy courseload. 3 AP’s, 1 Honors, Physics (CP), and a leadership class. My only B’s first semester were for APUSH and AP English Lang. However, second semester, my APUSH grade became my first C in my entire transcript! And my A in physics dropped to a B while my A in Honors Precalc dropped from an A to a B as well. I tried my best to explain in the essays and additional comments why my grades dropped in those three classes (medical issues within my family). Will it severely affect me at UCLA and UCSD [I chose the Mathematics- Secondary Education teaching major (Letters and Science for UCLA)]? In my essays I stressed how I wanted to better myself, and even took 5 AP’s and a different leadership class to prove to them that I am not afraid of a little challenge. Of course, they don’t look at mid-year grades for senior year, but I got 3 A’s and 3 B’s. If they asked me for senior grades (assuming I’m borderline), would that upward trend restore their confidence in me? I mean, I improved my sophomore grades from 6 A’s and 1 B (Honors English) to 7 A’s. Obviously, I have potential. If it means anything, I got moved from 16 to 21/690 in my senior class due to that downward trend.
If possible, I’d like to know if that drop may be a game-changer in the application-reviewing process at:
-CSULB
-SDSU
-UCSB
-UCSD
-UCLA
I think I’m gonna get screwed over in the last two for sure… Thanks in advance btw.
Yea for selective colleges, maybe. It doesn’t look like a huge drop though, so you should be fine as long as it wasnt your laziness or senioritis 
Yeah, it will hurt. How could it not? Junior year grades are very important; need to be A’s in challenging classes.
Hmm… I figured it would hurt. But, do you believe the explanations in the “additional comments” section plus the essays will somewhat remove a bit of stress off the downward trend? I think I made it very clear why it happened.
Thanks btw, to both of you.
Oh. And what if the admission officers look at the school data (I don’t know what to call it… haha) and realize that literally no one earned an A in APUSH at our school during second semester? The class was definitely challenging. As a matter of fact, nobody scored higher than a 3 in the exam! And here I am, one of the few that passed it… lol.
I don’t know if the explanation will help. Schools publicize their admits stats; so they can’t explain low stats of admits. Now if you truly rank 21/690 - you’re gold. But, how is that rank possible? Your school would really have to be tough on grades. 1st semester sr. yr. grades will come into play but a 3.5 unweighted (3 A’s, 3 B’s) is not a help.
I’m being dead-serious. Like I said, my grades were certainly not Ivy material, but after 5 semesters, my transcript had no more than 4 B’s. I think that the fact that not even the Valedictorian and Salutatorian (is that how it’s spelled? lol) got A’s second semester (only them two got A’s during first) should give you an idea of how tough that particular class was. I think what kept me in the higher ranks were above average grades in “challenging” courses like the A in sophomore honors English. Barely got by second semester. And I was one of the 6 people out of 120+ students (just for my teacher; I’d imagine the two other were just as difficult) that got an A both semesters in Chem. Again, even with that B in Physics during second semester in my junior year, I did better than 80% of the class, guaranteed. In fact, only three people got A’s first semester. Me, a senior, and the Salutatorian for C/O 2014. If anything, that’s giving me a bit of comfort. Knowing that I have a solid rank. Heck, even a girl with a 4.2 GPA got two C’s her second semester junior year, and one happened to be in APUSH.
@SonyMontana: “I think I’m gonna get screwed over in the last two for sure.”
You’re not being “screwed over;” you earned the grades you received. What would you like these universities to do, accept you and deny a more-deserving applicant? With that said, your GPA is still good and you’ll unquestionably be admitted to a decent (UC) institution.
What I said still stands
My second semester grades will screw me over, not the admission officers themselves. You are correct though. I brought it upon myself.
Btw, I think “more-deserving applicant” sounds a bit harsh. Some schools might have an “easier” or less difficult version of the course. There are various factors that must be taken into account. My school stats should let them know this. Last year, only one person scored a 5 on the Calculus AB exam, no one has scored a 5 in AP Gopo in over ten years, no one got higher than a 3 in APUSH exam, no one has scored above a 3 in APES, and so on. It’s not the students’ fault that the teachers cannot prepare them well enough. With respect to confidentiality, I won’t say the name of my school. Nonetheless, it is a school with a significantly low API. Anyway, we will see what happens in the upcoming months, and thank you for your insight.
@SonyMontana: I never knew, and I still do not believe, that “screwing over” can be self-inflicted.
I am not entirely sure what you mean by that… seems ambiguous.
Hopefully this doesn’t affect me too bad.
In retrospect, this is somewhat me being “screwed over.” My sibling was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor and had to go through 18 chemotherapy sessions. I had no control over this. What was expected of me? To just shrug that occurrence off like it meant nothing?
Also, this may sound contradicting to what I just typed, but when I say that I brought it upon myself, I’m not referring to laziness despite seeming like it. I’m referring to the fact that my lack of immense mental willpower did not allow me to perform at my best.
Well… I guess it depends on your definition of “screwed over.” Some people use terms loosely and differently compared to others’ usage. In this case, life seems to have “screwed me over,” if you know what I mean.
I truly know what you mean and I wish you well.
Super speed or what? You reply super quick… Hehe.
And thank you. I’ll see if I am allowed to update this later on, because I have seen a couple posts regarding first semester, but not so much for second semester. I honestly don’t like my chances, and on paper, it might not seem like I deserve admission, but I hope for it. Farewell.