<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>I was just wondering about the effect senior year grades have on admissions at the really selective schools as far as midterm reports go. I've had really good grades throughout high school thus far, all in the A-range, and my class rank (which is locked until the end of the year and will be the same on my midterm report as in my original transcript) is quite high. I completely overloaded on APs this year though, and I'm probably going to have a B+ or two on my midyear report. I know I sound like the typical AP kid who freaks out whenever they get anything less than an A, but I'm wondering if that would seriously affect my chances at admission because I suppose it looks like I'm slacking off. </p>
<p>Thanks :D</p>
<p>hey, im in the same boat as you…and i was panicking too. but upon further reflection, i realized that a.) there is no point in worrying about that which i cant change (a couple B+'s)
b.) i did my best, and that is all i can do c.) im taking more AP’s than last year, so it seems inevitable and perfectly healthy to get a couple of B+'s and the rest A’s and A+'s…colleges should expect that, no matter how highly ranked they are.
so im sure you’re good.</p>
<p>It depends on what else changed. You say you’re taking a bunch of APs and you’re getting a B+, which is new. Is AP new to you too? If you’re course load is almost the same as last year, then yeah, it’s going to look bad. However, if you didn’t take AP last year, and you go from an A- in honors to a B+ in AP, it’s no big deal (well, it could be. Depends on what you mean by “really selective schools.” )</p>
<p>Honestly, a B+ really isn’t all that bad, don’t worry. From here though you have to be careful; you need to maintain/improve on the B+. If they see you start out with a B+ then the whole “oh, they’re new, it just takes some getting used to” will be fine, especially if you keep the B+ or increase it to that A-/A. But if from there it gets shaky and goes to B/B-/etc. it’s going to appear as though you’re slacking.</p>
<p>I’m not new to APs, but I doubled my AP load from three junior year to six senior year. I’m also taking an honors business elective to earn my required business credits, which brings me up to the maximum academic classes allowed at my school. I’m hoping for A-s in those classes just to hold onto my class rank, but it’s just very nerve-wracking to never really have Bs before and then to get them in the year that the first two marking periods really matter.</p>
<p>As for selective schools, I’m applying to Tufts, William and Mary, Columbia (but I’m fairly positive I won’t get in there), Penn (again, yeah right lol) and Northwestern, and then my safeties.</p>