<p>So… of course it’s stupid to slack off at the end of senior year and get your acceptance revoked, right?</p>
<p>But any clue as to how this works? Do they see your 1st semester grades and boot you automatically, or send a warning to tell you to raise them by 2nd semester? I know that the Universities of CA say you can’t get a D… but Harvard is wacky sometimes… What would it be, acceptance revoked if you get a C?</p>
<p>I’m not planning to vegetate or anything, but there are so many things I want to focus on <em>outside</em> of school right now (still, I don’t want to get to the point where I’m worried about borderline grades getting me kicked out)…</p>
<p>I would think that you would have to try pretty hard NOT to get an A or B, but maybe that's just my school. But yeah, I'd think 2 or more Cs would cause some concern, but not a few Bs OR one C. Remember, there are students with Bs in their transcript for 9th-11th grade who get into Harvard.</p>
<p>Let me get this straight. This slacking off is something you are <em>planning</em> to do? The low grades are something you are going to get in the future and not something you have already?</p>
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<p>Any ideas?<<</p>
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<p>Yeah, don't do it. Any significant drop in your grades will cause them to ask questions. Didn't your acceptance letter said that your acceptance was contingent upon continuing your strong academic performance? After having worked so hard to get to where you are today, why take a chance on flushing it all down the toilet right at the end?</p>
<p>I think a good rule of thumb is to make sure that your senior year GPA isn't more than 0.5 GPA points (out of 4.0) less than the GPA that you submitted to Harvard. So if you had a 4.0, don't drop below a 3.5. That's being on the safe side...isn't that always the best place to be?</p>
<p><em>We</em> might think that all Bs are okay, but what we think doesn't matter. It's what Harvard thinks that counts. My personal guess is that one or two Bs wouldn't hurt, but if your grades drop enough that you no longer look like the person they accepted they might change their minds. Going from a series of 4.0 marking periods to a 3.0 (all B) marking period is not a risk I personally would be prepared to take.</p>
<p>Going from a series of 4.0 marking periods to a 3.0 (all B) marking period is not a risk I personally would be prepared to take.</p>
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<p>Everytime I see one of these questions I have a very different take. Perhaps this student is not a good match for Harvard (or Standford or MIT or Williams). If studying is hard work that is done to get grades then any of the top schools is going to be very-very tough (and possible overwelming). The kids who love these schools are kids who love to learn and love having incredibly smart classmates to learn with and from ... and kids who love to learn wouldn't typically drop from 4.0 to 3.0 their last semester of HS ... their desire to learn will keep their GPA relatively constant. But then again maybe I'm the only one who has this reaction.</p>
<p>I like to learn, but a lot of the work I get is busywork. I would rather not do meaningless assignments. I would rather spend that time pursuing something that I enjoy. Moreover, I believe your view of a Harvard student is highly idealized.</p>
<p>Love to learn causes us to want to make those reallllly good grades? Yes, we have a love to learn but more often than not, to make those reallllly good grades and keeping them there takes far more than a love to learn(at least thats how it is at my school). My friend got in Rice EA and when he called them about what y'all are talking about they said just complete the year with decent grades. Don't get all B's if you're an all A+ student but I don't think you have bust your butt to get an A in every class. Just a few is ok.</p>
<p>On this topic.....would it be alright if you take easier classes, like 4 academics and 3 blowoff courses and get A's in like all but 2 of em. Does blowoff courses autotaically look like you are not trying and looks like a C or something bad?</p>
<p>Moreover, I believe your view of a Harvard student is highly idealized.</p>
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<p>Hmm .... could be ... if so maybe it is more a generational thing ... I have three degrees from "prestige schools" and in my experience it seemed the majority of the students were compelled by a love or learning or a need to excel ... in any case few seemed to "slack off" when they could because their internal drive didn't let them.</p>
<p>When I see these posts asking how low these kids can go before getting their early acceptance revoked, I really wish there were a mandatory gap year between high school and college. That way we would have everyone's full year grades to view, and give some late bloomers a little bit more time to blossom. And I am the mother of one such slacker for whom this situation with revokation fo acceptance is such a distinct possibility that I wish I could just take him out of school this month if his first term grades are decent. </p>
<p>If your grades go down, you are taking a big chance given the admissions picture today. I am willing to bet that there are many deferred kids who truly excelled this last year, and I cannot think of one good reason why they should not replace the end of the lone slackers. If I were an adcom I would do it. Deferred kids are told to send a note with the midyear report or end of the year report if waitlisted, and point out anything noteworthy to help their admissions chances. I would seriously be tempted to swap a high achiever at the finish line for a slacker taking advantage of the early programs.</p>
<p>If that is the case then why does the actuall EA letter say in it to enjoy the senior year and just to get ready for the college experience? One of the big selling points of EA or ED is that a student can get into their number one choice early and relax for the 2nd semester (allowing an A+ to fall to an A) . Some people may not like it but thats the way it is and for the actual student doing the work this allows time to go out with family and such, which they won't have time to do when in a prestigous college.</p>
<p>I think it is really difficult to get your admission taken away. Two years at my school a girl that got into harvard ea, and had already committed to going, cheated on her chemistry lab final. She of course failed the class. Shes at harvard now, but she did lose her ROTC scholarship.</p>
<p>Then why are so many kids getting the antsies about "how low can I go?" I don't think anyone is really willing to push it. It's that old senioritus kicking in. The reason this thread is because of this awareness that there is a line you can cross. If Harvard really wanted you to relax, it would give you a threshhold. There are some schools that do that for private highschools. I know that my son was told when he was accepted to highschool with a scholarship, that he needed to maintain a "B" average to keep the scholarship, and a "C" average to keep his place. I don't see Harvard or any school giving this kind of info. The reason more admissions are not revoked is that the adcoms do not feel like reviewing all of this info again during a single admission cycle.</p>
<p>a guy from my school got in EA (or is it ED for harvard?) and he says that the adcoms said he could fail all his classes if he wanted and they'd still take him...but then again i think he got in for football (at least that's what i heard, even though he's pretty smart w/ words).</p>
<p>do you know when admission committee warns you if you get bad grades in the first semester? do ivy schools bother to look at midyear reports before the summer or do they look at the grades of both semesters at the end of the year?</p>
<p>also ellemenope, could you please be more specific about the case in which two c's caused the offer to be rescinded? what classes were these?</p>