Drop in senior year grades :(

How strongly are senior grades factored into admissions? This year I am taking 6 AP classes, and will receive B’s in 5 of them with an A- in one (there is a mix of B-'s and B+'s)
Will this really hurt my chances at schools like brown, duke, dartmouth, and uchicago? I have only had two B+'s previously, one each during freshman and sophomore year with the hardest course load. Do you think senior grades could prevent me from getting in, or will admissions be more understanding?

Senior grades count for approximately 1/7 of your high school GPA, the single most important factor in the admissions process.

Getting 5 B’s will definitely hurt your chances, but will not result in an automatic rejection.

What’s done is done. All you can do now is wait and hope for the best.

Good luck!

If you get B’s in AP classes, chances are these schools will recalculate the grades to A’s because of the weight added. If it hurts you during the admissions process or not is hard to say because the colleges you are asking about are all very difficult to get into. My D got A’s in all her honors and regular classes and each AP class was usually a B grade. It did not hurt her in the early action round of admissions as she got in most places she applied. However, she has not yet heard back from the IVY’s she applied to. I think as long as your subject tests & ACT/SAT scores are solid you will be ok with B’s in AP classes. Like you my D is taking all AP’s during her senior year. It’s her toughest class schedule to date and she would have liked to take one less AP class but it’s too late for that now.

Many people say that senior grades matter. I disagree to an extent, at least in my situation. Texas, where i reside, has automatic admission, and doesn’t use a holistic review if you meet this requirement. I met the requirements for my 3 colleges (UT Austin, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech). This means senior grades never really mattered for me. Of course i didn’t outright fail my classes. But i didn’t have to try nearly as hard as my other classmates who has to maintain extremely high grades for the insanely competitive colleges that require 1st semester senior grades like UChicago. I think you are fine in my opinion, as long as you dont have a major drop in grades like from an A to a C.

Getting 5 Bs in AP classes is not favorable if you’re applying to the competitive universities listed. There are so many other students who probably have less Bs that that in all their years of high school and are taking just as many or more rigorous courses. These grades are not recalculated to an “A”. They definitely could prevent you from getting in. Not saying it will for sure, but getting 5 Bs in one semester will raise an eyebrow.

Uh, no. Some schools might recalculate GPA with weighting that might make them close but it doesn’t just push a B to an A. Top schools expect highly rigorous classes with top grades. Some schools also don’t recalculate GPA. They use the HS GPA and eyeball the class rigor.

OP, I hope you have a good broad list of schools besides the one’s you’ve listed above. I’m sure you’ll end up at a great school for you.

@Erin’s Dad & anxiousenior1

All UC schools add an entire grade onto an AP/honors class (as long as the grade isn’t a D). As far as I know, other colleges don’t publish how they weigh grades but I suspect it’s the pretty close to the same as each college looks more competitive the higher the average GPA for incoming freshmen or even admitted students is.

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/q-and-a/calculating-gpa/

The computation of a UC GPA is very structured and different from what other schools use.

ok. At my D’s high school 10% is added onto AP courses but colleges will recalculate it once they get her actual transcript. I’m really not sure what other colleges do but I’m betting it’s very similar to what UC colleges do.

Would it a good idea to send an email to all of the colleges I applied to? Just to acknowledge that I know my grades dropped and that I realize my mistake

In my opinions you should not write any emails. I cannot see how it can help you. Your grades are not bad grades and if you write an email you are going to make colleges pay attention to something negative about yourself and it might sound like you are making excuses.

I suggest you just send the grades they are requesting and let them decide if they are acceptable.