And Admissions Officers spot this old trick every time. If you can handle the work in honors, Advanced Placement, or other accelerated courses, you should probably be taking at least a few of them. If it is obvious from your transcript that you are taking a lighter load than you can handle, admissions officers at selective colleges are going to wonder about your motivation. Virtually all colleges require your high school to update your transcript with a mid-year grade report in the middle of your senior year. Keep your grades decent or you may really mess up your chances with your top schools.
Many colleges say that class rank is more revealing than simple grade point average.
So, start getting higher grades if you want to move up in the world. They may count it as a C or even a D in calculating your grade point average. They will certainly decide that you were coasting when you took that course. This article was excerpted from College Companion, by Melanie Sponholz, Joseph C. Sponholz, and Eric Owens. Read more Feature stories.