<p>Hey everyone.</p>
<p>Well, to start off, I had mediocre grades in the first half of high school, while the 2nd half is accompanied by very high results. In short, my question is - can this prevent me from going to the top 20 LAC's? I predict it would probably look really bad in the admissions officer's eyes, but I just want your opinions - I know there are some very experienced members here. Oh yeah and I'm an international student, in case it's important.</p>
<p>Thanks.
Martin.</p>
<p>financial aid will be the first barrier if you need it.</p>
<p>Actually I don’t think it would look bad. An improvement is an improvement, and if you write about that in your essay, for example write that you’ve worked really hard, I think the admission’s office might actually like the fact that you’ve greatly boosted your results.
Of course, it’s your GPA that matters, but in my experience colleges like grades that have improved significantly.</p>
<p>Besides, define mediocre. Mediocre grades aren’t necessarily bad grades :P</p>