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My grades dipped a lot junior year. I went from a 4.0 student to around a 3.6 for junior year (5 Bs). I have around a high 3.8 gpa cumulative and was one of the only students to max out course rigor in my school. How much will this hurt my chances?
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If your 3.6 dip was due to taking 5 to 6 APs or IBs which are the hardest classes, then any admissions officer would not penalize you for your efforts to challenge yourself with the hardest course load. It's always better to show a "B" or "B+" in an AP class than to report an "A" or "A-" in a standard course like 11th-grade English. AOs always like to see that you tried to take AP English Lit or Lang vs. taking the easy route and sticking with the standard fare.
One takeaway you should pay attention to is that in 11th grade you were NOT ready for college because you struggled with baseline college freshman-level courses. You were "over your skis" and weren't able to manage these 5 classes very well. Therefore, think about the kind of colleges you are going to apply to. I would not recommend thinking that you would do well at a T20 school with a core curriculum like Columbia or UChicago, they will kick your butt. So pick schools where you have more flexibility in picking and choosing the coursework you are interested in rather than having to grind through a core English class at Columbia where you have to read 25 thick books for 1 class.
Good luck.
It depends on the school, but most admissions counselors can understand, especially if a hurtful event happens in your life at the time. Also, honors classes can play a part in admissions. Class rank will also show colleges how good of a student you are because a 3.8 is still an amazing GPA, and most colleges would still be interested. Remember that extracurriculars are also pretty important when colleges look at you. I have seen public schools not accept people with a 32 ACT and a 3.6 GPA when they did accept someone with a 3.0. Grades are not all colleges look at, although they are important.
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I don't think I'll have to worry about that since I'm not getting in... What level of schools would you recommend I aim for based on academics?