<p>I did pretty average/bad freshmen and sophomore year. It might be a tiny bit salvageable if I increased dramatically from say an 80 to a 95, but that is not the case. My total average from freshmen to sophomore was a 93, so it’s only a 2 point increase. This would be the weighted average, but my school doesn’t send unweighted grades to colleges. I know a 95 won’t help me and many of the “elite” colleges have students with far better grades than that, but is it there absolute truth to this? Would a 95 average break me? Of course, there are other factors in admissions, but would this 95 be a glaring detractor?</p>
<p>A 95 is not a bad average at all, and according to the scale I’m looking at (<a href=“How to Convert (Calculate) Your GPA to a 4.0 Scale – BigFuture”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools) it is equivalent to a 4.0, and you can’t really ask for much more than that. It will most certainly not break you. </p>
<p>However, something important to note is that while your high school may not send an unweighted GPA to colleges, colleges will re-calculate your GPA and, especially in the case of many highly selective colleges, “unweight” your GPA. Accordingly, you should go find a GPA calculator online and calculate your unweighted GPA. This GPA is usually more meaningful for elite college admissions. After you do that, come back and we can give you more solid advice. </p>
<p>A GPA of 95 is pretty low if it is weighted.</p>
<p>And if those colleges include UCs (including Berkeley, UCLA) or Stanford, remove freshman year from the calculation.</p>
<p>I’m so confused. How did you even think that a 4.0 is remotely bad? You literally cannot go any higher</p>
<p>@kei04086 a weighted 4.0? Is not so hot.</p>
<p>Oh I see. How does weighted average work with a 100 point scale? Does it go up to 110?</p>
<p>@kei04086 i believe so.</p>
<p>So would a 95 <em>weighted</em> hurt me bad? A 95 unweighted is like a 91 at my school. This is because all the classes are weighted by about 1.05 (since each class in my school is considered honors), while AP classes are weighted by about 1.5. Also considering the pool are tons of students at my school who have 100 or 99 or 98 averages, some even above 100 although that’s not too many.</p>
<p>You just answered your own question. If your school has a “ton” of kids that have way higher grade than you, and you’re shooting for “elite schools” where something like 95% of students are in the top decile of their class, then yes it could break you. The number is meaningless to us because we have no idea how you compare to other students in your class. Just remember that class standing and transcript (including course rigor and grades) are the most important aspects of an application, way more important than test scores or ECs.</p>
<p>If your grades are “below average” for academically strong students at your school, then… you have unexceptional grades. If your school uses Naviance or a similar tool, you’ll be able to compare your grades/test scores to others from your school who have been admitted to various colleges in the past. </p>
<p>Well the thing is I drastically improved the grades I got in freshman year (90’s and 91’s weighted in freshman to 99’s and 100’s weighted in junior), but the transcript only averages in the last marking periods of each semester, so only 2 report card grades get mixed in with your final average. Therefore, the 4 report card grades I got in sophomore and junior combined could not salvage the tumultuous freshman year I had (unless I got 105 or something crazy like that each time). If I had the same grades in freshman year as I do now, I would indubitably have a 98 or 99 weighted average, which is basically the norm for the top students at my school, with anything higher being the absolute cream of the crop kids. This obviously doesn’t change the fact that I have a 95 total average and anything else is just “coulda, woulda, shoulda” but my more recent stats compared to other students at my school puts me in the top 30% (my class size is only about 300) indefinitely, and maybe in the top 25% (75 out of 300). Would this still be considered unexceptional in the grand scheme since my final average is really only top 40% or 45%? I mean my school doesn’t rank so this is pure speculation.</p>
<p>With other areas in my application considered (2240 SAT, pending June SAT re-take which could potentially be higher, mid-high 700’s in SAT II, average EC’s, great/good essay writing ability, ORM, decent rigor in senior year w/ 3 AP’s), I’m not quite sure how I would fare against both people in the nation and at my school. </p>
<p>Oh and a 95 average is a 3.7 I believe at my school when its converted</p>