Your total GPA and what you do your final senior semester is key to getting accepted and getting to keep that acceptance. In the last few years, seniors were getting lazy after being accepted by their university or college of choice and let their grades slide. Now all acceptances are offered with the proviso that the acceptance will be rescinded should the final senior semester grades turn out to be less than stellar.
Are you talking about high school grades to get admitted, or grades in your classes once you’re there? I’m assuming you mean the latter, and I will say “Yes, they do.” I teach at a college within a private university and I see a lot of students going on academic probation for poor performance. At the same time, my college tends to be very invested in student success, and we try to head off problems before they become bad enough to send students home.In 1992 or so, William Bergquist published “The Four Cultures of the Academy” and identified 4 disparate cultures in higher ed: collegial, managerial, developmental, and negotiating. (http://podnetwork.org/content/up...) It’s been 25 years, and I no longer remember what distinguishes one from the other, but I do remember that many private colleges fell into a category that one could characterize as nurturing. Once you’re in (which may be a challenge), you get the help and support that you need to succeed. Other schools adopt a kind of “sink or swim” model in which your goals are clearly defined and if you don’t hit them, well, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Some schools live for the faculty and research. Some schools see their roles as reinforcing societal norms and expectations. All of these will have a different view of the importance of students’ grades in determining whether they finish a program of study.So, the answer is “it depends,” but overall, I would say that it pays to try to get the best grades you can, where ever you end up.
College: Quarter vs Semester?
A semester consists of 15 weeks of classes. There are two of them per academic year. A quarter consists of 10 weeks of classes. There are THREE of them per academic year (and they count summer term as a fourth quarter). Either way, you'll be in class for a full 30 weeks of the year. Advantages and disadvantages? For reference, I attended a college that used quarters, and now work at a college that used semesters. Quarters start the year later than semesters (usually early September instead of late August). They also let out later than semesters (usually mid June instead of late May). One nice thing I liked about quarters is that you had midterms soon after the class started, so you were forced to pay attention in order to not fall behind. Of course, depending on your study habits, this can become a disadvantage.
Grades and college acceptances?
So somehow last quarter I got through with all a's somehow. But this quarter not looking so good. I have four aps and all four of them I feel I'm in the b zone. And maybe in one I might be in danger of getting a c... But praying i at least got a b. So now I'm really paranoid, will colleges not accept me because they see that my grades have dropped? I plan on getting them up to a's next quarter, even if colleges won't pay attention to them but... All throughout high school I've gotten a's which I feel is even worse for my situation. Will they withhold acceptances when they see my quarter 2 grades? I didn't apply to any ivies but I did apply to semi-selective schools like Boston university and northeastern. I don't think my state schools like umass would hold it against me.... Maybe my sat scores would levitatee a little? Not that they were oarticularly high eother, 1800s thereabout
Senior year grades are absolutely important! In my experience, we always utilized a student's most recent grades at the time of the review - first quarter, first trimester, first semester - as part of the overall academic evaluation. Sometimes in Early application rounds, students may be deferred or wait listed because the admission committee hopes to see an improvement in senior year grades.Also, it's likely that after you enroll in college, the admission committee will conduct a final transcript check after your senior year ends. I've seen cases where acceptances have been rescinded due to a significant drop in grades.Long story short - in order to best advocate for yourself in the admission process as a senior, continue to take your classes seriously, keep up the good work, and avoid senioritis.
Will colleges look at my senior year grades?
Applying to a really good school has a LOT of competition, so remember that. And YES, they will look at your grades and they know there is Senior-itis (slacking off). If the AP course is to hard, know it is a college level class, so you might want to start out at the Community College and then transfer to one of those colleges later. DO get a tutor to help you with the class so your next quarter grade improves. Don't stress out. I know a student who went a full year to a Community College and took classes, before going on to a Private College and she was very happy to have that extra "Prep" year as she saw it. I've had four children go to college and my best advice is first semester only take 12 hours. If you then need to go to summer school, do so, but don't take to much the first semester. One of my son's went four years and took only 12 hours each semester and went to summer school. He kept good grades and had time for other things. Yes, it did cost a little more, but he did well. He finished on time.
