Question about Fall semester grades

[Luptior]

I see most programs' deadlines are on Dec 1, but due to school's calendar, finals for next semester are scheduled after that.

Nervous about the application now because my current GPA is relatively low. I plan to choose some courses which might be easier to get a higher grade for next semester to alleviate GPA a little bit. Can I still submit them after the DDL? Will that affect the result?

Edited May 4, 2017 by Luptior

[rising_star]

Some schools may consider your application incomplete and thus not review it if you don't have everything in, including the transcripts, by the deadline.

[Luptior]

On 5/7/2017 at 9:40 AM, rising_star said:

Some schools may consider your application incomplete and thus not review it if you don't have everything in, including the transcripts, by the deadline.

If I submit the transcript without the Fall semester's transcript the application will be considered as incomplete?

And I think almost all US college's final week is scheduled later Dec. 1.

[fuzzylogician]

7 minutes ago, Luptior said:

If I submit the transcript without the Fall semester's transcript the application will be considered as incomplete?

And I think almost all US college's final week is scheduled later Dec. 1.

If you submit the most recent transcript available by the deadline, they'll have to accept it as is. With Dec 1 deadlines, the majority of schools will not have their fall grades posted, and I'm sure that's what the school is expecting. You could try and submit updated transcripts if they allow it, but I agree that you should be sure your application is complete by the deadline. 

[Bioenchilada]

In my experience, schools don't really look at your senior year grades much, if at all.

[Luptior]

On 5/12/2017 at 10:36 AM, Bioenchilada said:

In my experience, schools don't really look at your senior year grades much, if at all.

If I feel my current grade isn't good enough, is it a better idea to wait for one more year?

[Bioenchilada]

How low are you talking and what schools are you aiming for?

[Luptior]

On 5/17/2017 at 6:32 PM, Bioenchilada said:

How low are you talking and what schools are you aiming for?

Around 3.5 and target schools are Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, NYU, Columbia, Gatech, Northwestern, UCSB...(Not sure if aimed too high)