this year i took five ap classes, which is the maximum amount that i can take. i know there is no way i can bring my grade to even an a- in ap english or ap world history, so i will have to have two b+'s on my transcript for regular decision applications. the rest will be either a’s or a-'s. in previous years i have only had two b+'s, one each in freshman and sophomore year and straight a’s junior year. will these two b’s hurt my chances at schools like johns hopkins, rice, vanderbilt, and amherst? should i bother applying?
Colleges don’t expect perfection. Your culm GPA will be impressive. If the rest of your app is strong, there’s no reason not to apply. Might you be denied? Sure. But you know that going in. Two B+s won’t sink your ship.
My kid got into Amherst with a couple of B, B+ grades. They were in tough courses. Her GPA was still high. No, I wouldn’t “not bother applying”.
Then you are not helping yourself. It will really depend on how you stack up against the RD apps vs. the ED ones.