<p>So junior year for me is about to end, and I have done fairly well (at least I am sure- I don't know my final grades yet). In addition, I always have a knack to challenge myself, and from taking 4 AP's this year, I'm taking 6 (or 7- I still have to finalize my schedule with my guidance counselor, which I haven't been able to do because she's busy) next year. (Okay, I really don't mean to brag, I'm just trying to explain my situation better here..sorry >_<)</p>
<p>The question I ask and always wondered is, would the colleges I apply to see the rigor of my senior year classes? I don't mean mid year reports and final year reports, which are sent to the colleges that you are ACCEPTED into, but a way to let colleges know WHEN I apply to them how my senior year schedule is course-wise.</p>
<p>I know that when I apply to colleges, they will see the rigor of my 9th grade, 10th grade, and 11th grade classes. Apparently I've been told they don't look at senior year GPA or classes (besides mid year/final year reports), but to further advance my transcript, I want the universities to see the courses I'm taking in senior year while I write and submit my application, is there a way to do this?</p>
<p>The reason I inquire this is because a lot of my friends are dropping AP classes next year and want to take regular-level classes as a means to breeze through senior year. I'm one of the few who am pushing myself further, but in the end colleges don't see who decided to slack off and who didn't in senior year? -___-</p>
<p>I heard somewhere that after first quarter of your senior year, you can send your quarter grades to the colleges you want to apply to (and do the same for second quarter). In a sense, that would help your transcript in their eyes- is this true?</p>
<p>Thanks, I've always been curious about this, but never got a direct answer >_<.</p>
<p>I will, but will the colleges I apply to be able to see it in any other way besides mid year reports and final grade reports (which are only sent out to the colleges you are ACCEPTED into?)</p>
<p>yes colleges will see this. When your counselor sends in your evaluation + rec there is a checkbox for course rigor with things like "not challenging, challenging, very challenging, most challenging." they will also see your schedule (assuming the college uses commonapp)</p>
<p>Part of the reason they ask for those mid-year and end-year transcripts is to see whether you followed through during your senior year on the body of work that you developed in earlier years.</p>
<p>As a true story, there was this guy in the AP class I teach this year who signed up for the course. He earned a B first semester, which was a little lower than he got last year in precalculus, but not altogether unexpected. He got accepted into a good university (nothing at the Ivy level, but still very competitive). After slacking in my class for almost all of second semester, he ended up with a D second semester when he graduated a few weeks back. Apparently, this wasn't the only class he did this in. I saw him late last week, as he wanted me to write a letter of recommendation to see if he could get back into the college he was accepted to. Apparently, they dropped him for poor grades second semester that were "inconsistent" with the prior application and essays.</p>
<p>I'd always heard rumors that those kinds of things happened, but I hadn't actually seen such a letter until then.</p>
<p>If you've exhausted what's offered at your school, self-study some AP's.</p>
<p>If you're a really big school and you've exhausted all that's offered, try higher-level courses at your community college. I know some people who took Multivariable and Linear algebra in their junior/senior year.</p>
<p>Don't go "oh, there's nothing left to take in my school. I guess there's nothing I can do now." There's an extra step you can take from here that would show that you have initiative. Take it.</p>
<p>Your friends are quite wrong if they think it's all right to drop the APs in favor of regular classes. That's a red flag for admissions people. One girl recently told me that she plans to drop AP as a senior because she knows that she wants to have a good time her senior year and AP gets in the way. </p>
<p>A teacher friend of mine told me that four or five of her English students were on the brink of failure until the last week of school, because they did not want to work too hard in their second semester. Yes, they do take back an offer of admission at some schools when kids slack off. </p>