I was just wondering, could 3 B’s on my senior midyear report hurt my chances of getting into the University of Southern California, UPENN or Stanford? How about Berkeley or UCLA?
I am currently taking 4 APs with the following grades: (b,b,b,a,a,a,a),
My cumulative GPA is a 3.9, but i finished junior year with a 4.2, sophmore year with a 3.9, and Freshman year with a 3.6. So i have an upward trend.
Although unlikely, but what if i raise one of my B’s to an A?
I have the same question
What schools are you applying to? @oreolover123
I would really appreciate anyone’s opinion/experience
@rfaamsia
UIUC, Georgia tech, purdue, Michigan, UW-Madison, USC, CMU aaand UMD-CP
you?
Georgia tech, all UC schools except Merced, USC, Purdue, RPI, Michigan, CMU. I am not sure if I will be applying to UPENN or stanford anymore.
@rfaamsia does Georgia Tech require a midyear report? and Michigan?
what major btw? 
I applied GT Early Action for Industrial Engineering, I will get my decision before my semester finishes so I do not know. As for UMich, they require it.
Bump
The answer is yes it could if it represents a drop from previous years or a weakness compared to fellow students applying to the same places.
Your unweighted GPA will matter much more than weighted GPA, which colleges generally ignore. If this report drops your UW below 3.7, it could be an issue. Otherwise, it’s unlikely to matter much.
Unweighted GPA:
9th grade: 3.6
10th: 3.85
11th: 4.0
12 1st semester: 3.6-3.7
Total: 3.8ish
@NotVerySmart would that be a problem?
My gut feeling is no. If you have a rigorous courseload (enough that your GC would check the “most rigorous” box when asked to evaluate course rigor for colleges), a 3.8 is acceptable at any college in the country. It isn’t a 3.9 or a 4.0, which would be better, but plenty of students get in with similar GPAs.
UCLA/UCB/UMich and other public colleges are primarily stats-based, so this report won’t help your cause, but residency status matters far more than a small difference in GPA.
Stanford and UPenn want to know you’re academically capable, but you pass that test (assuming decent rigor and test scores). From that point onwards they care about essays, letters of recommendation, and extracurricular activities far more. Odds are still in the mid/low single digits for RD applicants, so don’t get your hopes up.
@NotVerySmart I have the toughest course load in my class and the second toughest since the year my school started. On top of that I have self-studied AP macroeconomics and am currently self studying Calc BC. Also my ECs are very time consuming and with college apps this year, I found it very hard to continue with a 4.0. Dont colleges understand that ? My only worry is that it seems like a downward trend, but yet again I am also thinking that they may understand how time consuming senior year is.
I think I have to disagree with you on these colleges being stats based. For the past 3 years, the valedictorians at my school were rejected from these colleges, while other students who have impressive ECs were accepted.
If you have the toughest courseload in your class, that’s good. You’ll get the “most rigorous” tick.
It won’t be a major boost to your application, because most competitive applicants to the schools you’re looking at would have “most rigorous” or the next step down (at Stanford/UPenn/etc. anything but “most rigorous” is a near-certain rejection). Like SAT scores, it’s a box to check.
Self-studying a subject isn’t generally regarded as anything special. At information sessions, I’ve heard several colleges’ representatives refute that theory when someone asks “I’m taking X AP courses and self-studying AP course Y. Will that be taken into account?”
Colleges understand that you’re kept quite busy during the fall of your senior year - but what the most selective schools would really like is the students who maintain a 3.8+ GPA (at least) despite all that. They’ve got their pick of 30,000 applicants, many of whom will do just that.
As for stats-based admission, OOS admissions are competitive enough at schools like UCB or UMich that anything can happen - and admissions that are primarily stats-based will still take ECs into account - but it’s quite simply impossible to have the same holistic review process you find at many private colleges if you’re a public university receiving 80,000 applications a year.