Grades for Junior Year.

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
1

Hi,

I’m currently a Junior in high school. I’m taking three AP classes this year and I don’t feel like they have been going as well as they should. I’ve missed a lot of school days because I stay up too late doing homework. I try to go to school more but I’m afraid that if I don’t spend as much time studying my grades are going to crash. What type of grades do I have to get to be considered as competent for a good college? Do they all have to be in the A/A- range?

Thanks,
Krissy

2

It really depends on what you consider a ‘good’ college.

3

I don’t feel that any number of AP classes is hard enough where you have to consistently miss school because you are staying up too late doing homework unless you are taking 5+ at a time, and even then, MAYBE once in a while. Perhaps you should examine your time management. And yes, it depends on what you call a “good” college. Ivy League? Definitely need almost perfect GPA. Lower end of top 30, 40, 50? Probably not too detrimental to get a few Bs here and there, depending on the major, the AP class, and the rest of your workload.

4

An Ivy league has a holistic view on admissions, so again, it’s really hard to tell. No, you don’'t need an almost perfect GPA. I’ve seen students with Bs and even one C get into schools like Stanford and Yale, but it also won’t hurt to have the best GPA. If your GPA isn’t outstanding, then other areas better be, because those schools aren’t going to accept an average student.

Also, yes, you need to try to time manage more. It’s questionable how only 3 AP classes are forcing you to skip school. I am taking four, one of which includes AP Chem, and one Honors, and I haven’t missed school much. It’s all about making use of ALL of your time. If you have any time during the day at school, use it to finish some work.

Best of luck.

5

Thanks so much. I’m trying to get better at attendance, though is it possible that my past absences has already messed up my chances?
Also, a large part of the reason why three APs is hard to handle is because extracurriculars is taking up a lot of my time. But I can’t really drop them because I heard colleges don’t like people who “only get A’s,” even with 8+ APs on the record. To what extent is that true?

Thanks again,
Krissy

6

Your grades come first.

7

I agree with @awesomepolyglot, your grades come first, if your grades are suffering because of your ECs, you need to drop some ECs because GPA matters more than your ECs (unless you’re being recruited).

8

Okay, thanks.