Schools Will My Senior Year Grades Affect College Admission?

[epkid08]

I'm going to be a senior this next fall, and I'm wondering if I'll make it to a university.

First of all, I'm wondering if the grades in my senior year matter at all as far as college admission. I wouldn't see how they make a big difference, as I'm probably going to make applications in the fall(right?).

I've done pretty poor academically as far as grades go; I will probably end up between a 2.2-2.7 GPA, but my school is a well respected college prep school, and it has a much harder grading scale than most high schools.(will they look at this?)

I only took the ACT once so far and I got a 24(better than most of my friends that took classes for it haha!). Anyways, that's slightly above average. I'm wondering, do colleges, look at a broken down score of your ACT, as in the scores of all the categories, math, science, reading, and english, because I achieved a very high score in both math and science, but pretty poor scores in the others.

As far as classes go, I will graduate with an above average amount of credits(if that means anything). The best classes I will have taken are AP Physics, and AP Calculus 2; Other than that, not much.

As far as extra-curricular goes, throughout high school, I've been active in Basketball, Football, and Cross Country. I haven't ever joined a club. I have done a good deal of volunteer work for various places through out high school.

So, do you think I will make it into my state university(or better)? Also, post tips on how I can improve my chances

 

[PowerIso]

You can probably do it, depends from school to school though.

However, if worst comes to worst, community colleges are a good backup to have.

 

[LtStorm]

Community colleges are a good way to slip into university under the radar, in a way.

I came out of high school with a 1.9 GPA and a 29 on the ACT, mostly because I went through the whole apathetic teenager phase and never put any effort into my classes, but would've been able to do so if I'd tried. So, since I couldn't get into university with that directly, I went to the local community college for two years.

Any ACT score over 20-22 is usually enough to get you a scholarship of some kind in community college, so that makes an already cheap stint in it even cheaper. There are also chances from community colleges like the one I had. The honor society there, Phi Theta Kappa, offered a full scholarship to a nearby university for anyone that could maintain a 3.7 GPA or higher at the community college.

So, I got into a local university with my tuition paid, cutting in half the costs of me being there. Though, my situation was a financial one on top of an academic one, so if money isn't constraining you, that does make things a bit easier.

Really, what I'm saying is that from my experience universities will put a lot less focus on what you've done in high school and look more at what you've done in college up to that point if you transfer in from a community college. Which can be a boon if you did mediocre in high school.

And that should be enough to get you in the door of a state university, unless it's an exceptionally prestigious one.

And as for the ACT; I don't know if all colleges do it the way the one I started at did, but they determined what classes you started out in based on your ACT sub-field scores.

So a score of below 15 in Reading meant you had to take a Study Skills course, and a score of 15-19 in English started you out in Introduction to English Comp, 15-19 in math started you out in Beginner Algebra, etc. I think 24 was the upper register for their courses, and started you at the highest levels, just English Literature and English Composition, College Algebra, and such. So unless your composite score was skewed by one really high sub-score, you should be set to start at a run with classes.

Also, unfortunately, the community college I went to didn't do science courses in the same way. I was on my own for that, but if you're interested in science, don't take anything below General Chemistry and such, meaning avoid science courses with 'A Survey of' or 'An Introduction to' or 'for the Life Sciences' in the names.

 

[Howers]

What matters I would imagine is how well you do relative to others, which should be apparent from the class average.

 

[mathwonk]

SOME college or uni WILL take you. after that it depends on how you do.

 

[zoner7]

Yea. You can get into a college easily. there are people whose credentials are much worse who still are accepted into schools. My recommendation is to work your *** off freshman year, do well (I mean A's because this won't be a challenge at the university your current grades will get you into) and then transfer to a better school that will better suit your needs.

 

[JoeTrumpet]

You can get in, just be realistic about the whole thing. I'd like to add to what everyone else said that your senior year will matter to some extent: some schools ask for a mid-year report, and all will ask for a final transcript after you're accepted and graduate. Be aware that they can rescind your admission if you perform quite poorly during your senior year, though this doesn't tend to be common unless you start failing classes or scoring many Ds. Stick with a C-average (or higher!) your senior year to be sure.

Your junior year, however, will be the last full year they see before they make their initial accept/deny option, so it does carry the most weight. You didn't mention if your grades had an upward or downward (or constant) trend: I'll assume your grades were fairly constant throughout high school, which would be fine; however, if that 2.2-2.7 comes from doing remarkably well freshman year and quite poorly later on, that's not a good sign.

You will definitely get into some schools.

 

[ks_physicist]

I know one woman who was a couple of years ahead of me in high school who was admitted to a prestigious university early in her Senior year. She slacked off, quite badly. Since the offer is based on your preliminary transcripts and the projections of where you will be when you graduate, such an offer is probably not binding if you do not continue to perform as well or better as you had in the past. Her offer was rescinded.

You can not assume that just because you are admitted that you are going there regardless of your academic performance. Slack off, and you will lose scholarship opportunities, you may lose favor with professors with whom you hoped to do research, or you may lose your admitted status altogether.