<p>Does a rigerous courseload and good 1st semester grades help in the admissions process?</p>
<p>So long as you aren't applying so early that they don't have time to get those grades, absolutely, senior fall is the most important term. At least, that's what I'm told at my school.</p>
<p>my sat teacher told me that one of his past students was accepted into UC San Diego but then later denied because of his senior year second semester grades. He got a D in one of his classes.</p>
<p>Even with EA/SCEA/ED schools still want to see first quarter grades, first semester grades, and final grades (most of the time). No matter what, you'll have to show your grades at least once or twice.</p>
<p>Michelle: schools don't want to see their recent admits degenerate into mindless drones suffering from senioritis and trying to slog through their last semester of high school. It makes the person look like he only did well to get into college. Therefore, unless you have a very valid reason (a string of deaths in the family, for example) your grades shouldn't drop from say...a B+ to a D.</p>
<p>Oh I know. :) I was just pointing out an example where senior grades screwed someone over. haha</p>
<p>some schools do random check ups to make sure that you are keeping with your grades. so yes, keep up with your grades. a significant drop in your grades DOES NOT impress the colleges you want to be accepted into, especially if it is a competitive college.</p>
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Does a rigerous courseload and good 1st semester grades help in the admissions process?
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<p>Yes, as there is an expectation that you are still taking the most rigerous courseload at your school and you are doing well. Keep in mind that your admission is conditional and is based on your successful completion of high school and as others have stated remaining pretty consistent. if you are applying to an honors program or getting merit money, you definitely do not want to have a bout of senioritis.</p>
<p>Absolutely and watch the schedule, I know that some schools will reject applicants who don't take AP stats or calc in their senior year. You cannot skip that last year of math...</p>
<p>What if you have had straight A's throughout high school and get a B in senior year...will that affect college admissions drastically?</p>
<p>bump.......</p>
<p>Well, everyone here has said "yes" so far. Sadly I was in the same position last year and was led to believe that senior grades actually mattered a lot.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is if you're trying to pull up your GPA by taking hard classes and getting good grades, it will help very little. I think the first semester grades are just used in case there is a significant drop in performance (red flag for colleges). Your most important grades are sophomore and junior year grades. I think we were talking about this last year on CC and someone called Cornell because of a missing secondary report and the office said they don't even really take a look at first semester senior grades.</p>
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What if you have had straight A's throughout high school and get a B in senior year...will that affect college admissions drastically?
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<p>I don't think that will affect your decision at all.</p>
<p>Junior and sophomore are the absolutely the most important year.
Cannot say which is more, but if I had to pick out the ultimate one, then I'd choose the Junior year as the most important year.</p>
<p>Please make this clear for me: I know they look at senior grades to see if you've been keeping up and not failing and what not. Now, do they also look at them to make a decision about ADMITTING you ? Are first semester senior grades part of the criteria they use ? NOW FOR THE BIG QUESTION: Should we just do "ok" in senior year, ie. get A,B,Cs but nothing lower and should we not work like crazy ....OR....should we work our tails off trying to get straight As in our APs/honors, hoping that will boost us up somehow ?</p>
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should we work our tails off trying to get straight As in our APs/honors, hoping that will boost us up somehow
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<p>yes, you should especially if you are considering an highly selective school because there will not be a loss of people who are doing this in the applicant pool.</p>
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The fact of the matter is if you're trying to pull up your GPA by taking hard classes and getting good grades, it will help very little. I think the first semester grades are just used in case there is a significant drop in performance (red flag for colleges). Your most important grades are sophomore and junior year grades. I think we were talking about this last year on CC and someone called Cornell because of a missing secondary report and the office said they don't even really take a look at first semester senior grades.
I really hope that is true... I also hope they take into more consideration the actual classes you are taking as well... (a lot of APs, etC)</p>
<p>if anyone is applying to NYU, they told me senior year grades aren't required at all. so if i get in, i wont be so stressed out hopefully.</p>
<p>My teacher said that colleges really want you to do well. You cannot change your reported courseload without getting the admissions office's approval. He also told me that they'll only rescind if I start getting Cs or something that's totally whack (my grades are all As since freshman year) so he said I basically didn't need to worry. (I asked him about senior year grades affecting admissions.)</p>
<p>There are 3 forms to fill out: secondary school report, mid-year report, and final report. So I think secondary school report is from a counselor, so if they don't look at it, why are they asking. Same with the mid-year report. If the final report is what they are looking for then they only need that form.
From the "How to get into top schools" from Montauk, some colleges state that senior year is more important than junior year. So check the school, not every school is the same.</p>
<p>What if my grades since freshman year have been all A's and maybe one B per year, and now that I'm a senior and taking a bunch of hard AP classes I get say only 3 or 4 A's and about 3 B's. That wouldn't look like I'm slacking off would it? 'Cause I'm really not, it's just that the classes are harder.</p>
<p>^I agree with that... I'm working much harder than I was junior year, yet still getting a B in an AP spanish class</p>