As a rising junior in high school, grades are extremely important for acceptance to the top colleges that I’m interested in. My ACT scores are on par for the Colleges that I’m looking at, but my question is this: Will a couple B’s and B+'s be the end of the road for my prestigious College search?
No.
@Dylan197 Define “top colleges” and define “a couple”.
@rdeng2614 “top colleges” referring to Universities similar to: UChicago, Upenn, UofM, Vanderbilt. Etc. And I have only received a total of 2 B+'s so far.
You’re still a viable candidate assuming your other stats are competitive
Oh then you don’t really have to worry that much. 2 B’s isn’t really that much, but these colleges will be looking much more than grades when it comes in terms of admission. Course rigor and where you stand among your class also plays a big role.
No one B will kill your chances. Do your best junior year and then apply to a realistic and wide range of schools.
As a sophomore probably not, especially if it is in an area you are not majoring in. For example global studies for a future STEM major. I know someone at a HYP who had about 2 Bs in each of his first two years. He had almost perfect SATs. After that he had straight As until graduation and he expressed interest in an obscure major which helped.
No.
I had 3 B’s on my transcript when I applied to Penn. You don’t have to have straight A’s to get into a top school. Higher grades are better, obviously, but two B’s aren’t going to kill your chances.
@Rozalija not that it will turn out in rejection, but what if your ec’s aren’t excellent. Then isn’t having close to perfect grades necessary?
I had a B+ and B- and still got accepted into a good school. It’s definitely not the end of the world and is only a small part of your application
I got accepted into Northwestern with a C and several B’s. No school has an average GPA of 4.0 for accepted students.
We have a friend without any “hooks” or “tags” who had at least one B (in Physics) and got into Harvard.
@uesmomof2 It’s good to know that you don’t have to be a superhuman and study like a robot to attend some of these schools.