Is it possible for me to get a 3.8 or higher unweighted GPA?

Applying to College
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I currently have a 3.48 unweighted GPA. I’m currently a sophomore.

I’m planning to take AP stats and AP macro and micro personal finance. Others tbd, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I’m also currently taking AP Human Geography and AP Integrated math. (Though, for unweighted, does this matter?)

I want to apply to stern or another non-ivy business school. I want to attend a good school, but I’m not reaching for anything insane. I want a good environment and classes I’m passionate about. I have a passion project (independent) as well as a research project (required by the local magnet school I’m currently attending). These will both apply to my interests and field I wish to go into.

I’m also using my connections to get internships to get job experience and recommendation letters.

I think the only thing that would hold me back is my GPA. I’m an OK student at my normal high school (A- or above) and at my magnet school, I tend to struggle. I have better teachers and habits this year, but it is the reason why my GPA went down from a 4.0 in the first place. I cannot quit because I want the research project and it will take my science credits back.

What would be the best path to increase my GPA?

Thanks!

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Pretty much get straight A’s to improve unweighted. Keep in mind colleges won’t see at least the second semester grades senior year. You can get into a good business school even if it’s not NYU. Prep for the ACT/SAT.

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There are plenty of possible schools for a 3.8. AP won’t help a unweighted gpa but will weighted.

As for can you raise to a 3.8, it depends.

If you had 12 qualifying grades by the end of first year, and had a 4.0 second year, a 3.48 would be a 3.74.

If the same happened Junior year you’d have a 3.83.

You should be able to do this level of math on your own. That’s a red flag that you even asked the question.

The best path to increase your gpa is to get As but I’m less concerned with As and more concerned with learning.

Getting into a school requires a lot more than As.

What is the goal that Stern is where you want to get in ?

In the end, be the best you that you can be. Internships in hs are rare. Get involved in a club or two, get tenure and growth. And a top SAT will matter.

Money does too - Stern is $100k a year. Can you afford that ? If yes, do your parents want to.

There’s tons of time b schools and many that place on Wall Street if that’s the goal.

Do well in school, take tough classes (but not above your ability), get involved outside of class and things have a way of working out.

It may be Salisbury or Susquehanna instead of Stern but no matter, if you work hard you can be very successful.

No need to over stress yourself so early.

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The main thing here is probably to learn to be a stronger student.

Show up for class on time or a bit early. Sit in the front if you can. Always pay attention. Ask questions. Keep way ahead in your homework and reading, and always get all of it done. If you are unsure about anything, ask for help.

Start your homework early. It is preferable to start your homework the day that it is assigned. There are several advantages of this. One issue is that if you start your homework early, you will learn a bit from trying to do it. If the only thing that you learn is “I do not quite understand this particular concept” even that knowledge may help you learn a bit more in class the next day. If you start your homework early, and if there is something that you can’t do, this will give you time to ask questions and seek out extra help. Also, some homework will take longer than you expect, and if you start early you will have time to finish it.

You are allowed to do homework on a Saturday afternoon. I still remember doing this when I was in graduate school, and really should have been doing it more often as an undergraduate student.

In math, do not just memorize formulae. Instead, make sure that you also fully understand the concepts.

In learning a language, make sure that you find a chance to use it outside of school. Watch movies or TV shows or online videos in whatever language you are trying to learn. When I was studying French at one point I had a dejeuner francais with some friends and we would attempt to have a lunch once per week where we only spoke French. While we might not have been very good, just trying to use the language can help. I similarly used to watch hockey games in French which helped. Of course if you are learning Spanish instead there are Spanish language channels on TV, and I expect that Netflix and other streaming services will have lots of shows in Spanish.

In literature you need to spend the time to read, and read, and read. The same could apply to history.

Here is a secret: If you get to attend a highly ranked university they will be tough also. Some are harder than others. Caltech, MIT, and Chicago have reputations for being tough, although I found Stanford to be a lot of work also (this was for a master’s degree, so at least every class was in something I liked and it was for a shorter length of time). There is an old saying: “Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it”.

I think that job number 1 right now is to learn how to be a stronger student. This is a skill that will help you for a long time (particularly since skills for being a strong student have at least some overlap with being a strong employee).

In graduate school I learned an important lesson: Putting in the hours of work to be a strong student can be less stressful compared to the effort to worry about the work that I was not getting done. I wish that I had learned this earlier.

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For the title question “Is it possible for me to get a 3.8 or higher unweighted GPA?”, you can calculate your maximum possible GPA (presuming you mean end of 11th grade for college applications) by adding to your current record a hypothetical record of all A grades for the courses you will take until the end of 11th grade and then calculating GPA based on that.

Of course, the harder part may be to become a better student to actually earn all A grades for your remaining courses in high school.

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I agree with the other posts re your GPA, but this paragraph caught my eye. Stern’s admit rate is under 5%, so it is pretty close to Ivy-type admit rates and definitely a reach. If you do a chance me/match me post when you have your junior year grades under your belt so that people can give sensible suggestions based on what actual outcomes are, you’ll get good suggestions of some targets and safeties to add to your list.

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You can work out the math and/or use an online GPA calculator to see how your GPA can improve.

