<p>hey guys, so I am in the process of finishing up my W&M application and have a quick question. My grades have had a significant upward trend from freshman to currently senior year (from about a 3.8 to a 4.5). my grades increased w/ a increasing course load as well, but the thing is that I think my grades improved because I simply matured not because of some difficult circumstances I had to overcome. I don't know if I need to specify this in my application for not, also I think the upward trend is quite apparent and don't really know how to explain it other than i matured. so should I just not mention the upward trend and use the additional information to attach a resume, or what? thank you for your help!</p>
<p>We will certainly see the upward trend when we review your transcript and it’s not uncommon for us to see them as students mature. However, if your early grades were really off (say mutliple Cs or even lower letter grades), you may want to use the additional information section of the Common App to simply explain that in 9th grade you didn’t take academics as seriously as you should have but that you realized your error and have since worked hard to demonstrate your ability and potential.</p>
<p>do you think I could use the additional section discussing the potential I have and then further it by briefly discussing what I look for in college.</p>
<p>This is likely not the best use of the additional information section for a few reasons. 1) The additional information section has a very short word limit so it doesn’t allow you to say much. 2) We discern your potential from your transcript, standardized test scores and your recommendations. These are likely the best source of information for us on this subject. 3) You submit the Common App to multiple schools. What you look for in a college may not be easily applicable to all the schools to which you’re submitting the Common App. If it is, it’s likely so generic it doesn’t add much.</p>
<p>The best use of the additional information section is for brief explanations of transcript anamolies (like illnesses or attending schools with different weighting or ranks) or to add something that there isn’t enough space for in the rest of the app.</p>
<p>I would say you don’t really need to use the additional information to explain that you just ended up taking high school more seriously. The school will see the improvements in grades on your transcript and assume that you just ended up taking school more seriously, especially if you attained better grades and took harder courses than the previous year.</p>
<p>What I’m wondering is how this affects class rank. For instance, my class rank was in the top 33% and I took school more seriously as you did. This might be the same situation you’re in. Now I’m in the top 15%, but not quite at the top 10% where most W&M students are. Does W&M recognize this as a reason I might not be in the top 10%?</p>
<p>^^ totally on the same boat as you.</p>
<p>Yes, we will certainly recognize that a reason you may not be in the top 10% is because of lower early grades and we will make note of your upward trend, which again, is far better than a downward trend.</p>
<p>That being said, remember you will be competing for admission against students who have always maintained strong grades and therefore are in the top 10%. This is only one part of our evaluation so the fact that you are not in the top 10% will not automatically make you a deny (and being in the top 10% doesn’t automatically make you an admit). This may just be an area where you are less competitive but you could very well be more competitive than those in the top 10% in other areas of our evaluation.</p>