value of years

Applying to College
1

<p>Do colleges look at grades for any year of high school more than others? Coming into high school it seemed like many kids believed freshman and maybe even sophomore year was not very important at all compared to junior year as far as grades go. I think they confused courseload for grades. It seems like if you have two average years followed by one stellar year, it is not as good as having three consistently good (below stellar) years. So, do colleges value grades for any certain year of high school more than otehrs, or does it just depend on your courseload?</p>

<p>If it is unclear here's an example:
Student gets mediocre grades (B+/A-) while taking regular classes but scores straight A's in AP and honors classes.</p>

2

<p>A number of colleges do not consider the freshman year grades (examples: Mich and UC's). Most consider all years at least through junior year and will look at improvement from one year to another as a plus although at your most highly selective schools that will not be a huge factor because they expect all high grades (i.e., to them improvement means going from 3.8 UW to 4). Also, having high grades in honors and AP's helps to offset a little lower ones in some others. Finally, for 98% of the colleges an A- or B+ isn't considered "mediocre."</p>