Do they actually look at this for college?
 

I remember reading online a lot of stuff about how, so long as you weren't flat out stupid at the time, colleges don't really look at your middle school gpa. I've been seeing many things about this and it doesn't really give a straightforward answer. So can somebody tell me if they actually pay attention to middle school GPA?


And before anyone says it, I have a 4.0 and I study hard, so don't go "doesn't matter, just keep your grades up" and all that. I just want to know if they look at it.

No, high schools look at your GPA, and colleges look at your high school grades + what high school you're attended (giving you more credit if your high school is more competitive) + your SATs and whatever that other test is that people do on the other side of the country. ACT?




X

I'm not familiar with the American system, but I'm pretty sure they won't look at middle school marks. How you did when you were 13 years old doesn't matter to a college.

What you do in middle school amounts to nothing. It is a waste of time aside from learning basic skills for high school. The only reason to get As over Ds is basically to get into honors and/or ap/ib etc classes in hs. You can take normal classes your freshman year then take all those next year, but don't expect your teachers to sign u up for honors etc if you scrubbed middle school. But anyways I don't recommend those as a freshman.

All in all I wouldn't really work much in middle. Straight Cs and what not are fine.

---------- Post added March 9th, 2011 at 01:18 PM ----------

What you do in middle school amounts to nothing. It is a waste of time aside from learning basic skills for high school. The only reason to get As over Ds is basically to get into honors and/or ap/ib etc classes in hs. You can take normal classes your freshman year then take all those next year, but don't expect your teachers to sign u up for honors etc if you scrubbed middle school. But anyways I don't recommend those as a freshman.

All in all I wouldn't really work much in middle. Straight Cs and what not are fine.

Colleges look at all of the following

CAHSEE (If you live in California)
SAT
ACT
# of AP's
Extra Curricular Activities
How rigorous your schedules were

They will also look at what you do over the summers. I remember during my interviews that some of the schools were impressed with my engineering internship that I had for two weeks (just to see how it was). It shows that you continue your hobbies/interests. Your grades/scores will determine if you're acceptable for college, your extra stuff will determine if the school wants you as a student or not.

Lot's of colleges are being tolerant to low SAT scores to the point where they barely matter, however they are still important to take and you should just so they have something to look at. They love Extra curricular activities and in your interviews you have to show that you have a strive for that only college and want to be a part of it and do all you can.

Other then that GPA's are nice.

I completely disagree. For competitive colleges and universities, high SAT/ACT scores are extremely vital to give you an edge over the other applicants. While your GPA and how rigorous your schedule is will be looked at, the things that you balance on top of school (sports, a job, clubs) are also scrutinized.

Brown doesn't take SAT's into consideration, as don't many other colleges. They *used to be important up until around the time a little before we entered high school, however population is changing, and so are the rules.

Brown and other ivy leagues are not test-optional. Test scores are looked at. They may say that scores aren't weighed as heavily, but they are. It's what separates the masses when there are so many applicants.

Yup, exactly.

Though really, the APs that you take in your Junior year matter the most, as that's when colleges will be focused on your transcript more. Basically, Junior year is really crucial, as it can benefit/hurt your chances at competitive colleges by a great amount depending on what happens.