<p>O.K. my d is in the comprehensive review process at the Un. of her choice. She just put together the worst semester of her 4 years in high school. This is a large, well respected university on the west coast. In comprehensive review situations will admissions staff check on first semester senior year grades? Would they ask the applicant to send them along or just phone the counselor? Based on past admission history there was little doubt she would be admitted, considering her end of junior year grades. Did she just sink her ship?</p>
<p>I’m not sure what is meant by “comprehensive review” - is that different from the usual admissions process? Colleges do require senior year grades. Most have a form for submitting 1st semester grades, to be sent after the application has been mailed since deadlines usually fall before the end of the first semester. They also want to see 2nd semester grades, as admission is usually granted contingent upon continuing a satisfactory level of performance.</p>
<p>If her worst semester still reflects a strong performance (i.e., an A down to a B-plus in more than one subject, or a steeper slide in just one), I don’t think it would sink the ship. If she’s suddenly become a C student, that could pose big problems unless there’s a compelling reason. Can your d send a note of explanation with her midyear report, or have her counselor do so?</p>
<p>This particular university has no stated policy about senior year grades. Of course the normal “continue to work hard” is out there. No form like you referenced has been provided; nor has any request been made as part of the application process to submit first semester grades. I have asked my d’s counselor to let me know if they are contacted. Thank you for the tip about sending along a letter of explanation if they should check. Actually, I could see the pressure building in my d overtime and she just short circuited during finals week. Overall GPA did not suffer much but the semester GPA was 3 tenths below the Cummulative.</p>