<li><p>I used to go to a top 100 high school in VA. I went there in freshman year and sophomore year. In freshman year I got a 2.7 with a D in french 2 (I’m redoing online right now, but I doubt I’ll even get a B) and a 2.5 in sophomore year. The 2.5 is just a bunch of Cs and nothing worse. The reason I got those grades is because it was my last year in VA because I was moving to Oregon. In junior year (at my super non-competitive school) I got a 4.0. Will the 4.0 not make much of a difference because it’s at an uncompetitive school? </p></li>
<li><p>How much does alumni relations matter at LACs? (question can be answered for everyone, but I’d really like to know about Occidental)</p></li>
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<p>To answer your first question with another question - in your Oregon school, when you compare your grades with other students, do you see a trend of grade inflation? Did both of your schools use grading curves? Does your school rank? And did you work hard for your 4.0? Do you think you deserved it?</p>
<p>If you answered yes to both of the last two questions, I suggest explaining your grade trend in your college essay, how you worked your butt off as soon as you got your second chance.</p>
<p>I have a higher grade than most people I’ve talked to, but I saw somewhere on line (third party site) that said the avg gpa is a 3.7. I doubt it though since a lot of people are failing classes because they don’t do their work.
I’m not really sure what a grading curve is, does that mean most people get a B or a C?
The school doesn’t rank or weight grades here.
I worked harder than anyone else around me and there was a noticeable difference in quality of my projects and theirs.
I think I deserve my 4.0 since I did all of my work and it was good quality.</p>
<p>giggity giggity bump</p>
<p>A grading curve is that there are a set number of grades given out - like 10 As, 10 Bs, 10 Cs, and 5 Ds. So even if you had a test grade that was, say, 75/100 (which would normally be a C) but you had the highest test grade, you would get an A. On the other hand, if 11 people all the had “A” test papers, the one with the lowest “A” would be curved to a B. </p>
<p>I think that you should definitely write in your college essay that when you got a second chance at another school, you worked hard to make up for what your poor grades. I’m sure it won’t count against you. Does your school in Oregon send many students to college?</p>
<p>Wow that grading curve seems a bit… bizarre o.O How many places honestly do that? And I’m pretty sure my school doesn’t do it (but not 100% sure).
I think that an ungodly amount of people go to University of Oregon or Oregon Sate, but they could just be wearing the sweaters because I live in a college town. I saw some people wearing Lewis and Clark apparel and my counselor said that someone is going to Occidental (my first choice). </p>
<p>Would the essay topic about stepping it up when I had a second chance be cliche?</p>
<p>Oh, I just made that grading curve up on the top of my head. My math teacher used it for some of his tests - they were quite harsh. I know some schools use the grading curve to discourage “grade inflation.” </p>
<p>I don’t think any essay topic is cliche. You just have to work to sound sincere, make sure your voice is unique and can be heard. It’s good to include special details, if you woud like to stand out from similar essays, like why you moved, or what you learned from moving from a competitive to a non-competitive school, or comparing Virginia and Oregon.</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation, actually 
I did poorly in a school, then moved, and did extremely better. It’s good to have SAT/ACT scores or other standardized tests to back up your 4.0 GPA, to prove that you did work hard.</p>
<p>I really hope you do get into Occidental!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice and the answers to my numerous questions!</p>
<p>A note about upward trend does not necessarily have to be part of (or the basis for) your essay. You may be able to include the info in a brief addendum to your apps. Try talking to your GC about how best to address the issue.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>