<p>Just finished up first semester and got my first B (ever). I had a really tough schedule and a lot of outside commitments (including a new boyfriend who is awesome and who also applied to MIT). I know this is the toughest load I have taken academically and I had two of the most difficult teachers at my high school (although they are well respected). I know MIT doesn't focus on any one thing when making admissions decisions but I wonder what they'll think of this B. I mean, a lot of kids at my school have sort of "checked out" and are getting lower grades than they normally do. Do MIT applicants show this trend at all with mid year reports? Or are they just the best, all the time? </p>
<p>Should I write about this in the midyear report or just send in nothing extra? Chris? Mollie?</p>
<p>I don’t think that one B matters too much. Of course, it would be better to have all A’s, but you don’t need all A’s to get in. My average is usually just above 90 (aka a mix of A’s and B’s) and I got in EA. It’s not like you were taking an easy courseload and got a B in some silly elective. </p>
<p>I don’t have advice on what to write, but don’t stress about that grade. Everything will work out in the end :)</p>
<p>Senioritis doesn’t apply to 1st semester seniors, whose grades still matter. </p>
<p>A B first semester senior year is the same as a B junior year, unless you applied early action, of course.</p>
<p>Do not write an essay explaining your “B”. That would be much worse than the “B” itself.</p>
<p>And yes, peab is right, people get in with B’s so it’s not the end of the world.</p>
<p>don’t freak, you’re ok. Oh, and junior year grades and schedule have greater weight than any other year. Plus, senioritis does kick in second semester. I applied, kept my grades up 1st smester, but now it’s like, “why am I still here?”</p>
<p>Yah, I wouldn’t really blame my B on senioritis–but maybe a little bit of burn out. I know I could have gotten an A in the class but I just feel really tired–like I’ve been juggling all these balls for the last couple of years and it is just getting harder. I am definitely ready to move on from high school. I just wondered if at a place like MIT, if other students have maybe felt the same way. If they don’t then would this mean MIT would probably not be for me? Will my B tell admissions that I can’t cut it? I’m not really stressing about this B–just wondering what it really means about me.</p>
<p>OP, I have a friend who got in EA with several B’s. Even junior year. Even in MATH.
It might just be some sort of crazy miracle, but still.
Don’t stress! They really do look at it as a whole package.</p>
<p>Do MIT applicants have senioritis?</p>
<p>Yes. :P</p>
<p>It was many years ago but I got a definite case of senioritis, at least as far as my English class went, after I was accepted to MIT. Now, English was never my favorite subject, but I got a “D” in the class for the third quarter. My mother was not normally the helicopter type but she went into that mode right away. Got the teacher to “correct” the grade to a “C” and this after he told her it should really have been an “F” for all the work I didn’t do. She also read me the riot act and so did the teacher.</p>
<p>Well, for the fourth quarter, the rest of the class didn’t have to do any work. If the teacher asked a question in class and everyone but me put their hand up to answer, it didn’t matter, the teacher would call on me. I believe I must have answered over 90% of the questions asked in class so I had to be prepared every day. Otherwise the teacher was going to call my mother and that was not going to be pretty.</p>
<p>On the last day of classes for high school the teacher asked me to stay after class. He had a big smile on his face and told me that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t have been able to put up with all the attention that he gave me. At least we were able to laugh about it. He then wished me good luck at MIT. </p>
<p>I can still remember his name, Mr. Cooper, and his face is forever etched in my brain.</p>
<p>So, can you get senioritis, YES, most definitely. But there are cures for it.</p>