bad grades

I am currently a freshman in highschool. I messed up bigtime the first semester. I got a f in math and a d in science. im a good student just missed to much school im doing better second semester. how bad will this hurt my chances of getting into a college.

Are you retaking the courses where you did badly? I mean, the grades probably won’t be replaced on your transcript, but you should have something to show that you’ve improved.

yes im retaking them.

You can get into a college. It’s just a question of how good the college is. Not that this is relevant, but you could still get into the UCs lol

The UC’s are awesome, 5 out of the six are in the top 50, and they really like upward trend, so you can still get into a really good school OP.

@Anish14 UCs do not allow any grades below a “C” on transcripts, and require a 3.0+ GPA. If OP can retake the classes during summer school to replace the original courses, they should do so.

@topaz1116 But I’m pretty sure UCs don’t take freshman grades into account

@topaz1116‌ ^

This isn’t going to hurt your chances of getting into college. Those are 2 out of like 34 classes that you’ll take. Stay on top of things the rest of your 4 years. Do not hesitate to talk to teachers. Send them emails when you’re unhappy with a score, and ask to come talk to them. Sometimes they’ll change it for you, but even if they don’t, you look good in their eyes and they’re likely to remember that when grading other assignments or determining final grades. Make them your friends and utilize them! They’re there to help you! And honestly, it looks GREAT to colleges when you have bad grades first semester but then continue to improve and improve. Do not get another F though, that may cause problems. But ask any college advisor and he will tell you that upward trends are attractive. They know that it can be a tough transition and everyone makes mistakes. Improve and get involved and you’re good to go! Community service is a big one… make sure you have lots of it!

UCs don’t take them into account for GPA, but they still count for the A-G requirements, which are courses you CANNOT get below a C on. OP will still have to report that he repeated the courses on the UC application as well.