Junior Year/Spring vs. Senior year/fall

Applying to College
1

<p>What do you guys think is more important for the College Admission. For those of you that say that "it is equally important to do well in order to get into a good school" let me rephrase it, would you rather do better senior year/fall or junior year/spring, and would you rather do well on which one? Could a good senior year outweigh a bad junior year and vice versa. Do you think there is a chance to be able to "redeem" yourself senior year for a bad junior year?</p>

<p>Does this all change if you want to do early decision or early action, specifically early decision. If you do significantly better september and october of senior year than you did you junior year, do colleges look at this and take this seriously if you do ED and only have the first quarter worth of grades. If I didn't do so well junior year, should I just wait for regular decision?</p>

<p>I am a hispanic/first generation student at a top Prep School in New England and I need financial aid to attend a good school, so it is generally a rule of thumb that I shouldn't do ED because I wouldn't be able to weigh financial aid options. My mindset is "apply ED to an Ivy that meets 100% of aid and if I get denied/deferred than I am back to where I was advised and am not really missing out."?</p>

2

<p>Be sure you know what “meets 100% of aid” means. It is one thing to apply ED somewhere that gives a free ride if you come from a family with income below $X and your family income is below $X. It is another thing to find out after applying ED that the school wants to “meet 100% of aid” with huge student loans.</p>

3

<p>I’ll most likely be applying ED to UPENN and if I don’t get in, then hey I’ll join the other majority of people that didnt get into an ivy. Upenn is extremely generous with their financial aid.</p>