I generally try not to care too much about my grades, but my freshman year (high school) PE grades are really bad and will bring my GPA down (like, a significant amount). Will this hurt my chances for college?
How does one get bad grades in PE? For most HS, it’s based on participation and fitness tests. Running a sub 7 mile and doing 50 sit ups in a minute in addition to showing up every day in my uniform basically made PE the best part of my day.
@thisisfine2020 You make a bad grade in PE by not doing the things you described.
OP, I screwed up my freshman PE grades too along with the rest of my freshman year. As long as you didn’t completely bomb your freshman year you should be fine. Even if you did, you should focus on doing well anyways and master material.
Colleges will probably overlook it because you were a freshman. If it’s been brought down a significant amount though I really recommend trying to aim for higher grades.
The problem is PE class is based on ability, not effort. 
How much did it go down exactly?
Colleges recalculate your GPA without PE.
Don’t you have pe choices - each high school is supposed to offer a variety of alternatives for kids who, for whatever reason, need them.
@annana It went down approximately 0.2. It doesn’t sound that bad, but I’m not happy about it.
@MYOS1634 At my school everyone takes mandatory PE. No options, alternatives, or anything.
I was under the impression that one PE class for everyone was the norm.
Disabilities and health issues are accomodated as a legal mandate, whether students get accomodations in a regular class or special sections where they practice activities that allow them to exercise within their abilities. Depending on school size, there may be several accomodation sections. There may also be sports for varsity athletes.
No student should be asked to perform tasks they’re physically unable to perform. However it doesn’t sound like that’s the situation here - Op dramatized things a bit but it sounds like perhaps s/he got a B instead of an A? (vs. putting a lot of effort but being unable to get higher han a C due to various issues.)
Wow, my school’s gym program should be shut down.
@MYOS1634 I don’t think my school follows that legal mandate, then. It’s a great school, though, so I’m not complaining… My PE grade right now is not so great (lowers my GPA by 0.2), but this current unit is really not my thing and it’ll lower my GPA even more.
Great to hear that colleges will recalculate my GPA without the PE! Will they actually do that for every applicant (won’t that take a lot of time)?
@awesomepolyglot hahaha sometimes I feel the same way too!
@greenlegobrick @awesomepolyglot: do your schools really make kids in whelchairs, who are blind, have leukemia, celebral palsy, dyspraxia, long-term/chronic illnesses and disabilities, participate in regular PE with no accomodations? If true, contact John Grisham for a future Theodore Boone legal thriller plot, and of course there’s a nice lawsuit in the making right there.
Yes, they do that for all students (not just you lol :p). Which is why it may take anywhere from a month to three months to even longer to get your results.
This posts captures how the process goes at a large, public institution that receives thousands of applications each day.
http://sites.psu.edu/weadmit/2013/12/06/behind-the-scenes-look-at-your-application/
@MYOS1634 I live in a country where schools don’t accommodate disabled students. It’s a sad reality, and I really do hope for equality and happiness in the near future.
As for the GPA/college/thing, good to know. 
It’s pretty amazing how they recalculate for everybody… why do schools bother putting PE into the GPA in the first place, then?
No, assuming you at least passed.
More to the point, colleges will overlook it because it’s PE. I honestly don’t know why all schools just don;t grade this P/F.
Ok, @greenlegobrick: way to bury the lede.
What country is that?
In the US, high school indicates basic academic attainment. The level achieved can vary enormously. You need to do other things to get into a 4-year college: high school graduation requirements aren’t the same as college entrance requirements. High school requirements will include PE, health, financial literacy, so that you have basic skills to function as an adult. Colleges will require knowledge or mastery of various subjects, depending on their selectivity. So, PE “counts” for high school graduation, but not for college admissions.
Getting off topic, but if the OP is not from US and English is not his/her first language, using an English idiomatic expression might not be helpful. 
What @MYOS1634 meant was, it would have been helpful (and eliminated a lot of useless discussion) if @greenlegobrick had mentioned being an international student in the original post.
I agree with pretty much everyone else on this thread. Colleges won’t care about your PE grade.
@MYOS1634 Sorry for not including that in the original post (although I’m not sure how the fact that I’m not in the States really matters–at least regarding PE). @skieurope, thanks for explaining what “bury the lede” means. I’m currently at an American international school in Asia (and the school doesn’t accommodate disabilities, etc). Anyway, nice to know that my PE grade won’t hurt me in college admissions. Thanks everyone!
^ generally speaking, always mention that you’re international and/or abroad, as replies will be more helpful to you.