Dear high school juniors (and future juniors, and parents of juniors): I’ve got an important, often-overlooked message for you as your spring semester kicks off.
Each January, many of my 11th-grade test prep tutoring clients report feeling a bit of a winter slump. You’ve probably seen your senior friends stressing out about their college applications, and you may be a little freaked out about that process beginning for you in earnest. Or, you may actually be looking forward to getting back into your school groove again after the unstructured time and family intensity of winter vacation. Either way, you might be planning to chill this semester when it comes to your classes. After all, you've got so much test prep to do! Can't you just cruise a bit, academically, this spring?
Unfortunately, that would NOT be in your best interests.
As it turns out, this spring is the single most important term of your whole high school career. So, as you prepare to get into the thick of it, I wanted to give you some positive motivation and help you understand WHY this semester is such a crucial one.
I know this might not be the news you were hoping for. You’re likely already feeling a bit spent from Digital SAT or ACT prep. But here’s why it’s your best strategy to not just keep your GPA where it’s been, but to get as high as you possibly can this spring.
ARTICLE CONTENTS
1. View the video version of this article
2. Why colleges care about 11th grade spring
Scenario 1: “Meh” Freshman Year, Great Junior Spring
Scenario 2: “Meh” Freshman Year, “Meh” Junior Spring
Scenario 3: Great Freshman Year, “Meh” Junior Spring
Scenario 4: Great Freshman Year, Great Junior Spring
Watch this article as a video:
Colleges care about 11th grade spring
In November of this calendar year we’ve just begun (so, in your senior fall), you’ll be sending in your Early Decision college apps. Because of that timing, though, you won’t yet have received a full semester of senior grades to report on your transcript. Even some of you who are applying Regular Decision might not have a complete fall semester transcript by the time you submit those applications—either because your teachers haven’t released your grades yet, or because your high school doesn’t administer finals ‘til January (bummer!).
Either way, the term you’ve just kicked off will likely be the last full term that the admissions officer at your top-pick university will see. And as you know from every fictional book and play ever written, it’s a story’s ending that determines whether it’s a comedy or a tragedy.
Scenario 1: Low Freshman Grades, High Junior Spring Grades
Did you struggle academically freshman year? You can show admissions committees that those low grades were the exception, not the rule. Maybe, the story goes, you just hadn’t gotten into the groove of HS yet. But in order to make that story stick, you have to have sophomore grades that were stronger than your freshman grades, and—wait for it—junior grades that were even stronger than those sophomore grades! If that's how your transcript looks, the self-portrait you’re painting is one of continual improvement.
Colleges see that upwards arc, and they’re willing to overlook a handful of suboptimal freshman grades. Instead, they feel optimistic about how high you’re going to soar next on that ascending trajectory. What new achievements you're sailing towards. Where your demonstrated ambition will take you.
Scenario 2: Rough Freshman Year, Rough Junior Spring
But what if we revisit that same scenario…and swap in a less great performance in the spring of 11th grade? Low grades freshman year, followed by a promising improvement in 10th grade, and a solid 11th grade fall, too…..but a “blah” junior spring? Yikes. We’ve just created a downward trend that peaked somewhere during sophomore year. Would you bet on such a student earning excellent grades senior year? Likely not. And do we expect such a pupil to then continue to push themselves academically in college? Also probably not. Would this be a good candidate for us to put our money on for our incoming college class? (I think you don’t need me to answer that one for you.)
Now, I’ve worked with students in your position for a long enough time that I think I can anticipate a possible objection, here: “But Kristina! I didn’t have disappointing grades freshman year! Mine were actually terrific! (Or: they were...good!) Why should I have to put my nose to the grindstone junior spring to get above-and-beyond grades in the most difficult courses I’ve ever faced, while I also tackle AP/Regents/IB tests AND the ACT/SAT?”
You raise a good point….but your recommended course of action (work extra hard in your junior spring classes) remains the same. Even if you did remarkably well freshman year, let’s look at our two endings and see what stories they tell about your academic career.
Scenario 3: Strong Freshman Year, Underwhelming Junior Spring
Uh-oh. You’ve just created a downward trend for yourself, my friend! Doing great freshman year, OK (or even great) sophomore year and the fall of junior year, and then “meh” junior year spring? Looks like your best days were behind you, and you’ll likely keep phoning it in, academically, during senior year and college. Or maybe it just looks like you’re the kind of student who lets your grades fall by the wayside when you're overwhelmed (and you know what can be overwhelming? College). Either way, an unimpressive junior spring report card doesn’t bode well.
Scenario 4: Great Freshman Year, Great Junior Spring
Even if your transcript stays the same every single semester, but your “same” is really “amazing,” guess what? That just means YOU are probably a consistently amazing student, and any college would love to have you.
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Starting to get the picture? In ANY scenario, the only approach that truly conveys that you are a fantastic prospect is to have the most stellar (or just equally stellar) semester grade-wise yet!
So, I hope this word to the wise charges you up for the challenges of junior spring. I know they're big hurdles! If you need a coach to help you clear them, check out my resources for self-care and motivation, or reach out to me here—helping my students cope with the pressures of the college process is my passion, after all. And good luck!
