Alex2329

Is it true or not that Princeton does not look at Freshman/8th grade year grades?

If yes, than does Princeton consider senior year grades equally as sophomore and junior grades?

collegehopeful78

I think so. I mean if your freshman grades totally stink like Below a an 85 or soemthing it could hurt. But I guess as long as they were decent you should be fine. Positive grades can only work in your favor.

The Princeton representative at the college fair I went to said senior year grades are the most significant.

Cibbir H.

Princeton does not look at your middle school or freshman year grades, period. Your junior year is the most important year. You should also work hard during your senior year, but if you apply early (which is no longer possible at Princeton, but it is at other colleges) then a college will only see your mid-semester grades, while if you apply regular decision then your first semester will be complete but of course not your second semester.

angelutza

Unlucky me! I had a maximum grade in my freshman and sophomore year, but I've screwed up a little this year, as a junior. However, in my junior year, I got involved in some more ECs and that's why my grades aren't perfect anymore. Will this be taken into account?

posterX

Probably not so much - grades are very important. However, they aren't everything.

Weasel8488

Yeah I doubt they cross reference EC dates with grade fluctuations. Seems like overkill.

Alex2329

but they first go thru a filter system. If they don't like your GPA, then they won't even look at anything else.


Do any otehr Ivy's not look at middle/frehsman year grades?

j07

According to every book I've ever read and every admissions rep, schools like HYP don't have a "filter system." If your GPA is a 1.0, perhaps, but it's not like they set a cut-off and just throw away all the applications that don't fit the standard. I truly believe that they actually look at your application as a whole (maybe just a skim-through, but still) before they discard it, if they unfortunately decide to do so.

As for whomever asked about GPA fluctuating with a build-up of extracurriculars...I think they MIGHT be mildly sympathetic to that. For example, fall semester of my junior year, I was serving as student body VP, VP of another organization, swimming thirty hours a week for the varsity team, taking 6 IB/AP diploma courses, serving as the co-President of an organization outside of school, and on top of all that (I know that all those things don't sound so awful), I was working six nights a week at an exhausting job at a restaurant. My grades didn't slip hugely, but all of my activities definitely contributed to a little decline. My GC and teachers, thankfully, helped me out by describing in their letters of rec how much I was involved with. I think my GC might have mentioned that I was slipping some in calculus because I had missed so many classes for swim meets, and I think that that helped me.

Sorry that post was so long-winded. Basically, don't think you don't have a chance because of your GPA. Don't freak out if your freshman grades are higher - many people's are because the courses are much easier and you are involved with less activities as a freshman. There isn't really a GPA filter system. Just try...that's all you can do.

Weasel8488

I think the point to be taken is that it is up to you and your GC to explain a drop in grades.

Cibbir H.

Just say it was because you moved - you changed altitudes, and hence your grades are lower as well.