I am currently a junior and it looks like I may be getting a B/B+ in AP Lang and AP Calc AB this year. For the record I will definitely have A’s in my other four classes, which are APUSH, AP Spanish, AP Chem, and AP Bio, and I have never gotten a B before in high school. I am planning to apply to top competitive schools in the country since my extracurriculars are extremely strong but I am wondering if having 2 B’s in one semester in such a crucial year would potentially ruin my chances. It would really be a bummer lol.
That’s A LOT of AP classes! Don’t be bummed out! In my opinion (that counts for nothing on college admissions, I know) you’re doing great. Better than great. Are you enjoying the classes? Which one is your favorite?
At our local high school we have the opposite situation of what the poster above described. There’s a sizable population of students with Bs and sometimes Cs in some AP classes that end up with 5s on the AP exam. The students are not happy but the teachers have really high expectations. They’re great teachers however, so their classes are always full.
Two B/B+ grades will not “ruin your chances” anywhere.
That being said, unfortunately, since everybody and their cousin’s cousin is now applying to “top competitive schools”, your chances are slim, whether your GPA is 4.0 or 3.97.
So you should be spending more time trying to figure out a good set of matches and a good safety, instead of stressing out over whether a difference of 0.03 will change your chance of being rejected at a “top competitive” school from 97% to 98%.
Better yet, focus on doing well at high school, and on being proud of what you have achieved so far. You have done extremely well, and that will not change whether you will be accepted to a “top competitive school” or not.
