Bad Freshman Year Grades?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I’m new here and don’t know where else to put this, so if this is in the wrong section please move it. I’m really desperate and need answers, sorry. :stuck_out_tongue:

I had a lot of untreated health problems including Allergies, Asthma and ADHD, so I was really sick during my freshman year, to the point which I could barely get out of bed. I also screwed up by not taking school seriously and being lazy overall. I’m in my second semester of sophomore year, and I have just now realized how screwed I am. :frowning:

Here are my freshman grades:

1st Semester:

English Honors: B
French 1: C+
Personal Health: C-
Pre Algebra: B
General Science 1: F
Microsoft Office: F

2nd Semester:
English Honors: A-
French 1: B
Sculpture/Art: B
Pre Algebra: C-
General PE: D
General Science 1: F

I know these grades are terrible. But I have improved a lot since sophomore year began. Here are my sophomore grades so far:

1st Semester Sophomore Year:

English Honors: A-
French 2 : A
World History: A-
Algebra 1: B+
Algebra Lab: A-
General Science 2: B+

My GPA for Freshman year was 2.0. For Sophomore year (so far) my GPA is 3.617. So that makes my Cumulative GPA stand at around 2.50. If I get nothing lower than an A- for the 2nd semester of my sophmore year, my GPA should ideally be around a 3.0 or higher I believe.

The school also screwed up by not putting me in Algebra in my freshman year, so I’m currently taking it in my sophomore year. It sucks that i’m in a lower level math course for my grade. :confused:

I’m going to take Geometry over the summer. In my Junior year I am going to double up and take Algeabra 2 and Pre Calculus, which should put me back on track for math.

Sorry this is so long, do you think that I could get into a decent college with my horrid freshmen year grades? I’m not aiming for Harvard or any Ivy League schools.

Thank you.

2

Hey, congratulations for getting those grades up and for being more engaged with school in general. Your plan to take math in the summer is an excellent idea. Based on the improvements you have already shown, I’d guess you will be a great candidate for many wonderful colleges. Don’t fret about the past and don’t get stuck thinking that there are only a handful of great colleges. That isn’t true-there are hundreds of great schools. You are doing all the right things to develop into the kind of person you want to become and that is the most important thing.

3

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’ve definitely grown over the past year and have learned to sort my priorities. I put my performance in school before everything now. :slight_smile:

4

I have planned out my schedule for Junior year already. Currently I’m on spring break so next Monday, I’ll go over my schedule with my counselor. :slight_smile:

AP English Language
AP Biology
US History (There is no APUSH at my school) :confused:
Algebra 2
Pre Calculus
Honors Chemistry

I think this is a pretty rigorous schedule that I can perform fairly well in and at the same time challenge myself. I have no Extracurriculars at the moment, but I will try to volunteer over the summer and join the school paper next year. I could join the golf team in the fall (but I don’t think it will look very impressive to colleges).

5

The improvements you have made are massive, colleges will be sure to notice that. If you’re health problems were a large factor in your freshmen year grades, I believe your guidance counselor can write a note on your transcript or something, I’m not entirely sure on the specifics but I’d ask about that if you can.
For EC’s, I don’t see why colleges wouldn’t care about golf. They want to see diverse students pursuing their interests. Unless you really don’t want to join the team, it can only help you.
Also, don’t worry too much about getting into a good college right away. Going to community college for two years and then transferring to complete your degree is a completely viable option.

6

You can also consider applying to some of the colleges that don’t factor in freshman year grades when calculating your GPA. Freshman year is generally thought of as the least important one from a college’s perspective and an upwards trend is viewed as a positive.

7

@LeopardFire: My health problems were a huge factor in my Freshmen grades, I was absent for practically half of year. ^#(^ My counselor and pretty much all of my teachers are aware of my health problems. I could ask the counselor to write a note on my behalf to colleges on my transcript if possible. I’ll have to make a note of that.

I’ve also heard that most colleges don’t care about sports unless you are really good (ranking high nationally) or if you are a captain. I am interested in golf, but it honestly seems like it would take a lot of my time without any major benefits.

Community college is an option, but I’d rather go straight to the college of my choice. I’ve been dreaming of going to the University of Washington since I was in primary school, it’s probably my biggest dream. It has a 55% acceptance rate on average, so if I get really high SAT/ACT scores, I think it would improve my chances of getting in. :slight_smile: