<p>My junior year grades took a steep drop (mostly A's with a B+ or two, to Mostly B+'s and my first C+ ever in Chem Honors). Don't know how I should handle this in the application. Has anyone out there applied and been accepted to a highly selective school with this trend? How did you overcome it in the application process?</p>
<p>I've heard two bits of advice about this:</p>
<p>--if there's an explanation for the drop in grades, provide it
--consider carefully before aplying ED or EA (or seek the advice of the admissions office before doing so); a later application naturally allows the adcom sees a longer track record of improvement in the senior year</p>
<p>is it that much of a big deal, having a downward trend in grades?</p>
<p>Not that big of a deal if it's just one year...I took on a lot of activities junior year and suffered a grade drop (4.0 ---> 3.7) and although it does hurt my application overall, I think that they don't care so much about the drop as they do your overall GPA, especially if you can bring it back up to As senior year.</p>
<p>Now a grade trend like 4.0 --> 3.7 ---> 3.5 definitely wouldn't look good.</p>
<p>But one odd year? Chances are it won't be a big deal.</p>