How badly will this effect my chances at a top school?

<p>This year (my Junior year) I took 4 AP classes as apposed to the one last year and the none freshman year. Freshman and Sophomore year I got mainly A's in my classes with one or two B's mixed in there but only 1 B as a final grade back in freshman year. This year though, I had a C for my first marking period grade in Spanish and a B is 3 other classes. Second and third marking period I had all As except 1 B in a class I had a B in first marking period and a B in AP Chemistry and AP Chemistry lab. Third marking period I had all As and fourth marking period I had all As except a B in Chemistry AP. So overall I had:</p>

<p>First marking period: a C in Spanish 4, a B in AP US, a B in AP Lang, and a B in AP Calculus. </p>

<p>Second marking period: a B in AP US History, a B in Chemistry and Chemitry lab both AP. </p>

<p>Third marking period: all As. </p>

<p>Fourth marking period: all As except a B in AP Chemistry. </p>

<p>My final grades are all As except a B in AP US and a B in AP Chemistry and AP Chemistry lab. </p>

<p>My end UW GPA will be a 3.83 (or a 3.88, most likely a 3.83 though) but (above) my transcript looks a bit messy. Will this effect me a lot even though I pulled up all my grades at the second marking period except my grades in US and Chem?? I had a bad first marking period due to a member of my family getting cancer but afterwards I realized my grades were more important than grief so I just got my head back in the game but now I am worried my first marking period will come back to haunt me.</p>

<p>I want to apply to Brown and UPenn and my SAT and ECs are really good but I am just worried about my transcript for Junior year.</p>

<p>Shouldn’t hurt you</p>

<p>I always heard that your transcript can kill you. So this really won’t effect my chances? Also should I get my counselor to put a note along with her sent materials explaining the circumstances? The rest of my application is really good.</p>

<p>You can if you want, but I wouldn’t worry about it at all. When it comes to gpa, a difference in .1 points is not going to kill you. Focus on the rest of your application, like building good relationships with teachers for recommendations, or getting in some extracurriculars.</p>

<p>As long as your SAT scores are good you’re fine I would think.</p>

<p>Your transcript should only show final not quarter grades.</p>

<p>@csdad: I can’t really take what my counselor takes at face value (it’s her first year as one and she still thinks that weighted scores are the only ones that matter) but she tells me that the school will send the entire transcript. She then showed me an article where it said something about a Harvard dean talking about how that school (and other schools) reviewed the entire transcript intensively to determine admissions. She wasn’t very clear on what grades would be sent but from what I gleamed it seemed to me that all grades would be sent so I am not really sure. Is the final grade only transcript universal to all schools?</p>

<p>@parthivnaresh: I have been focusing a lot on my ECs and teacher recommendations this year and am almost on a friendly basis (not saying almost as in I am working towards a friendly basis with them but rather in the sense that I am that close to my teachers without actually being “friends” with them) and I think my recommendations will be great. My ECs include a research article from my uncle at northwestern publishing something with my name included (I just did some small work like a few western blots) and a family charity and some leadership with other good ECs so I am really only worried about my grades at this point. </p>

<p>@etuck24: I am pretty happy with my SAT but I do plan on spending the next three months on studying so I can reach that elusive 2200+ range.</p>

<p>I can not imagine that any adcoms have the time to comb through every quarter grade. Any transcript that I’ve ever seen has course name & final grade. At our school we give students the option of having their test scores also included on the transcript, in addition class rank and cumulative GPA are included.</p>