<p>Are senior year grades really a big deal for colleges? Do they look at senior grades with great importance? What if you have had a very strong upward trend?</p>
<p>They are just as important as junior year grades. If you’re applying early, there probably won’t see any of them, but if you apply RD, they will see your 1st semester grades and defintiely take them into account. Upward trends are great and show signs of improvement although if you started too “low” even an upward trend might not save it.</p>
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<p>OK, I’m really curious: how is a student going to have an upward trend if he doesn’t start out with low grades? In whose book does edging up from 3.90 to 3.95 count as an upward trend?</p>
<p>An upward trend is not “great.” Having top grades from the beginning of high school is “great.” An upward trend is, however, a whole lot better than getting off to a lackluster start and maintaining a lackluster performance through high school.</p>
<p>Mastodonian, based on the description of your grades that you gave in your locked thread, I think you need colleges to look at your first-semester grades from senior year. That means it’s probably not a very good idea for you to apply early anywhere. If you apply early, the admissions committee will have to make its decision before they have time to consider those grades, which you hope will be a significant strength in your application. This is pretty much the standard advice for all applicants who are working on–ugh, I am so tired of this phrase–an upward trend.</p>