Help! can someone explain how senior year grades factor into gpas?!!!

Hey guys so my junior year gpa is not too hot…I was just wondering if someone could explain to me how grades from your senior year factor in to your overall gpa, especially if you apply to schools early decision. Do they make any impact at all? Any help or explanation would be much appreciated!

Schools will see your first semester grades, but they won’t all be factored in. Single semester or single quarter grades will be factored into your GPA at the time of your mid-year report, while full-year classes will not. Early decision deadlines are before one or both of the first two quarters has ended, so only one (or sometimes 0) quarters from senior year will be factored into GPA.

At my kids school they don’t factor in at all. GPA is calculated at the end of junior year and class ranks are determined. Those are the ones used in the transcript sent to colleges. Schools do get a mid year report with the first semester grades so they can see them, but GPA and rank are not recalculated. Of course, your school may be different.

Of course, if you apply for frosh admission after you graduate from high school (but do not take college courses after then), high school senior courses and grades will be visible. The same goes if you take college courses after high school graduation and apply as a transfer student, although some colleges disregard high school stuff if you apply as a junior level transfer, since you will have enough of a college record by then.

Under typical circumstances of applying to college as a high school senior, selective colleges will admit provisionally, conditioned on satisfactory completion of your high school senior courses (i.e. admission may be rescinded if you do poorly).

The GPA from the HS will not be recalculated. That doesn’t stop the college from recalculating the GPA (and they probably will).

If your high school is on the semester system, and you apply EA, SCEA or ED to a college, those schools will NOT see your first semester senior year grades before passing judgement on you.

If your high school is on the quarter system, and you apply EA, SCEA or ED to a college, those schools generally WILL see your first quarter senior year grades before passing judgement on you.

If admitted in the EA, SCEA or ED round, your acceptance is based upon maintaining the same grades and GPA throughout your senior year as you had in your freshman, sophomore and junior years. Admissions verifies that an EA, SCEA or ED accepted applicant is maintaining their GPA and grades by reviewing the mid-year report and final report.

If you apply RD, colleges WILL have access to your first semester (or first and second quarter) senior grades and GPA before passing judgement on you. Students admitted in the RD round are expected to maintain the same grades and GPA during the the second half of their senior year as they had during the first half of the year.

One of the best reasons to eschew ED or EA is for the student hoping to better their transcript/GPA with the addition of (hopefully) great senior first semester grades. You’re considering apply to Harvard SCEA. I would suggest you apply RD with the transcript boost from great senior first semester grades

@gibby @T26E4 So my school calculates GPA on the 4.33 scale. Would colleges, especiallly Harvard recalculate my gpa to go with the normal 4.0 scale. Cause then I think my gpa would be around a 3.87 or 3.9. Does that make me look like a more qualified applicant?

Not true. Many high school GCs will send in your mid semester grades to your ED school if they know what they are doing. Even if they don’t send it in, adcoms would often ask for it. Those grades are the last adcoms would see before they make their decision. If your GC doesn’t know better then you should ask him/her to send it in. Most top tier schools will want to see them.

@oldfort I definitely plan on sending the first quarter or semester grades. So if I do really really well senior year, will that make my bad junior year grades look better?

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Yes. My nephew didn’t take any APs until senior year due to scheduling issue(s). He had all As by mid semester, which demonstrated to adcoms he was able to do college level work well. He was admitted to a top 20 school. It is always good to show upward trend.

But remember, even if they admit you with junior year GPA, they can rescind that admittance if you fail senior year.