Hello! I’m really worried because I ruined my GPA by taking more challenging courses. Although I did not receive the best grades in my honors and AP courses, I genuinely, truly enjoyed them and learned quite a lot, and I selected them for my major, rather than just for the extra weighted point. Can you help me evaluate how these grades will affect my admissions chances for moderately selective colleges?
Freshman Year
0) BioMed: A/A
Mandarin 3/4: A/A
Biology 1/2 H: A/A
English 1/2 H: B/B (both were 89%)
Digital Media 1/2: A/A
Algebra II 1/2 H: A/A
Advanced Band: A/A
Sophomore Year:
0) BioMed: A/A
Music Theory 1/2 AP: A/A
English 3/4 H: A/A
World History 1/2: A/A
Trigonometry / Pre-Calculus 1/2 H: B/B (both were high 80’s)
Advanced Band: A/A
Biology 3/4 AP: B/B
Summer of 2014:
Chemistry 1/2: A/A
Junior Year:
0) BioMed: A/A
Teacher’s Assistant for Music Theory 1/2 AP
Calculus BC 1/2 AP: B/A
English Language and Composition 5/6 AP: A/B (B was an 89%)
Please don’t make us do the math! What is your unweighted GPA in your academic classes? What are your test scores? and, what do you consider a ‘moderately selective’ college?
@collegemom3717 Correct me if I’m wrong, but I calculated her UW GPA to be 3.47 (without summer courses) for all of her schoolwork.
Now, OP, there is no excuse for getting lower grades in more advanced classes. Unless you had a dramatic change in course rigor, then really, your grades should stay the same. If you get a lower grade in a more advanced course, that just shows that you are unprepared for more advanced material. Now, the good thing is that you do have a (mostly) upward trend from semester to semester. That’s ok.
My SAT score was 2020 (first try), and I’m definitely retaking it. I am planning to take the ACT and also the SAT II for Math 2 and Biology. I consider “moderately selective” as cooleges with a 20-40% acceptance rate.