<p>So I've had extremely difficult classes 1st semester Junior year, and I'll manage to pull out a 3.25 with all honors and two AP's. A 3.55ish weighted... Next semester I should quite literally get much better... Will admissions give me any credit for having a mediocre 1st semester and a outstanding 2nd semester?</p>
<p>They will appreciate seeing an improvement.</p>
<p>What does your school’s transcripts show? </p>
<p>My kids’ school’s transcript only shows a “year end” grade for each class. Other schools show a fall semester grade and a spring semester grade. </p>
<p>What does your show?</p>
<p>What schools will you be applying to?</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat as the OP. It looks like my Econ grade isn’t going to be changed, so I’m stuck at a 3.33 UW first semester junior year with 4 AP classes, a foreign language class beyond AP level, and an honors class. I also attend a very rigorous small private school (~85 kids per grade, 100% go to 4-year colleges, 20% of Classes of '09 and '10 were NMSF’s), and might be looking at some Ivies come senior year. </p>
<p>My transcript lists the first semester grades, the second semester grades, and then a year-end grade for every year-long course. (Since my Econ class is only one semester long, the B+ I received from it will remain :() Our GPA is calculated based on the year-end grades and semester grades in the case of semester-long courses. I’ve heard that as long as my final grades are good, I’ll be fine since colleges will use only those to recalculate my GPA. </p>
<p>I also might mention the causes of the blip in my transcript since my previous two years were pretty solid: I actually moved halfway around the world to where I’m living right now, without my parents. I’m currently staying with my aunt and uncle. Of course, this was a huge change for me, and now that I think about it, it had a negative impact on my academic performance since I was totally new and didn’t know anything about the school/kids/teachers. I’ve adjusted now, though. </p>
<p>Wondering how adcoms will feel about this…</p>
<p>What does your school’s transcripts show? </p>
<p>First and Second Semester Schedule grades.</p>
<p>It will have AP Lit, Accel Chem, Spanish III, AP Gov, Band, Precalc. I’m not planning on applying to outstanding schools. I really wanted to go to American U. GWU maybe… But probably not at this point. I’m real borderline. There will be a definite increase for 2nd semester though…</p>
<p>*I really wanted to go to American U. GWU maybe… But probably not at this point. I’m real borderline. There will be a definite increase for 2nd semester though… *</p>
<p>Don’t lose hope. Those schools don’t only take kids with perfect grades. You still can have them as reach/matches. Even if you didn’t have this little hiccup, you’d still need to apply to an array of reaches, matches, and financial safeties anyway. :)</p>
<p>What are your SAT and ACT scores?</p>
<p>*I also might mention the causes of the blip in my transcript since my previous two years were pretty solid: I actually moved halfway around the world to where I’m living right now, without my parents. I’m currently staying with my aunt and uncle. Of course, this was a huge change for me, and now that I think about it, it had a negative impact on my academic performance since I was totally new and didn’t know anything about the school/kids/teachers. I’ve adjusted now, though. </p>
<p>Wondering how adcoms will feel about this… *</p>
<p>I’m sure Adcoms will see that you changed schools and countries and understand that there was a blip.</p>
<p>Where will you be applying? What are your stats? Are you American?</p>
<p>“What are your SAT and ACT scores?”</p>
<p>Thanks for that advice. My ACT is 26 with writing. Not planning on taking SAT unless I feel really moved soon, but I took SAT Am History and got a 720</p>
<p>Your 26 ACT is in the 84th percentile. Low for GWU - see below. You’re towards the bottom of the mid 50 range. Not a good place to be. </p>
<p>You need to retake the ACT and do take the SAT. </p>
<p>Your 720 Subject SAT in US History is the 82th percentile.<br>
<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/SAT-Subject-Test-Percentile-Ranks-2009.pdf[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board;
<p>GWU
Test Scores Middle 50% of First-Year Students
SAT Critical Reading: 590 - 680
SAT Math: 600 - 690
SAT Writing: 600 - 690<br>
ACT Composite: 25 - 30</p>
<p>Yeah i would suggest taking the SAT. I believe east coast schools prefer SAT? Not too sure about that but, hey if it doesn’t work out for you, then just turn in your sat sub and ACT</p>
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<p>Applying: Unsure, but I know I’m definitely going to be applying to McGill University in Canada since I’m a Canadian citizen. I’ve heard that UCLA isn’t so bad in terms of cost for out-of-staters, and I really like Los Angeles, so I’m seriously considering it as well. Throw one or two Ivies up on the list… Harvard? Yale? I’m still not sure at this point.</p>
<p>Stats: 3.8 UW GPA grades 9-10 with toughest courses available, academic UW GPA 3.77 grades 9-10. 2120 sophomore SAT (690 CR, 700 M, 730 W). PSAT score qualifies for NMSF. SAT II’s: 760 Math Level II, 740 French (currently getting rescored though), 720 Literature. </p>
<p>I consider myself pretty solid academically. I’m just worried that this blip first semester of junior year is going to severely affect my chances, because if you look at my semester grades in academic courses thus far (my previous HS didn’t have year-end grades), this is what they look like:</p>
<p>9th grade:
English 9 - B+/B
Western Civilization - A/A
Molecular Biology Honors - A-/A
Geometry - A/A
Algebra II/Trig Honors - A/A
Spanish III - A/A</p>
<p>10th grade:
English 10 - A/A
History of Japan & China - A-/A-
Accelerated Chemistry Honors - B-/B-
Pre-Calculus Honors - A/B (was hospitalized second semester; might explain this too)
AP Spanish Language - A/A+</p>
<p>11th grade (so far, with only semester 1 grades):
AP English Language - A-
AP US History - B
AP Macroeconomics - B+
AP Calculus AB - B+
Spanish V Literature - A
Honors Physics - B</p>
<p>Yeah… quite a discrepancy :/</p>
<p>Fledgling –</p>
<p>You’ve hijacked this thread :-)</p>
<p>It’s a disservice to OP, and impolite of you. I encourage you to withdraw your posts, and resubmit you questions as a separate thread.</p>
<p>In all honesty, a drop in grades junior year will make top colleges unlikely without a major hook. Here is a post by Michele Hernandez, who was an adcom at Dartmouth and is among the Country’s top college advisors:</p>
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<p>The problem is junior year is when most high schools step up the rigor. Many kids have grade drops when this happens. </p>
<p>At less competitive colleges, a drop one term and then a recovery isn’t as problematic.</p>
<p>Fledging, UCLA as an OOS student is currently $50K/yr and going up steadily. It can also be hard to graduate in 4 years making it potentially more expensive than any private.</p>
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<p>First off, I sincerely apologize if it came across that way. I just decided to post here since my question was virtually the same as the OP’s (and I stated that clearly at the beginning of my post), and since hmom5’s reply answered our question, I don’t see any reason why it would be a “disservice” to them.</p>