There are several reasons why people end up going to a community college. Here are the main ones:It is far cheaper to attend a community college. Even if you end up going to a university, spending a few years at a junior college will significantly lower the cost you end up paying for a bachelors degree since you will probably not be pulling out loans until university.Community college is good for anyone who did not do well in high school. When I graduated with my high school diploma, I was not ready for university level work. Community college can help you start fresh and be able to transfer to a good school for your B.A.Community college is a good choice for older or returning students. If it has been a while since you have been in school, a junior college can help bring you up to speed on the math, writing, science, or whatever that you might need to go to university from there.I would say that these are the biggest reasons why anyone would transfer to a community college. In general, the important take away is that community college is fairly low risk and low commitment. It costs little, if not nothing for most people. It gives you time to think about what university you might want to transfer to, as well as think about what you want to study. While there, you can take as many or as little classes as you want and often have the luxury of going to school very close to your home.
How important are midyear reports to colleges?
Your doing really well...When you apply or have applied i hope you put that tramatic event down. Most colleges are very understanding. Especially if it is something you can not control. I take lots of AP classes as well but get B's in them so i know how tough they can be. Your SAT score is outstanding and that alone can help a lot. Midyear reports are what they mainly look at. They look at your GPA (Semester Grades), SAT or ACT scores, Class Difficulty, Class Rank, Clubs and Sports, and believe it or not community service can help as well. Mainly the first 3 are what most colleges look at. Here is what people got last year to get into Vanderbilt. You can look all of what im looking up at Collegeboard.com. It tells you quite a bit. 16% In-state students 84% Out-of-state students 50% Women 50% Men 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native 8% Asian/Pacific Islander 7% Black/Non-Hispanic 6% Hispanic 53% White/Non-Hispanic 5% Non-Resident Alien 21% Race/ethnicity unreported 84% in top 10th of graduating class 97% in top quarter of graduating class 99% in top half of graduating class 55% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher 24% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74 15% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49 5% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24 1% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99 Vanderbilt is a very good school and as far as I can tell you seem to qualify even if you have 3 b's that means you have a 3.5 or so and that is still in there range but with doing well all your other 3 years you'll have a GPA of like a 3.8 which is really good. I would not sweat it too much. You seem well on your way to where you want to go. Good Luck.
Disclaimer: My answer is intended to address this issue with regard to U.S. colleges. I have no experience with the admissions process of any other nation's colleges.It really depends on what college(s) you plan on applying to. In the case of larger schools (think Ohio State, Indiana University) which are responsible for sorting tens of thousands of applications and putting together a class of 10000-16000 students, they will probably pay much more attention to your cumulative GPA, and ACT/SAT score. These are well understood, quick, and easy metrics, and they have a lot of work to do. Additionally, if you have SAT Subject Test scores, they will probably pay more attention to those. However, if you are applying to a school which receives a smaller volume of applicants, than they will probably look at at your transcript in more detail. Even so, your cumulative GPA and the level of the courses you took in high school are still the most important elements of a transcript from the view of most colleges. Grades senior year are not extremely significant to most colleges. Colleges will mainly look for a continuation of your overall trend. In addition, colleges will not even see you second semester grades (assuming your high school is on semesters) until after you are admitted. If your senior year grade cannot really help your admissions prospects. Poor senior year grade can result in colleges rescinding accepted applicants though.Finally, I have made very general statements that are true from what I have observed, however each college looks at things a little bit differently. More importantly though, while college is important (in my opinion), where you go to school does not determine the kind of person you will be later in life. I got a 2.5 GPA my sophomore year of high school, my parents threatened to kick my out of the house, and I generally felt depressed. In the end though, I feel that my life played out optimally in spite of my 2.5 GPA.