<p>ok my grades in the first 3 semesters of high school sucked. every semester since i got straight a's (only one quarter and one semester) im taking the hardest courses out of anyone in my school-all honors and a lot of aps.</p>
<p>whats the best way to explain this to the adcoms? keep in mind im only a junior, but i bet i can maintain my a's easily) i know someone else was wondering this also. should i simply say i was lazy but then improved, or what? ive been in all honors classes for all my high school career (sept gym etc. which i took during the summer) thanks all!</p>
<p>ps i may have asked something similer to this earlier sorry but it wasnt exactly the same-now im asking how to show this vs. asking about chances etc.)</p>
<p>It might actually help you. I would make up some lame excuse and incorporate it into one of your essays. It would make it seem like you have great potential for growth and that you're maturing.</p>
<p>honestly...i'm sure they read about a couple of thousand essays that make excuses about poor early grades. I would slightly hint about it in an essay that has nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>Ideally, this would be something for your counselor to explain. If there are any teachers who taught both the old you and the new you, they might be a good choice as recommenders. ("Shark Bite was a late bloomer academically, but now that he's a senior, he's matured into an extraordinary student...")</p>
<p>ya know, im not sure. perhaps it was just laziness, but i dont know. i guess i was satisfied with b's at the time. even with basically all b's, i was ranked 11/360 because i had so many honors classes. then one of my friends got a 5.0 weigted, and i soon followed. me, him, and i think one other student were the only ones in our class to get a 5.0. i dont think i was lazy, i just wasn't motivated to get high grades at the time. i think i just realized that i was getting too secure in my rank. all of a sudden, i was like 47. 11 to 47 was a big jump so i tried extra hard and got great grades. ya know, i dont think i tried much harder, i just started to care more. when i got a bad grade earlier, i just let it go. now i made sure not to get any bad grades. oh well. sry that was so long to read.</p>
<p>First you should tell us your grades. Then you should definitely not write a whole essay about your grades. Like someone stated above, Harvard probably gets hundreds of essays explaining their grades or something and how that person wants to go to Harvard so badly and...It is a bad idea. Harvard gets the best applicants in the world, they can easily just choose someone else that never got any B's. It could be an advantage though. Showing that you can just turn it on ay any time. While you might be able to incorporate this into an essay, I wouldn't devote the whole topic to your grades. See what your counselor or recommendations can do...</p>
<p>ya just so you know, ive got enough ec's etc. to make for good essays. im definetly not wasting one on explaining why i got bad grades. i suppose i got more into ecs this year also though. i could make an essay in which i talk about how i changed over the years from a frosh with bad grades and no ec's to a junior with perfect grades and a ton of good ec's. it all happened so quickly though, it is like someone flipped a switch. it wasnt gradual at all. one semester i had below about a 4.0 weighted and the next i had a 5.0 weigted. i hope colleges dont think im loading up on ecs just because i want to look good on my application, but i can see why they would think that. in my soph year i had only one ec-forensics which i got a gold at state for. this year i have like 10 ec's. i hope they dont think im loading up just for college. if i did write an essay about how i changed i might mention that. however, like i said i dont want to waste an essay on this. maybe i can have my guidence counsler write a letter about it instead of me writing an essay. what do you think.</p>
<p>btw: my grades for my freshmen and the first semester of my soph year were mostly b's a few a's and maybe one C (my teacher was a...) in the second semester of my soph year, they were all a's and in the first quarter of my junior year, they are i think all a's. im betting i can keep them up pretty easy.</p>
<p>I think some words to the effect that you realize you were underachieving and then lit a fire under yourself. Your trend is definitely heading in the right direction!</p>