Grades

Applying to College
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<p>Think about this from another perspective: If you have too many B’s (or B-‘s) on your transcript, a selective college – meaning any school in the top 20 – will begin to question whether you could handle the work load on their campus. "If we admit smileback, will he become a ‘C’ or D’ student at our school?" That’s the discussion Admissions will have. No college wants to admit a student and set them up for failure – and that’s true regardless of test scores or teacher recommendations. So, my advice would be to get off College Confidential and start cracking the books, as one B- is probably the most you could have for a top 20 school. </p>

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<p>@gibby: i had one B both freshman and sophomore year(both in AP classes), but all A’s junior year. Most difficult courseload. School doesn’t rank but I would say around top 3%. My cumulative is only a 3.88 though…is that really bad??</p>

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<p>@RunningForLife: No, your grades are not bad at all, especially considering your ranking.</p>

<p>My post had to do with @smileback3x3, who’s grades seem to be constantly slipping, or at least he keeps asking questions about slipping grades. </p>

<p>Keep in mind that your grades (and course rigor) are considered as part of the whole for your school. Your guidance counselor must complete the Secondary School Report (SSR) on each student and rate the rigor of their course load as compared to all other college bound students at your school. So, your grades are never looked at in a vacuum, but compared to other students at your high school. See page 2 of SSR, especially the top section and the top right hand section: <a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/documents/UG_Admissions_SecondarySchoolReport.pdf”>http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/documents/UG_Admissions_SecondarySchoolReport.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@gibby‌ Sorry for any confusion. I had an A both semesters for math freshman year, and this year I have a B- both semesters for math. </p>

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<p>@RunningForLife‌ You have nothing to worry about, your class ranking is really impressive and lower grades in rigorous classes, especially at the AP level are okay. </p>