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What to Ask College Students
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With Rachel Korn , former admissions officer at the University of Pennsylvania.
Finish Strong on Exams
HEAD Start
As schools will be looking at your first semester grades, it's critical not to drop the ball. Study hard and remember that your small investment in time, working toward these exams, can seal your admissions to the school of your dreams.

HEAD Lines
Students who work hard for three years and then show lower grades senior year aren't often admitted to the top schools. If you're hit by "senioritis" in the first semester, fight it any way you can. You'll be competing with students who have perfect grades all the way through, so don't harm your chances at this finish line. And wouldn't you want to do work you're proud of?

To help focus:
  • Dedicate enough time to make sure you have studied sufficiently. Worrying that you didn't work hard enough will hurt your test performance as you will second-guess yourself.

  • Put a picture of your dream school nearby. Remember your goal!

  • Plan a small treat for yourself when you get back those good grades.
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From Other HEADS
DO NOT LET YOUR GRADES SLIP SENIOR YEAR! I totally slacked off and must have dropped three or four places in class rank. Not only did it cost me the opportunity to be in the top two of the class, but I was wait-listed at my first-choice college and I believe that my grades would eventually have caused me to be denied. I also think that the drop in grades cost me several scholarships.

-- SHEILA CRAWFORD
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY


WORK YOUR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS: They can help boost your grades. A few times, my teachers were very forgiving and rounded up!

-- ANONYMOUS
TORONTO, ONTARIO
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO



Web Resources
"Senioritis" is a legit problem:
Time magazine even wrote an article about it!
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1191831,00.html


HoH Tip
GPA is the first thing schools look at. The second, the strength of your schedule: how rigorous were the courses you took; how hard were you pushing. Tests are usually the third thing schools look at. In the admissions office's view, grades and performance in high school are the best indicators of success for your first year of college because they demonstrate what kind of student you are.
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