<p>I can’t speak for UVa, but most colleges look for students who stop studying or who get into behavioral or criminal problems in withdrawing an offer of admission. Many colleges will send out a letter asking a student to explain any major drop in grades. The student’s response should be treated seriously.</p>
<p>It is fairly common for As to drop to Bs in the last semester of high school, because there are so many distractions. It is happening right now with my daughter (who is not headed to UVa).</p>
<p>The most important thing is to not let grades slip after you submit an early action application. That is because a high percentage of early action applications are deferred until the spring, and mid-year grades will greatly factor into that admissions decision.</p>
<p>Oh thanks hazelorb in that case I should be safe.
But Charlieschm, what about UVA then? Does it not come in the category of most colleges that you’re referring to</p>
<p>I also wanna know, what happens if you aren’t able to take the courses you want due to classes filling up? Is there anything you can do for that</p>
<p>You just have to pick a different class and take the class you wanted a different semester. There is also a lot of movement in class enrollment the first week of classes so it is possible you could get into the class then.</p>
<p>Madara - I believe what Charlie meant was this is the general guideline universities go by, however we are not official representatives for UVa so he was acknowledging we are only giving advise and opinion here, not policy. They would make their decision on a case by case basis. Someone who has experienced an illness or death in the family might be able to account for uncharacteristic lowered grades. If its plain old senior slump then own up to it, discuss your plan to get back on track, and how you plan to handle the very rigorous academics, and a lot of unstructured free time where you make the choice to study or not, once you get to UVa. </p>
<p>Bottom line, if you have a legitimate concern about your grades being an issue, call the university and talk to admissions. They will tell you if it’s something that needs to be addressed or not. They’d much rather hear from the student directly then get a transcript with grades where they have to contact a student for an explanation.</p>
<p>Madera: From what I am told and read, a student should be able to get into the classes they need each semester to progress in their major. UVa has a very high 4 year graduation rate. For many of the more popular elective classes, a first year student will have to wait until second or third year in order to take them. That is why it is beneficial to get your required classes out of the way, so that you can save your electives until you have a ability to register for a much wider choice of electives in your later years.</p>
<p>Also, some classes that are required by many majors are designed to be taken 2nd year, such as the first two semesters of econ. A first year may be disappointed they have trouble registering for them, but that is the way the system is designed.</p>
<p>I understand that it is helpful to save your non-western required class for later, because the more popular classes don’t have room for first years. Each year that you progress, you will have a much wider range of classes that have openings when you go to register for classes. </p>
<p>Also, I understand that students within some majors may be given preference for classes in their major when they become upperclassmen. That helps make sure students can get the classes they need to graduate on time.</p>