GPA Freshman Year of Highschool

Applying to College
1

Hi, okay so in semester 1, I got a 3.8 GPA (not satisfied with it), and then in semester 2, I got a 3.5 (lowest GPA I have ever gotten). I am super devastated that I got such a low GPA in my freshman year! I know I am taking a few advanced classes, but I know I could have done a lot better! I guess I just didn’t try hard enough. My parents said they understood, so they’re not mad- but I am very sad. Now I am worried if colleges won’t accept me because of this low GPA! Do colleges care about freshman GPA?

Thanks,
Worried Student

2

For basically every college, freshmen year is the least important year when it comes to admissions. That is not even that bad of a year - you can easily bounce back from that and be competitive for top schools. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

3

Yeah I agree with this. Not only that, but grades only matter to a point. If you want to stick out, then getting a 4.0 and perfect or near perfect standardized test scores will not do that (but if you can get that that will help you a little bit). Spend high school doing things you WANT to do, and you LIKE to do. Doing this will ensure that your ESSAYS are unique and genuine: essays are what often times gets a student into college, especially competitive colleges.

So while grades and test scores are important, they are only one aspect of you. What makes you YOU is your personality and your passions: engage in extracurriculars that display your personality, initiative, leadership qualities, and the whole lot!

If you’re wondering what my qualifications are for these claims, I’m applying to colleges right now. All my friends worried about grades their entire year and they did get very good grades, while I sort of did my own thing. I still got good grades (3.87 unweighted and a 34 ACT) but not the 4.0s that they got. But writing my college essays is super easy because I have a ton of things that I’ve done and I have a lot to write about them because I love doing them.

So keep your grades up but also have fun and explore your interests. You only get to go through highschool once.