Will Senior Year Grades Condemn Top-tier School Chances?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm applying to top-tier schools and I've had straight A's my whole high school career with 10 AP classes and many honors classes. I have a 33 on my ACT and pretty good scores on SAT II's. I have lots of extracurriculars and over 1000 service hours. I'm Hispanic and I'm 9/335 in my class. I'm getting help for my essays and they're really good. </p>

<p>On to my question... Will getting an 87 in AP Calc AB and an 86 in AP English literature affect my chances for ivy leagues/ top tier schools? My high school is top 50 catholic high schools in the nation and it's very challenging. The teachers for these two classes believe in making their class so hard that you can get a 5 on the AP exam without studying. These teachers are the hardest in my school. Obviously, the admissions officer won't know this. Needless to say, will it look bad to have those two B's my senior year when I've had straight A's my whole high school career? Thanks in advance for your responses!</p>

2

<p>It’s very doubtful 1 or 2 Bs will keep you out of the top schools. However, admission to those schools is contingent on the entire application including ECs, etc.</p>

3

<p>If your hs is truly competitive, good chance it is already on the regional rep’s radar. Adcoms many already know these courses are exceptionally difficult at your school, may know applicants from years past endured the same issue.</p>

<p>You can work around this by having your GC, in his/her letter, note that these classes are especially challenging to all, with some positive comments focused on your performance and/or feedback from the teacher.</p>