<p>I've recently finished applying to all of my colleges, and now, at our school, second semester has officially started. Do the grades that I receive second semester have any impact on my admission decision, or is it only the first semester of senior year that counts? I'm just wondering if it is worth the time and effort to retain my grades that I had first semester, or if I can I relax a bit.</p>
<p>Also, can second semester senior grades help you if you are waitlisted? </p>
<p>I've tried searching for this, but the previous thread about this stuff was made in '07, so I was looking for more up to date information.</p>
<p>If you are admitted, the 2nd semester grades aren’t all that important as long as you don’t have significant slips.
For example, if you were admitted and you usually get A’s, they might rescind offer of admissions if you start getting straight C’s.</p>
<p>I did not apply anywhere early- this is all for regular decision schools.</p>
<p>Ok good, I’m just wondering because I want to focus more on qualifying for chem olympiad, ARML, and other competitions of the like instead of doing school work.</p>
<p>2nd semester grades won’t affect your decisions; decisions are out long before you’ve finished your 2nd semester. Schools can rescind your admission if your grades slip a ton, but you can definitely ease up a bit. Sources vary as to how much you can let your grades drop, but generally if you are an all A student three Bs should be fine. You could probably even get a C, or several more Bs than that–and it depends on the school; I think UChicago is more lenient and Yale less so–but it would be riskier.</p>
<p>I would imagine that if you’re waitlisted, you’re close enough that good grades would be expected and wouldn’t give your chances any kind of boost, but bad grades could kill any chance you might have. But that’s completely speculation on my part</p>
<p>^I agree. If you’re waitlisted and you get really good grades second semester, it’s not going to boost your chances (unless on top of that, you win a major award or scholarship). However, bad grades would push you down the list, or if you let yourself go too much, even get you off the list. This is also just my opinion.</p>
<p>Honestly, I feel like grades don’t matter too much after the mid-year report. I definitely started slacking, but thankfully, since I was enrolled in yearlong courses, my grades ranged from 94-99. As long as you don’t let your grades precipitously drop, you’ll be fine, and if you’re in yearlong courses, then your grades from the first semester can buoy you up.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, guys. And yes, I have not applied anywhere early, so all this is in regard to regular decision schools. Looks like I’ll be focusing most of my time on competitions and stuff instead of school, sounds good.</p>
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<p>Isn’t that still an A…?</p>
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<p>Yes, Noitaraperp was talking with regards to a student who had already been accepted.</p>
<p>Question: How is your final report shown? Is it each courses’ yearly average (final grade) or each semester’s grade on its own, and then the final average?</p>
<p>Oh, I was unclear there. My post-midyear-report grades were most definitely not in that range, but if you do fine the first semester, then you don’t have to sweat it too much.</p>
<p>At some schools straight Cs definitely could derail it and cause your admission to be rescinded. In fact, one C and several Bs could even do this.</p>