Reply to MCPS transcript questions - what do colleges see?

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[quote=Anonymous]Debated about whether to post this in the College and University Discussion forum but landed here instead since my questions seem to be MCPS-specific.

DC is a high school junior and, with the third quarter closing soon, it's crunch time for grades, with an eye toward shoring up the transcript for college applications in the fall.

Some questions:

- In terms of what colleges see and care about, should DC be focused on final semester grades or full-year course grades? DC's most recent Student Grades and Graduation Credit Report shows only semester grades for each class, for all classes taken so far in high school. No full-year final class grades show up. Perhaps that is because DC is taking all one-semester courses (e.g. Honors Chemistry A the first half of the year and Honors Chemistry B the second half)?

Trying to be strategic about which borderline classes DC should devote more time and energy to in the fourth quarter; if what counts is the final year-long grade then DC has more wiggle room in several classes. If it's the semester grade, then in some classes where DC had a bad third quarter it is more of a long shot for DC to pull up second semester grades with a strong fourth quarter.

- GPA and Weighted GPA are based on the semester grades, correct? How do final year grades enter into it, if at all?

- Is it correct that it remains the case that if a student has an 89.5 percent average for, say, a semester grade, then that semester grade rounds up to 90, which would be an "A"? Or would the 89.5% get marked on the transcript as a "B"?

I hate the hyperfocus on grades but since everything we encounter about the college admissions process suggests that colleges care a lot about GPA and rigor, then it seems sensible for DC to try to be strategic about how to approach fourth quarter work in classes where DC could maintain or reach an A.

TIA!

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