<p>So I hear many things about colleges....
They like to see upward trends in grades
It's better to get a B in an AP than an A in a regular class
Junior year is the most important year
Etc...</p>
<p>Well, I'm a junior now and I overloaded on AP classes. I took 6 this year and my grade suffered as a result. I used to be an all-A student.. Well first semester of junior year, I got 2 Bs (one in AP eng and AP US). Second semester I got 4 Bs (in APES, AP Stats, AP English, and AP US). </p>
<p>So there is clearly a downward trend. But those B's were in AP classes. Otherwise I have a decent gpa (3.8 UW, 4.6 W). How much will colleges frown upon this?
And, yes, I know this isn't a big deal, nor will it stop me from getting into Ivy leagues. I'm not those types of people who freak out over bad grades. But I'm just curious, what do colleges make of this grade performance? Good, bad, neutral? </p>
<p>I know grades are still important, but I, believe or not, love the challenge even if it means getting couple of B's. I never learned so much in school before and I honestly love it. Should I take as many AP classes next year as a senior even if it means possibly getting more B's?</p>
<p>I am sorry to say this, but actually, 4 B’s in your junior year probably does make you uncompetitive for the Ivies and their peers.</p>
<p>Unless you bungle your college search and applications horribly, it’s likely you’ll still have lots of good options after high school. But probably not those options.</p>
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<p>With these grades your Ivy or other top-school chances are extremely dented unless you’re a URM. What’s your SAT? Taking 6 classes at once is usually a bad idea and leads to the result you experienced.</p>
<p>Think of it this way, there are enough applicants in Harvard’s pool to fill their class probably twice with kids who got A’s in those courses instead of B’s. 6B’s your junior year probably isn’t going to get you into an Ivy, sorry to say. </p>
<p>But the fact you’re getting consistent B’s in college level coursework means you’re going to still have great options for school.</p>
<p>Disagreed with all the above posters, you still have a shot at the Ivy League. Better snag some A’s next semester though.</p>
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<p>Based on what exactly?</p>
<p>You honestly believe no one gets into the Ivy League with a 3.8GPA?</p>
<p>I know everyone likes to elevate the Ivy League to some unreachable pedestal but they admit 23,000 kids every year and they don’t all have 4.0s. They certainly could admit 23,000 4.0’s but they choose not to.</p>
<p>It is better to get A grades in whatever the most rigorous courses at your high school are.</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure how OP has that GPA with 6 B’s Junior year.</p>
<p>I wonder whether that’s the OP’s weighted gpa.</p>
<p>Pancaked, what I honestly think is that with the rare and well known exception of truly elite secondary schools (e.g., Andover, Bronx Science) that send many graduates per year to first-rate colleges, it’s the top few achievers in the class who are viable candidates for Ivies and their peers. Unless they’re hooked. I have my doubts that 6 B’s junior year (I miscounted earlier) will qualify jdroid for the “top few achievers” distinction. I also think that with mostly B’s, jdroid will have trouble getting the kind of glowing teacher recommendations that successful Ivy-equivalent applicants have.</p>
<p>If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But I’ll also be quite surprised.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean jdroid won’t have lots of great college options. I think he or she will have them (and deserve them). Just, probably not Columbia, Stanford, MIT, etc.</p>
<p>First, those 2 B’s in first semester are repeated in second semester, so there are not 6 B’s as final grades on the transcript. Second, I don’t know the OP’s school’s policy, but many schools only post the final grade on the transcript, not quarter or semester grades. The only semester grades from those schools seen by colleges would be first semester Senior year. It looks like OP got a B for both semesters of AP US History, and AP English, as well as in AP ES and AP Stats (are they semester classes, or year-long?)</p>
<p>The Ivies do take students with less than a 4.0, and they don’t have to be hooked. Further, they would rather see them in an AP class over a regular HS level class. </p>
<p>OP - were the AP English and AP US each taught as 2 separate credit classes, as part of a block plan, or were they each a single class - were there 2 additional AP classes? Were the other 2 single semester classes? </p>
<p>I don’t think these grades will hurt you too much - yes, there is a downward trend, but only because you took harder classes. If they had been C’s I would worry. This simply indicates that you are not necessarily the #1 student in your class - doesn’t mean you couldn’t cut it at an Ivy League school.</p>
<p>That’s a good point. We don’t actually know what the transcript will show. Jdroid, school transcripts don’t all look alike, but if you don’t know what grades your school reports on official transcripts (only final course grades? semester grades and course grades? exam grades, or not?), you can ask your guidance counselor.</p>
<p>The recommendation thing could still be an issue, though, since it seems unlikely that jdroid has been running roughshod over those classes.</p>
<p>@LakeClouds I didn’t take the SAT’s nor the ACT’s. I’m going to be taking the ACT’s in June. But I’ve been getting around 33 (+/- 1) on the practice ACT’s.</p>
<p>@Etuck24 I took extra classes at my local CC (dual enrollment) and through internet courses (FLVS). So my GPA is more resistant to dropping even with several B’s. </p>
<p>@CTScoutmom Yes those two classes were taught as 2 separate credit classes. Our school doesn’t do block scheduling so each classes is split into two semesters. So my other 6 AP classes were each 2 semesters long. </p>
<p>@Sikorsky I’m almost positive that my school shows only semester grades. No quarter or exam grades. </p>
<p>And recommendations won’t be an issue. I received an A in both semesters for both teachers I’ll be asking recommendations for. My GC also really respects my choice for taking a lot of AP classes even though I got a few B’s. She’ll write a better than average recommendation. </p>
<p>And do colleges weight sophomore grades as importantly as junior year grades? Honestly, I had a tougher schedule sophomore year than I do now but I still had all A’s then, but 4 AP’s vs. 6 this year.</p>
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Huh? I don’t know of any school that only posts year grades, and not semester grades. Every school posts semester grades on transcripts, or at least the vast majority.</p>
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This is true, but not far below 4.0.</p>
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You’re being overly generous … B students don’t get into Ivy League schools. Only A students do. Not only would the OP not be the #1 student in his class with so many Bs, he would probably fall out of the top 10%.</p>
<p>@OP: Sorry to sound harsh, but 6 B’s is pretty bad for the Ivy League. What is your GPA? Your first post says 3.8, but implies that excludes the current semester (“Otherwise…”). What would your GPA be after this semester? A more important question, actually, would be what your class rank is. And if your school doesn’t rank, are you among one of the smartest kids in your school, or are there a good number of straight-A AP students?</p>
<p>Don’t think you’re the only kid who’s taking this many APs and applying to Ivies. There are others who are doing the same and getting straight As as well.</p>
<p>Are you black? Being black makes it soooo much easier (so does Hispanic, but blacks have lower grades and scores in general so you’d add diversity and fill their soft quotas)</p>
<p>Invasion, my kids public high school puts only final course grades–not semester grades and not exam grades–on official transcripts. Every public school in the county-wide system does it this way.</p>
<p>I was surprised when I learned this, too, but it emphasized for me that it’s not a reliable strategy to generalize from my family’s experience.</p>
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<p>Jon says this repeatedly. I believe that Jon consistently underestimates the number of academically talented black applicants there are every year. And that is a much more charitable explanation for Jon’s repeated unsupported assertions than any other theory I have been able to come up with.</p>
<p>@Invasion Sorry for the confusing wording. I meant that with the current semester factored in, I have a 3.8 UW. But since my school calculates class rank based on Weighted GPA, I’m 5/400ish. So I’m still in the top 10%.</p>