<p>I'm taking 4 APs this year (stat, spanish, euro history, chemistry) and nearly all of my classes this year is a lot harder than those last year. One class I don't think I'm doing well in is spanish. Last year I took honors spanish, and I got all As on all the assignments (except for one quiz)... However, AP spanish is so much harder and is really comprehensive... The teacher is a really hard grader and expects you to know everything... For example, I got a 6/9 on some composition and also a 6/9 on a writing thing that she didn't even announce she was grading it (it was a question we did in the last 3 minutes of the class and she didn't say she would be formally grading it)... She does not use numerical grades (she doesn't physically divide 6 by 9)</p>
<p>However, I got a 7.5/8 on the summer reading quiz and an 87 on a quiz... However it just seems I'm really one of the weaker students in that class (the other students seemed to have more experience with spanish because a lot of them took a spanish literature course last year)... I really can't withdraw from the class at this point...</p>
<p>How much do senior grades matter? If I do badly (B) in this class, will it shatter my chances at ivies? (I've gotten straight As for the past three years of high school)... I've worked my butt off during high school and I really don't want my chances ruined b/c of this class...</p>
<p>Senior grades matter, but a B will not shatter your chances at the Ivies either.</p>
<p>When I went to an information weekend at Barnard College, the dean of admissions discussed how they evaluate senior year grades in the context of courses taken. She said that the commitee understood that many students take difficult classes senior year, esspecially since some high schools only offer the most challenging AP's to seniors. If you were consecutively getting A's in honors classes, and now your grades decrease slightly, I think (and hope) that the adcoms will understand that you are going beyong to challenege yourself even more. I think that if you took all easy classes and began to just slack off, then it would be a different story. But if a stellar straight A student gets one or two b's in a rigorous AP laden schedule, then I think it says something different. </p>
<p>Does this sound reasonable?</p>
<p>crap, AP chem is so ****ing difficult as well....</p>
<p>Do first semester senior grades factor into admissions process or is it just to maintain admittance?</p>
<p>First semester senior grades matter just as much, if not even more than the rest of the semesters. They definitely do factor them in into admissions decisions, especially at ivy league calibur institutions. 2nd semester, on the other hand, does not matter nearly as much; just try to avoid Ds and Fs, and get decent grades.</p>
<p>
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First semester senior grades matter just as much, if not even more than the rest of the semesters.
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I hope the mediocre (Bs) grades in some classes will be compensated by their advanced level (AP)... AP Spanish is like a ****ing third year college course while my course last year was more like a freshman/sophomore high school course!</p>
<p>Look, you don't have to keep bumping, calm down. You are not going to be rejected because you got a B your senior year. I seriously doubt you are going to be rejected because you got two Bs.</p>
<p>Take it from someone who has been there they matter a lot. Try to keep up your grades up. A single B will not finish you but if it is between you and someone else with similar stats it could get tricky. Also depends on what the school is looking for if you have some unusual talents or an interesting extracurricular (I mean unusual ) it would not automatically count you out. When I was visiting schools one of the admissions rep (top 10 universities) told me that they look at what grades you are getting in the AP and IB classes because it gives them an indication of how you will perform when you take tough courses in college. Also if you have not taken any tough courses it will not count against you. So if your friends have taken AP environmental science or AP photography and have gotten A's while you have taken AP chemistry and AP physics and gotten a B watch out they (your friends) may be admitted over you. A person from my school got into MIT without having taken any physics in high school at all. Also some students who got into pretty good universities from my school took easy IB's while others who took the toughest IB's with a few B's had a hard time getting into the top 10 universities. But then each case is different so good luck and work hard.</p>
<p>Alan chill the **** out. I got a B in AP Spanish as a final grade. A B in AP Spanish will not make or break your application.</p>
<p>However, those teacher recs may.</p>