<p>I know that this has been hashed and rehashed, but: freshman grades (and how much do they matter?). Speaking personally, I go to a really competitive private school and, in 9th grade, had pretty eh grades (B average), okay 10th grade grades (B+ average) and, now in 11th grade, I have something around an A-/A average. I'm just wondering how my freshman grades will affect my chances when I apply in a year (I have great ECs, great standardized tests, and my school doesn't rank)...</p>
<p>This isn't really a "chances" thread per se, I'm just curious to know what kind of an impact, in general, freshman grades have on college admissions. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Obviously, you're competing against people who've had straight A's throughout high school PLUS have similar "great ECs, great standardized tests", etc. However, an upward trend is better than a downward one. You really never know. And the thing is, there's nothing you can do about it. You slacked off freshman year, and you can't go back and change that. Just focus on the here and now and making your app so unbelievably amazing that the adcom will <em>hopefully</em> overlook your freshman year.</p>
<p>Your view on how badly your Freshman grades will affect your chances
of College admission all really depend on the level of the prestige of the
College you wish to apply to. Some Colleges go away with Freshman
grades all together, seeing it as a transition period between Middle School
and High School, thus a reason for 'possible' low grades or for various other
reasons, while some look at them, but don't give them that much factor.</p>
<p>Regardless, a B average is NOT that bad and an upward trend does show
drastic improvement. Just continue doing well in that aspect and hopefully
in the E.C.s and do well on your SATs. I myself went from 26/~100 to 5/90 (from an 87 gpa to a 93 gpa) from my freshman to my senior year, and got
accepted into Georgia Tech, albeit I was in-state.</p>
<p>As long as you keep up your grades senior year, it shouldn't pose too much of a problem - like everyone else said, an upward trend is a sign of a hard worker and shows that you can and have begun to focus on your academics.</p>