<p>I finished the year with 2 A's and 5 B's, which I figure is an acceptable level of academic achievement but still leaves a lot of room for improvement. But freshman year is mostly just a wash, right? Grades don't really start to matter until junior and senior year and you choose a major, right?</p>
<p>I don't know about you but being a science major I knew that freshman year would be the easiest so I worked my butt off to get a high GPA too act as a buffer for when I take physics and Organic Chem; so far I'm going according to plan. I would think freshman year is when GPA should be high anyway since mostly college make you take freshman seminars and 100 level courses.</p>
<p>uhm..grimfan grades always matter. For most privates, the Freshman grades count towards the GPA you submit. Schools understand that freshman year is the transition year and getting used to the difficulty/setting of HS, grades might slip a little, but by no means is it something to just disregard. </p>
<p>Also, what were your A's even in? If they were in something like PE or TA or a sport or some filler class, those A's dont even count for your college GPA, so you coul dbe at pure 5 b's right now which is a 3.0. This is the GPA your starting with for college unless you plan on going to a public school or a school that disregards freshman grades or you dont plan on going to a top 50 school. </p>
<p>Now is not the time to doodle around and make yourself feel better by thinking freshman grades are insignificant and dnot cout. they do. You screwed up unfortunately and your sophmore grades and juino grades have to be very high to hopefully mend some of the damage.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure Grimfan's talking about college, not high school. He mentioned something about majors.</p>
<p>Nope, your a goner. Sorry.</p>
<p>Nah just kidding, you'll be fine. I got bad grades in Freshmen year too but did well later and got into most of the UCs except berkeley, and also into ULV. And yeah your right about that, that's why on most transcripts they have the "10-12" GPA thing.</p>
<p>People, he's in COLLEGE.</p>
<p>What are you looking to do after college? I mean, if you're applying to a grad school they do look at your overall GPA. Not that 2 As and 5Bs will kill you or anything, but you grades do matter...</p>
<p>Yes, I know that grad schools look at GPA (although there are also tests like the LSAT and the GRE), and most likely, I'll probably be going to one as there aren't many opportunities available with only a BA. However, I was just wondering if I've already lost the opportunity for some of the top grad schools because of my unspectacular GPA. </p>
<p>PS I've heard some people say that your GPA in your major is what really counts. Is that true?</p>
<p>Yes and yes...</p>
<p>Your major GPA is typically the most important and, depending on the subject area and competitiveness of the grad program, should probably be at least in the high 3s (i.e., 3.5+) to be very competitive for most grad programs -- including med school, law school, grad school, etc.
Your overall GPA is pretty important as well, especially your upper division (jr/sr) GPA.
I wouldn't say you've necessarily lost yourself too many opportunities yet, but you should definitely get working at it next year and try to pull as close to a 4.0 as you can so that your current 3.3 or so is more like a 3.6!</p>
<p>Remember that for grad school GPA and the GRE/LSAT/MCAT are really only "gatekeepers" -- that is, you basically get your application thrown out if it's below the threshold set -- beyond that it generally matters little in comparison to relevant things like practicum experience, research experience, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, etc.</p>
<p>I really hope grad schools will forgive my freshman year GPA due to the rigor of my courses. I got a 3.25 which sounds pretty lousy, but I took 5 classes 1st semester and 6 classes 2nd, most of which were upper level. I only took 3 intros and did poorly in them (Bs), but did very well in the more difficult writing intensive and seminar courses. </p>
<p>Oh well, at least I have a minor in politics by the end of my freshman year.</p>
<p>^lol?</p>
<p>anyways, yes freshman year gpa matters (a lot considering that this is the year that most people get weeded out) and it WILL factor in EQUALLY into ur overall gpa (by equally i mean equally as weighted as your sophomore/junior gpa). Just know that as long as your gpa is over 3 (at the end of first year), you aren't dead yet. Lots of room for improvement.</p>
<p>I swear, people here think it's the end of the world to get B's. 2 A's and 5 B's is ABOVE a 3.0, it's ABOVE AVERAGE PEOPLE. As long as you didn't completely bomb, which you DIDNT, you're fine. You have plenty of time to bring up your GPA anyway, 2 more years before you have to start applying at grad schools. A's and B's are GOOD though. Don't worry so much so early.</p>
<p>I don't know about that, AU... C was average in HS, but a B is generally considered "average" in college and anything below a C in your major is akin to failing the class (especially in upper division coursework) -- it even gets worse in grad school, though, where getting a B- is akin to failing...! Basically... almost everyone manages As and Bs in college (otherwise, most of them wouldn't be in college!)...so in that case, a 3.0 is pretty much the lower end of average.
According to an article* the average college student had a 3.26 GPA in 2004 and that number has been consistently rising at a rate of approximately .15 each decade for the last 4 decades (in 2000, the average was 3.20 -- meaning that it is likely to be around 3.35 right now)</p>
<p>Actually, it all depends at the school.</p>
<p>My school's freshman year average GPA is somewhere in the realm of 2.8. I think this is mainly because we don't really have core classes, just requirements that can be filled in almost any major. So day 1, we start working on our majors. </p>
<p>An average of all college GPAs also factors in places like Georgia State or UMass Lowell where the GPA is much higher due to the much lower rigor of courses.</p>
<p>SilverClover: Saying that the high avereage GPA is due to places like UMass Lowell is completely ignoring the fact that many of the most elite institutions in our nation suffer from grade inflation. At my school (a top LAC) we also just have distribustion requirments, no core, and I promise you our average freshmen GPA is higher than 2.8. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it's true, and it's not just true at places with "lower rigor."</p>