I see a lot of posts on here referencing an upward trend in grades, where colleges like to see you get better grades as you take harder classes.
What if my grades are the opposite? I had high A’s in Pre-AP classes freshman and sophomore year, but now I’m getting lower A’s/ocasional B’s in my AP classes. Will colleges understand if it’s the class difficulty, and not from a lack of effort on my own part?
Understand, yes. Overlook, no.
The student they are admitting is the one who will take college classes within the next year, not the one who took high school classes 4 years ago. Your most recent work is the best indicator of your college work.
There will be plenty of schools that appreciate that you embraced the rigor and will be happy to have you as a student.
Upward trends matter. So do downward trends. Highly selective schools want to see course rigor and high grades. There are plenty of schools who will be happy to have you!