importance of senior year grades?

Applying to College
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i was wondering how important senior year grades are in the college admissions process. im asking because i have an extremely difficult math teacher this term, and math isn’t my forte to begin with, so im expecting a 75 in his class (ab calculus). how will this affect my chances of getting into liberal arts schools like vassar, bryn mawr, mount holyoke and oberlin, considering that everything else this term will be 93+? thanks in advance.

some more info:

my other math grades are as follows:
8th grade (advanced): 92
freshman yr: 85—> 93
sophomore yr: 90----> 93
junior yr: 85—> 80

stats: asian female, 1st generation college student
1420 sat: 670 math, 730 verbal
sat iis: math level 1c: 670
writing: 770
bio: 620
world hist: 670

92.78 avg, top 10% in class of 800, at brooklyn technical high school, one of nyc’s specialized science high schools

ap classes- senior yr: gov’t, ,spanish lit, ab calc, american hist.
sophomore yr: world hist

extracurriculars- school newspaper, grades 10, 11, 12 editor
school chorus, grades 9, 10
science lab squad, grades 9, 10
community service honor society, grade 12
volunteer at hospital, grades 10, 11, 12, 300+ hrs.

summers- journalism program at columbia, grade 12
advertising design class at fashion institute of technology, grade 11
independent social science research study, grade 11
summer law classes in washington dc, grade 10

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<p>92.78 avg, top 10% in class of 800, at brooklyn technical high school, one of nyc’s specialized science high schools</p>

<p>IMPRESSIVE!</p>

<p>I’m sure you can get into those schools; it’s merely just one grade out of an impressive record. And everyone has heard of that school (:</p>

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<p>i haven’t heard about that school</p>

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<p>Your senior year grades are very important as it si going to show that you can still take the most rigerous curriculum available and still get stellar grades. In addition, your senior grades are going to tell the school if you are still on an upward trend.</p>

<p>(Since Brooklyn Tech gives a TON of AP courses, I am suprised that you have not listed AP English, or any of the science classes -maybe you took them in advance)</p>

<p>First of all, your 8 grade scores are not going to be calculated into your h.s. transcrip t(it will just show credit you received in J.H.S. Example: spanish, math, earth science)</p>

<p>Your overall GPA is going to be reflective of your 4 years at high school. While there are a few schools that are not going to ding you for your freshman grades, they will still want to see an upward trend. Since the NYS regents scores will most likely be on your transcript, they will probably be looked at.</p>

<p>Just based on the information you have given, </p>

<p>85+93+90+92+85+80 =526</p>

<p>526/6 = 87.66</p>

<p>Even if you took out your freshman grades</p>

<p>90+92+85+80 =348</p>

<p>348/4 =87</p>

<p>Maybe I am missing something.</p>

<p>As a former Brooklyn Tech grad my self, I really find it hard to believe that a 92.78 is placing you in the top 10%.</p>

<p>Anywhoo,</p>

<p>All the best to you</p>

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<p>I’d hate to bash, but there is no way a 92 will place you in top 10%. Top 10% of 800 students consists of 80 students. I’m almost positive that more than 80 students out of 800 would have a higher grade than 92, thus placing you out of the 10% mark. In addition, if math isn’t your forte, why’d you take AP? Sure a challenge is nice, but it doesn’t make sence to take AP calc instead of taking a more challenging course in another subject. Not to mention the fact that you’re at a technical high school…which usually implies that it is geared towards math/science…why didn’t you go to a good public school or something–could spend the money on college tuitions now that they’re extremely high instead of wasting the money on HS…why spend more for something you can get for free? Unless the public schools are crap in your area, I don’t know. You don’t have to answer that question.</p>

<p>Regardless, I would see what you could do about getting extra help to pull up the 75. Personally, I don’t see where the problem is since it is such an easy class, but that’s just me. If you can’t pull it up, then I doubt a liberal arts college will really reject you for something like that–especially since from everything else you tell us, it looks like you’re a great student. (Unless it’s an ivy). Also, it’s just one class in your senior year. COlleges tend to look at the overall trend from year to year (they understand that you can have a bad teacher/difficulty in one or two courses) --what you do not want to have happen is either your grades slipping in other courses because you’re trying to pull up the math; or all your grades slipping. They like to see that you’re still doing well overall.</p>

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<p>A Public school in NYC, Brooklyn Tech is a Specialized High School ( along with Stuyvesant and Bronx Science) where you must take an entrance exam for admissions.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bths.edu/[/url]”>http://www.bths.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>oh, brooklyn tech is public? then i take back what I said in my previous post. I also have not heard of brooklyn tech, so I assumed it was private HS–esp. since it’s not everyday you hear of a technical HS that is public.</p>

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<p>Seriously guys, senior grades do not mean a thing.</p>

<p>EDIT: Says all the coaches I talked to ;)</p>

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<p>thanks for all your replies.</p>

<p>the cutoff for the top decile this year is 92.7. this may sound like im making an excuse, (i swear im not- i admit that my average is most probably at the bottom of the top decile), but the rigorous environment at tech can have a negative impact on people’s averages. the cutoff seems low, but the highest average out of 800 people is only a 96.4. that number is probably low compared to the top rankings at other schools.</p>

<p>sybbie719:

  1. when did you graduate?
  2. brooklyn tech does offer a lot of ap courses, but students are also mandated to choose majors, which take up 3 classes per day. some of the required classes are ap courses, depending on the major, but others aren’t, thus compromising the number of aps a person can have. you’re right though; i opted to take less aps than i could have taken.</p>
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<p>1420 sat: 670 math, 730 verbal …umm not to make you feel bad, but 670+ 730 is 1400…not 1420…but still …a good score…</p>

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<p>how does a 670 math and 730 verbal add to 1430</p>

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<p>Math,</p>

<p>It has been a while as I was in the 3rd class of girls admitted to Tech in the 70’s. I have a neice who graduated in 2001, and one of my daughter’s good friends graduated last year another is a senior this year.</p>

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<p>oh sorry, i meant 690. i confused my math section score with my math sat ii score. yea, that was just a coincidence. my math skills arent THAT bad.</p>