So i just finished my first semester as a freshman in high school. These were my grades for the first semester:
Pre-AP Biology - B (82%)
Pre-AP Algebra - B (87%)
Pre-AP History - B (89%)
Pre-AP English - A (94%)
Health/PE 9 - A (95%)
Spanish 1 - A (95%)
Business - A (99%)
Our school uses simple letter grade so there’s no plus or minus. My teacher helped my calculate my gpa and it’s a 3.5. I want to get into a good college and be a valedictorian when I graduate. I need at least a 4.0 to be a valedictorian. It is now the beginning to second semester and I have all A’s so far and I hope I can maintain it. Am I able to pull my gpa up again to a 4.0? Do colleges look at your 9th grade 1st semester grades?
*I am not doing any extra curricular now because I’m not a native speaker and I’ve only been speaking English 2 years now so it’s hard for me to study and do extra clubs at the same time. I have to spend the whole night studying to try to maintain my grades and do well on tests. I am going to be taking 3 AP classes next year (USH, Physics 1, Calc AB) so I might not be able to do any extra clubs again. Would that hurt my chance of going to a good college (even if i have all A’s)?
Yes, all colleges look at 9th grade grades. However, if you have an upward trend it is seen as good, too. If you want to achieve a 4.0 you need to take a few AP classes and get A’s in them to boost your GPA. Make sure you have one or two stable extracurriculars (something you are passionate about), instead of joining many clubs without any interest.
Take weighted classes and get A’s and you should be able to get 4.0. Though you are only a freshman you shouldn’t worry too much about some B’s. Talk to your counselor if your school weights grades differently.
Actually, all colleges do not look at 9th grade grades, though most do. UCLA, Berkeley, and the rest of the UC’s ignore freshman year grades. However, that’s only relevant if you would want to go to a UC!
Also, all schools love to see an upward trend, so please don’t worry – the weight given to your AP classes next year will make it easy to have a higher GPA sophomore year, even if you get the exact same unweighted grades as this year.
@Alt903 What was the point of your comment? If you have an issue with how OP’s school names their classes, go complain to them, not the student who’s just reporting the names.
It may be that “pre-AP” is a designation that says “people on this track taking these classes will eventually take AP calc.” Who knows.
A question? Yes. A complaint? No. It was asked for clarification. I wanted to know if it was an advanced class. A “B” in an advanced class is better than a “B” in a regular class. With this, I could answer the question.
You didn’t ask “Is pre-AP an advanced class?” and really can’t pretend that you did. “What the hell is this” paired with “You’re wrong, it’s actually X” is not asking for clarification.
Actually the California UC’s do not include 9th grades in their GPA calculation, they do look at your 9th grades to make sure you pass the a-g course requirements with a C or higher.
@peachypo101@nocontest@JenJenJenJen@Gumbymom@bodangles Thank you guys for your replies, it’s very helpful. I will try to do better in the second semester and I am taking 3 AP classes next year so I will do my best to get A’s in those classes. Since i had a high B in history and math, I will try my best to get an A for the final grade and that will boost my GPA. Thanks.
@Alt903 It’s actually Pre-AP Algebra 2. (Sorry i forgot to put that 2) It’s kind of like honors. And thank you, i will try to get a higher gpa in the second semester
@snowfairy137 Yea, i know 3.5 is not enough to be a val, but i will be taking 3 AP classes next year so hopefully that will help. And last year, our school had 43 valedictorians, I heard that you don’t have to have the highest gpa. All you gotta do is get a 4.0 or above.
Don’t take 3 ap classes next year. It’ll be hard to adjust to that, and you likely won’t do well as a result. Just enjoy high school and do your best. There are so many “good colleges” out there, and prestige doesn’t matter as much as you probably think. Also, I hate to break it, but you probably won’t graduate valedictorian. There are probably kids at your school who take rigorous classes and never get below an A, so you likely won’t be able to pass them.
@jennacwa The AP classes that i will be taking next year will be AP Calc AB (taking Pre-Calc this summer), AP Physics 1, and AP US history. I was going to take AP Stats but i decided to drop it. I will try and do my best and maybe if i don’t do that well, i will drop before the end of 1st quarter.
And i understand that i might not have a change to be a valedictorian but in our school, valedictory honors are given to all students who graduate with a gpa of 4.0. I’m not sure if that is weighted gpa or unweighted gpa (I will ask my counselor about that). I know that if it’s unweighted, im out of the running but if it’s weighted, i might still have a chance. No matter what, i will do my best and enjoy my high school life. Thank you for your advice, it’s really helpful.
Oh, that’s interesting. I feel like it would likely be based on weighted gpa. Good luck! All of those AP classes typically aren’t taken until junior year or so, so kudos to you. That’s definitely very rigorous and I wish you the best of luck.
