Ok hear me out …
I messed up my sophomore year of high school due to my family losing our home and it really had a negative impact on me. I completely changed things around over summer and I am doing way better in school. I am really scared that i won’t get into at least one of my top colleges or any colleges at all. I switched high schools junior year but the first high school I went to is known as being a hard school.
My top colleges are:
Syracuse University
Chapman University
Loyola Marymount
Uc Santa Cruz
San Diego state
Santa Clara university
Fullerton state
My gpa 9th:
1st : 2.0
2nd :2.6
My gpa 10th ( brace yourself )
1st 1.8
2nd : 2.10
My gpa in progress 11th:
1st : 3.5
2nd : in progress
I take my sat in the spring and I have been taking sat prep classes so hopefully I get a good score
I am currently interning at a hospital
I work shows at my schools theater
I am on my schools newspaper
Please let me know if I should do anything more to raise my chances and also would I even have a chance at getting into any of these schools???
Sorry to hear about your family losing their home. I hope your living situation is better now and you can focus on your school work.
For the UC’s and CSU’s, they only use 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation. You have a lot of ground to make up to get to the minimum UC GPA needed (3.0) to even apply. At the minimum GPA, you are looking at possibly UC Merced and not UC Santa Cruz (average GPA around a 3.8).
UC’s do however let you explain your difficult circumstances in their personal insight essays, that can help your chances if you are able to raise your GPA up to the minimum for applications.
UC/CSU GPA calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
The CSU’s however do not consider essays in their admission decisions so your acceptances will be based on your CSU/UC GPA and test scores. High test scores can make up for lower GPA.
At the end of Junior year, you can calculate your UC/CSU GPA and see where you stand.
For the private schools, they will take all grades 9-11th including Senior mid-year grades into consideration, so having a upward grade trend will help along with your essays and Letters of recommendation.
Unfortunately, for many of the schools it may be a little too late but there is always another path to get to your goal. Community college is an excellent option and at least for the UC’s and CSU’s, since there are articulation agreements and the TAG pathway to get into some great schools. Since the CSU’s and UC’s take Junior level transfers, your HS grades and test scores will not be considered and you basically get to start with a clean slate.
For private schools, if you transfer as a lower division Sophomore, then your HS record will be considered.
Best of luck and remember there are many paths to your goal so be flexible and consider the many alternatives.