<p>World History (B/A)
Physical Education (A/B)
Biology I (B/B)
Ceramics and Crafts (B/B)
General Literature (A/A)
Precalculus (A/B)
Journalism I (A/B)
Communications (B/A)</p>
<p>9th grade GPA: 3.4375</p>
<p>10th </p>
<p>Biology II (A/B)
U.S. History (A/B)
Studio Art (B/B)
U.S. Lit (B/B)
Statistics (A/A)
Life Sports (A/A)
Calculus (A/A)
Chemistry (A/A)</p>
<p>10th GPA: 3.625</p>
<p>11th:</p>
<p>AP Chemistry(A/A)
AP European History (A/A)
Gov/Econ (A/A)
Writing (A/A)
Physics (A/A)
British Literature (A/A)
AP Statistics (A/A)
AP Calculus AB (A/A)</p>
<p>11th GPA: 4.00</p>
<p>12th:</p>
<p>AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
AP Physics B
AP Psychology
AP Lang and Comp
World Literature
PE
Workstudy </p>
<p>I had such a bad freshmen + sophomore year… will 4.0 junior year make it up?</p>
<p>However, other important factors are:
– difficulty of curriculum (are you taking the hardest/ almost the hardest curriculum offered? You’ve taken AP’s in a number of different areas, which is a good sign, but I don’t know specifically how your school works and how common it is to take the number of AP’s that you’re taking. For example, I took a schedule that, from outside eyes, would look easy,and my grades would look low, but because of my school’s reputation for academic rigor, placed me in approximately the top decile when I factored in course rigor and grades).
– class rank, insofar as how easy it is to achieve a 4.0. Is a 4.0 something you worked very hard for, or is it something that you got by doing the work and showing up to class?</p>
<p>While your SATs will not be a decisive factor in your admissions, they do help indicate that you’re a strong student. (Chicago, as far as I know, suppresses the writing score and does not require SATII’s, so their reliance on scores is minimal, but it helps show me that you’re capable of mastering somewhat challenging material).</p>
<p>I think that these little things will all come out in the wash, among what your admissions officer knows about your school, your GC and teacher recs, and your essays.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’re “academically qualified”, whatever that means. A mediocre freshman year, followed by a better sophomore year and a great junior year: that’s a fine story. Much better than the other way around. Your SATs are fine.</p>
<p>Here’s what confuses me: THREE years of Calculus? Coupled with TWO years of Statistics? (Not to mention three years of Biology and two of Physics, which I understand a little more.) Does everyone at your school take the same course over and over again, at slightly harder levels? (At my kids’ school, you have a choice between Calculus and AP Calculus BC, which you can drop at mid-year and call AP Calculus AB if you want.)</p>
<p>Anyway, if that’s par for the course for ambitious students at your school, I wouldn’t worry about it. If other students pushed themselves to go farther in math after completing Precalculus in 9th grade and getting 800s on the math SATs . . . I would worry about how I compared to them.</p>
<p>But this is silly. No one is going to throw out your application because of your freshman grades, and I’m sure you look like a good student on paper. The important stuff is who you are, and how what you do and what you write (and what others say about you) show that.</p>
<p>Here’s what confuses me: THREE years of Calculus? Coupled with TWO years of Statistics? (Not to mention three years of Biology and two of Physics, which I understand a little more.) Does everyone at your school take the same course over and over again, at slightly harder levels? (At my kids’ school, you have a choice between Calculus and AP Calculus BC, which you can drop at mid-year and call AP Calculus AB if you want.)</p>
<p>Well, I took just regular calculus for many reasons… first, I could have gone to AP Calc in 10th grade but (as u can see above) I got a B in 2nd semester precal. So I got demoted… Tragic story. Then, the math teacher said it would help me develop “mathematical maturity.” And THEN, my counselor said school doesn’t offer anything beyond BC so he sees no point going too fast…</p>