I’m currently in high school, going into my junior year, and I’m so nervous if I’ll get into UW because I feel everyone else at my school is so much more qualified.
My freshman year I took an honors block (English and history) and finished with a B both semesters in both classes. I was in gen-ed science and geometry and got a B in both. As for my electives, I got As.
My sophomore year I dropped out of my honors block and took gen-ed history and English. I loathed both and regretted leaving honors because I really loved it; nevertheless, I got an A in both classes. I also took honors algebra 2 and regular bio. In math I got a B and in bio I got an A. As of now, my cumulative gpa is 3.63. Is this a bad gpa? I looked at the average gpa of students accepted into UW and it was around a 3.7 but I worry my classes aren’t rigorous enough.
I plan on taking my SAT/ACT my senior year so my junior year won’t be as hectic (and because the SAT is changing for my graduating year). As for clubs, I am only a member of National Honor society and formerly a member of speech and debate my freshman year. My sophomore year the only club I was involved in was NHS. Next year I plan on joining Speech and debate again and a Jewish culture club. I have played tennis since I was a child but not at the school, but I plan to change that my junior year by joining the team and trying out for varsity.
My junior year I plan to take AP English Language and composition, regular US history, regular chem, pre-calc, Spanish 4, and business law. I worry my courses aren’t rigorous enough so I’m contemplating taking APUSH but I worry that it will consume me and eat away at my gpa. I worry that I need to take more difficult classes but if I do, I might ruin my gpa. What should I do? Should I take APUSH or focus on maintaining a 3.6 and aiming to raise it further. I typically struggle with English so I worry about APLang but I’m really good at history. However, I think taking APLang will help my writing for college, etc. and taking APLang alone will allow me to focus on it and grow. History, my passion, tends to consume me because I love it so much and then I forget to study everything else. I worry that this will happen, because it happened my freshman year. I have grown a lot from my freshman year but with my other obligations, (clubs, tennis, APLang), I worry that I might be overwhelmed and not do the best. OR should I take gen-ed USH, get an A, and then take the AP test without taking the course? What’s best?
Senior year I do not have much planned. Any tips/ideas would be greatly appreciated I know I will continue math (AP AB calc), science (physics), history (required to take government but may also take a history elective)
I worry what I should do if I want to get in UW because that has been my dream and I want to do all I can to get in.
Thank you for your responses!
This is my first post so take that into consideration as you read my suggestions.
Ultimately, you will decide whether you are able to handle your course load and the amount of time and effort you put forth. Personally, I recommend taking APUSH because I really enjoyed the class and found it quite interesting.
You didn’t really mention your school environment and expectation but that’s a huge factor in your success. My school is pretty average and isn’t known for a stellar academic program but I definitely felt like I learned a lot. If your ultimate goal is GPA then why not take AP. My school weighs GPA -depending on the situation- so honors, DE, AP help out. If you love the subject you’ll do fine, making the grade is easy. Just try not to procrastinate and then validate it by ‘over-studying’ in history though.
Plus APUSH has writing elements to it that helped me in APLang because I wasn’t in the AP class and self-studied.
Well, my school is full of studious kids that take all AP/honors throughout high school. I have only taken 3 honors and will take 1 AP (APLang) next year and perhaps more my senior year. A very small amount compared to most kids at my school. I’m not basic but I’m not stellar; I’m “average” for my school, which worries me. I’m very studious but I worry I will be consumed by these classes.
Thank you for your response, hellajudy!
Hi @el1999
I’m an incoming Freshman to UW, so I’ll give the little insight I have from the system (having gone through it)!
It’s not a dealbreaker to have a 3.6. If you don’t know already, UW has a pretty holistic application process and will pay great attention to everything (especially your essay). With that being said, good grades should go without saying. I would try to bring that number up, as an upward trend says a lot about you as a student and will increase your chances of being admitted. That said, high GPA won’t absolutely guarantee you a spot and very sub-par GPA will probably be rejected.
Right now, you seem to be dealing with the dilemma of rigor vs. GPA. Take the weighted AP GPA with a grain of salt because I think UW is going to re-calculate your grades on whatever system they use. The weighted GPAs are often inflated and hard to analyze. Of course, UW is going to want to see both a tough, challenging schedule and good academic performance. You have to find that sweet spot.
I didn’t take a mountain of APs during high school. I went to a very challenging prep school, so I compensated by regulating my schedule a little bit. One of the APs I took was APUSH (despite exaggerated rumors that it would eat people alive) and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It was among the easier APs I’ve taken and I really enjoyed the class. I would give it a shot.