<p>I had a medical issue junior year which hindered my performance and earned me my lowest uw gpa yet (lot of b's...). How much weight do colleges put on first quarter/semester senior year grades? I mean, they are after all the most recent, even though they aren't a full year shown...</p>
<p>Not as much as Junior year grades, only because colleges may not get them until after they admit you depending on the length of your schools marking periods and when you apply for college. In any event, write somewhere on the application that your health issue hindered you academic performance. Even if you do not designate an entire essay to it, at least put that in the additional information section. If you did poorly because of a medical issue, then it won’t count against you (depending on how drastic of a grade drop there was from it). Anyway, college will cut you a at least a little slack because you were ill.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. But I mean my school always sends the midyear reports on time, and even first quarter senior grades for EA/ED…assuming it ends up in their hands, can I assume they’ll put substantial weight on it?</p>
<p>The explanation that your medical issues interfered with your academic achievement in 11th grade will be more persuasive and less likely to be mistaken for excuse-making if it comes from your guidance counselor. Schedule a meeting with him or her early in the school year, and ask if he or she would be comfortable using the Secondary School Report to tell colleges that your health problems got in the way junior year, but your senior grades will be a better indicator of how you might do in college.</p>
<p>If you’re applying regular decision instead of early decision/action, there should be no problem with your senior-fall grades arriving in time for admissions committees’ deliberations. Indeed, you are probably a great example of a student who *shouldn’t *apply early.</p>
<p>P.S. I don’t mean to pry, but you’re better now, I hope?</p>
<p>I understand. My guidance counselor knows a lot about it and will mention it; it’s fine if she doesn’t get too specific and just calls it a medical issue right? Idr if she said she’d mention it in her letter of rec or the report…does it make a difference? </p>
<p>I am in fact better and I intend on getting the best grades I’ve ever gotten senior year; the only schools I’m earlying to are a safety school, and Georgetown, since they only defer and don’t reject the early applicants so they’d HAVE to see my mid year report haha. Will they still be taken into consideration though, or do colleges only use midt year reports as a way to check in on students that they’re already set on? :/</p>
<p>Bear in mind that I don’t actually work in Georgetown admissions, but I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t look carefully at your first-semester grades if you’re deferred.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>but do you think I’d need to get specific about the medical issue, or will just stating that I had one be sufficient? I’d rather not share it with them if I didn’t need to ._.</p>
<p>Another advantage of asking your counselor to handle the matter. He or she can say “a medical issue that has since been resolved” without seeming evasive. The details, after all, are not really your counselor’s to share.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. Guess I’ll hope for the best</p>
<p>Can somebody give me an answer to my original question of how 1st semester senior grades are considered in the process?</p>
<p>I don’t know with certainty, but I can’t imagine that (for the typical application) senior grades are given MORE weight than junior year grades. There is really no way of knowing how your senior grades compare to everyone else’s because generally all the universities are looking at is that you maintain a minimum standard. </p>
<p>However, for appeals and for exceptional cases such as yours, they will probably take it into consideration.</p>