So I have always been a good student, getting all A’s and a couple B’s never less. But this first year of high school things changed. I’m worried about my future because I have high goals for myself. I want to get into a good college/university for a career in science, something along the lines of biology. Can I achieve this with these grades as long as my next three years are A’s and B’s?
Trimester One: All B’s
Trimester Two: 3 C’s, 3 B’s and one D
Trimester Three: One C One D and 5 B’s
(Each Trimester in Science was a B if that means anything) Please help me because this means a lot to me. Thank you.
I don’t want to be mean or anything, but a B in Freshman Science means that maybe science is not your strong suit. But next year, work really hard, and go ask your teachers for help. Make sure you study for tests and continue to get As. Colleges will see the strong upward trend. In some colleges your Freshman GPA doesn’t even matter! But for the colleges where it is weighed, it WILL hurt you, but don’t dwell in the past. Good luck
Be positive about the future, work hard, treat everyone with respect, things will work out. There are many, many great schools where you can get an outstanding education. You have plenty of time to demonstrate that you are capable student.
Take the next few weeks before school starts to reflect on what you want for yourself. Why did you not do as well last year as you can. What will you do to improve your learning? Is it a matter of working hard enough? Is it a matter of eliminating distractions? Good luck!
While many schools put less weight on freshman year than the rest of your transcript, with some disregarding it all together (such as the UCs and Stanford), those D’s are certainly going to be concerning. You were an A student in middle school, but that clearly did not transfer over to high school. I am not trying to be mean, it is just a factual statement- you finished the year with B’s (which alone would have been respectable), a C and a D.
This means your first priority next year has to be your schoolwork. Take the remainder of the summer to examine exactly why you did so poorly. Is it a weakness in certain areas? Do you need tutoring? Were you utilizing all your resources? Was it a lack of time management skills? Do you need to drop an activity to dedicate more time to classes?
My recommendation is for right now, do not focus on what university you can get into. Focus on understanding what went wrong this year, why it did, and how you can fix it for the future. When the time comes to apply, look for schools that match your actual GPA (and not what you wish it was).
Agree with the above. The important thing now is to do as well as you can in the most rigorous schedule you can manage. And when the time comes study for standardized tests.
It is too early to target any group of colleges. Keep in mind that there are tons of wonderful colleges and universities out there that can give you a great experience and get you where you want to go in life.
Meet with her in person. See if she can change it, or if there’s any work you can do to raise it higher.
If you can’t meet with her, or she refuses to change it, talk to the principle, see if you can take the class of off your transcript if possible. Ask if you could possibly redo the class over the summer to replace the grade.
I have heard that most of the various Universities of California don’t consider freshman grades at all (although they are expensive for out of state students). Universities in Canada also don’t consider freshman year grades (and also benefit from being less expensive in most cases). For other universities, freshman year will matter a lot less than your next three years.
Keep ahead in your classes, pay attention and sit near the front of class if you have a choice, do homework early (when it is assigned, not just before it is due), seek out help from your teachers. Try to understand the reason for things that you learn when possible, and if you don’t understand the “why” then ask your teachers after school or in study sessions. Over time you will catch up, get ahead, and be a stronger student.
I know multiple students who messed up one year of high school and still did very well. One person I know messed up all five years of high school, went off to a lousy university, did super well (all A+'s), transferred to a great university, did very well through his PhD, and ended up a highly respected professor at a very good university that he never could have attended straight out of high school. The earlier you start the easier it will be, but you certainly have time to catch up.