What High School Grades Are Most Important When Entering College?

Question

Junior or Senior year grades?

Answer 1

Junior year grades are more important than senior year grades do to the circumstance you should have applied to your colleges before the senior grades are in. Most schools, especially if you choose early action or first round admission, will want to receive the application by August or September of your Senior year. Most likely, you will not even have first term grades for your senior year by that time. The schools you apply to will look at your freshman through junior year grades when determining GPA. However, you will still need to meet all of your high school's requirements to graduate or the college can pull your admission offer. Some may also request a full high school transcript at the end of your senior year to make sure you did not slack off at the end. That said, your admission decision still comes down to your Junior year grades.

Answer 2

I'd say both. While junior year grades can affect your admissibility to the college, don't forget, College classes pick-up where high-school classes left off. If you slack off in senior year, you may have difficult time learning the material. Also, you'd take SAT or other standarized tests in senior year. Those scores are looked at as well.

Answer 3

Junior year. You're applying for colleges at the beginning of your Senior year so the schools are going to be looking at your Junior when deciding whether or not to accept you. Hence the reason Junior year is notoriously the hardest year of high school.

At least this has been my experience w/ high school and college.

Answer 4

Junior year grades. Senior year is the last time you have to improve your grades.

Answer 5

Grades are becoming more ambivalent when colleges look at prospective students. It has been found that many student will receive high grades when actual achievement is not exemplary. In response to this movement, schools will also look at you test scores on the ACT, SAT, and other assessment tools. They will look at your involvement in extra-curricular activities (not just sports). Community service is becoming a large factor with many schools.