bad freshman year, excellent sophomore and junior year

ivyhopeful22 · 07-13-2006, 06:47 PM

okay, well how does a bad freshman year (meaning 4 c's with the rest a's) put you back/affect you in admissions with the 10th grade and 11t grade grades being all A's..and extremely high SAT scores. I'm applying early too. (btw, this isn't a chances thread!) & what type of extracurriculars would you need to make them accept a person with a few c's in freshman year vs. a person with all a's throughout high school. thanks!!

Figgy · 07-13-2006, 07:29 PM

You are like me but a little worse. I got so-so grades freshman year (and 2 pretty bad grades another year), but improved throughout highschool to getting all A's in honors courses Sophomore year to all A+'s in AP courses Senior year. I'd say colleges love improvement and if anything it helps you...stand out? It can also explain why your rank and gpa r a little lower. My ec's were pretty good (especially by the end of the year, but that was already after I submitted my app lol - they got me as captain of one sport, but I ended up being captain of another and wished I had gotten to put that!!!) and my volunteering was great at 400+ hours. I had a REALLY good extra essay (sent in an extra one I got off of another colleges application that I thought Cornell would really like) and a really good rec. I am a gauranteed transfer, but at least I'm still going to go to Cornell! (which is kinda expected because they probably wanna c me continue my streak of good grades my freshman year, and then take my transfer spot). Good luck! - you can list stats if you want...everyone else does anyways, and now you caught my attention lol.

ps if those bad grades don't have anything to do with your major, it helps a lot. I'm going to ILR and the relatively bad grades were in spanish and math lol

ivyhopeful22 · 07-13-2006, 07:36 PM

ooh, thanks for the advice! except for one thing - i'm not applying as a transfer lol. i'm applying as a first year undergrad. =)

arjuninthehouse · 07-13-2006, 07:53 PM

ivyhopefull, figgy's a undergrad acceptee. Except that, he got a seat from sophomore year onwards. Thats what a guaranteed Transfer means.

As for ur question, All Adcoms love to see an improving positive trend. It refelects that ur perfomance is improving as ur courseload improves. So, as long as you ace your senior year, this shdn't be a cause of much concern.

Figgy · 07-13-2006, 07:59 PM

Yes in my situation I applied as a Freshman but I pretty much got accepted as a Sophomore...but I have no problem with that and I can't wait to go!!!

Spanks · 07-13-2006, 08:52 PM

how high is "extremely high"?

Figgy · 07-13-2006, 11:13 PM

Ya just post ur stats...it makes it a lot easier.