FWIW as a sophomore it is too early to target any colleges. See how things go with classes this year and your standardized tests and come back with a chance thread next year.

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The public high schools in my area are super competitive and sometimes kids used to take summer school classes to improve their class rank. I think the schools stopped reporting rank because it was all too competitive. You can do the math on how many A’s you would need to reach your GPA goal and might be able to add some summer school classes if that is possible in your area.

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To track your GPA and see what’s possible, create a spreadsheet (Google Sheets works well) and log all of your classes and grades. Then, to look at hypotheticals, create duplicate tabs and put in the grades you hope to get in current/future classes. It’s easy to calculate real and projected GPA’s from there - sum the columns and divide. You can use this to track your grades as you go along.

If you’re a sophomore now, your 3.48 is only for 9th grade, correct? Because you wouldn’t even have fall semester grades finalized for this year. So yes, it’s mathematically possible to get to a 3.8 by the time you’re doing college applications. Whether it’s possible in real life is a separate question. And as you say, passing up opportunities like your research project, just to protect your GPA, is not going to get you to a single-digit-acceptance-rate college anyway. So seek out challenges, and if your GPA isn’t perfect, then it isn’t - there will be plenty of great places you can go to college, whether NYU ends up on that list or not. As DadTwoGirls says, focus on good habits and depth of understanding, not on grade-grubbing for its own sake.

It’s also worth noting that some colleges don’t even consider freshman grades. Two top business schools in that category are CMU Tepper and Emory Goizueta.

But even if your GPA continued to track at its current level, there are very good business programs that would be accessible. You’re setting yourself up for a ton of unnecessary stress if you fixate only on highly-rejective schools and allow yourself to feel as if your life will be over if you don’t get into one of those. Even if your GPA climbs significantly, you will need attainable “safety” schools on your list, and you will have much more peace of mind over the next couple of years if you identify a few of those that you know you could be happy with. What’s your home state? There are likely good options at your public universities and/or others with which your state may have tuition reciprocity agreements. There are also some great business schools at private universities that aren’t quite so reachy - University of Denver is one example that comes to mind, as well as many of the Catholic/Jesuit U’s. And there are liberal arts colleges that have strong business programs too - schools like U of Richmond, Bucknell, U of Puget Sound, Trinity U (TX), and many more.

Identifying high-reach “dream schools” is the easy part; you can do that at the end of junior year, when you know what your stats will really look like. This year, try to set that aside (NYU Stern et. al. are not going anywhere!) and focus on identifying some schools that match your current stats and that will make good safeties even if you do achieve a great improving trend. Go on some college visits, if you can, to attainable schools, so that you start to be able to imagine yourself there. Knowing that even your backup plans can be something to look forward to is the best way to lower your stress.

Absolutely, work to raise your GPA and widen your college options. But do it from a positive, “being the best student you can be” frame of mind, not out of fear that you’ll be ashamed of where you go to college. Fall in love with a couple of attainable schools first, to neutralize that fear. And good luck with the transcript glow-up; there’s plenty of time to trend upward :slight_smile:

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“You should be able to do this level of math on your own. That’s a red flag that you even asked the question.”

Dude, seriously, you have to take a swipe at this kid for asking a question about calculating GPAs?

PLENTY of people find GPA calculations confusing…especially because so many high schools and colleges calculate them differently…they even calculate “unweighted” GPAs differently.

OP, other than any gratuitous jabs, you are getting good advice here. Focus on doing your best and you will have great options. Good luck!

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Last January you said you running a D average in math. Were you able to bring that grade up?

Note that a number of top undergrad business programs like candidates to take calculus in HS – is that in your plans?

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Thank you!

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Yes! I ended with a C-

HOWEVER- That was a hard time for me and I’m extremely confident in my math this year. I ended with a B this first quarter. I plan to go up from there

As for selecting math, I don’t have a choice on what main math I take (It’s integrated into what I need for my science class, since that’s what I’m at the school for)

I excel at statistics and I plan to take an AP class as soon as I have a free period. (I have to wait until I get all my language credits) Calculus is part of the curriculum next year, so I’m not thinking of taking a separate class, but I’m not completely closed off either. I just prefer stats.

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Depending on the college and major, you may have to take a statistics course that has calculus as a prerequisite.

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Fyi Stern is one of these.

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With all due respect, a student who wants to go to one of the top schools in the country should be able to do a simple math calculation.

This is now a competition - it’s not participation trophies anymore.

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You’re welcome! I really do hope you focus on doing the best you can and ignore negative comments. I’ve received several DM messages from people who commented to me about how the differences in the way GPA is calculated has caused confusion for them so you are definitely not alone!

I hope you are not deterred and continue to feel welcome to ask questions. No one should shame you for asking questions. There are a lot of parents on here and I always think it’s great when students contribute because this is all about you!

I’m glad to hear you pulled out a C last year and a B so far this year. Keep at it. It’s very tough to get a 3.48 up to a 3.8 but you can raise it significantly and most colleges will look favorably on a significant upward trend in your GPA. Most importantly, work hard to make the most of the opportunities you have and surround yourself with people who encourage you (and ignore those who push you down). Best of luck to you!

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Please take the back and forth to PM and let’s get back to the OP’s question. TIA

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Compliance with moderator instructions is not a request. Posts deleted.

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