My unweighted GPA is 3.6 right now, but it was in the toilet freshman year. As a sophomore I averaged like a 3.6 and as a junior I got a 3.9.
It depends on the schools you’re looking at.
An upward trend in GPA is good, but like @xFirefirex stated above, it will depend upon the schools you are interested in applying.
Any examples of any strong universities that credit upward curves?
Many schools credit upward curves; however, you’ll be at a disadvantage when compared with other kids without an upward curve.
If your GPA was a 3.3 Freshman year, a 3.7 Sophomore year, 3.8 Junior, and 3.83 Senior, your Freshman year will look like a fluke and many college may be forgiving of that (to an extent!) given your guidance counselor can explain in his or her recommendation what happened that year.
Although I wouldn’t expect to get into a top 20 school with a dramatic upward curve (3.3 to 3.8, not 3.7 to 3.8), you should continue to do your best to get into the best school possible.
Is that cumulative or year by year? If it helps, I had medical issues that prevented me from going to school in my freshman year.
My examples were year by year. But remember, you want to aim for at least (I stress this) a 3.75 at the absolute bare bones minimum to stand a chance at any top 20 school, no matter the circumstances.
However, don’t let this discourage you from applying! If your medical issues were very serious (and I’m sure they were!), your guidance counselor can explain this.
My transcript looked like this:
1st Sem. Freshman - AAAAAA
2nd Sem. Freshman - BBBCBB
1st Sem. Sophomore - AAAAAA (1 Honors)
2nd Sem. Sohpomore - AAAAAA (1 Honors)
1st Sem. Junior - AAABAA (3 APs, 1 Honors)
2nd Sem. Junior - AAAAAA (3 APs, 1 Honors)
1st Sem. Senior - AAABAA (2 APs, 2 Honors)
and that is exactly what I was wondering when I applied back in the fall. My second semester of Freshman year (due to death/illness/fiscal troubles in the family) absolutely destroyed my class rank and I think it eliminated me from being competitive for the top private schools as an engineering applicant. I applied through 11 private schools through the commonapp and I got waitlisted at all my safeties and rejected from all my matches/reaches. I did rather well at the UCs and Cal Poly, however, and they don’t consider class rank or (hardly) freshman grades. Of course, this could also be due to poor recommendation letters (unlikely but who knows) or bad essays for the private schools (more likely, had to rush many of them).
Looking at all my dream schools and seeing that ~95% of all admitted students were in the top decile of their class was really devastating for me…
Hope this helps.
Well I do have the University of Alabama Presidential Scholarship (if I can boost my ACT up 2 points) as a safety.