Do upward grade trends look good?

qqq123
Sun, 22 Sep 2013 04:47:47 +0000

I was wondering if upward grade trends are attractive to colleges compared to a student that maintained a stable A all throughout high school. In my case, my GPA was a 3.7 freshman year, 3.3 during sophomore year (unfortunately, chemistry brought down my grade a lot) and I’m currently in junior year. So far, I’ve aced most of my tests this year and plan on having a much higher GPA through more effort and dedication.

I also took slightly challenging classes, such as Honors Bio during freshman year (A), and AP US History during sophomore year (A-). This year, the only challenging classes I had offered to me was Physics, which I am doing well in so far.

If I maintain a 3.8 or above this year and senior year, will I have a chance at a school like NYU or USC? Maybe even UCLA?

As for the SATs, I’ll be taking them for the first time in October and I’ve been preparing since this summer. Based on my practice tests, I expect a score around 1650. (This is my first time taking it, and I plan on improving a lot more before senior year starts… hopefully in the 2000 range)

My extra curricular activities include:

-Violin (Youth orchestra since 9th grade, private lessons since 3rd grade, multiple performances including several recitals, festivals, and a recital at Carnegie Hall)
-President of Diversity Club in high school since 10th grade
-Tennis Club member since 10th
-Co-Editor of the school newspaper
-Key Club member since this year
-Volunteering at my local hospital

I might also join the student council as well!

And since I know affirmative action can be influential for admission, I’m Japanese and Bengali & both of my parents are well educated (dad is a medical doctor, mom is a medical lab tech) and our income is above $400k a year. I have been told I’m a strong writer too so I hope to use that as an advantage for college application essays.

Anyone want to chance me for NYU, USC, and UCLA?
Thanks!