Chances at a Good US Grad Program with two bad semesters in an Inflated GPA International school

[Mochachino_60]

I'm currently a new Junior Year EEE student at a good University in a South Asian country. I have a weird story. I have been a fairly good student all my life, with a passion for Physics and Mathematics. I got accepted into two of the best Universities here. The problem is I wanted to go into one, while my super-concerned family forced me into the other. I was not happy and did quite bad in the first semester (3.51). This is bad because there were four students who got perfect 4s and about 10 or 12 above 3.9 in a pool of 90 students and numerous below that and bewtween my grade.I was below the average GPA. So I think our Uni definately has inflated GPA.

The next semester I decided to apply to USA for undergrad. I took SAT with a a month or so preparation in the middle of the semester and got 2150 and 8.5 in IELTS without prep. I got accepted at Uni of Richmond but they wouldn't give me required funding or scholarships. I did horrendous this semester by our Uni standards as I tried to balance coursework and the application process and ended up with a 3.38.

The next two semesters I realised I have to study in this Uni and do my best and got a Gpa of 3.8 and 3.91 in my sophomore year. Now I've started my 5th and I'm doing pretty good and I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to keep a CGPA of atleast 3.9 for the final four semester. The thing is if I do good in my later semester will it be regarded in a good light for my application. Will my initial bad results have a negative impact If I want to go for a really good grad program in the US?? I hope to get involved in some research from next semester, although the research quality here isn't that attractive. the thing that worries me is that no matter how good I do now, I'll end up with a class rank in the around 30th-35th percentile, if things go as they are now. How badly is this gonna affect me? I still have two years of Undergrad education left. Any suggestion would be hugely helpful. Thank you everybody.

[MathCat]

They care more about your last two years than the first two. You are not doomed. Just work hard and do well in the remaining years!