<p>I heard somewhere that the UCs and Stanford don't look at freshman year. Does that mean my GPA and rank will be different/lower (my grades were probably highest in 9th)? Or do they not do this system any more?</p>
<p>While I haven’t looked into this, I’ve never heard of it either. I know that colleges will be more lenient of bad freshman year grades as long as the applicant demonstrates improvement. If you had good grades freshman year, they will look at that favorably, but hopefully your grades haven’t dropped considerably since then, as colleges like improvement and dislike regression. </p>
<p>Stanford does not consider freshman year grades when recalculating gpa, so yes, it could be lower if your grades got worse as the years progressed. I heard this straight from the admissions rep on campus. I do not know about the UC’s, but considering the app asked us to list every class every year, I would assume they take freshmen grades into account?</p>
<p>According to the Stanford website, this is how they evaluate your transcript:</p>
<p>“We will focus our evaluation on your coursework and performance in 10th, 11th and 12th grades, primarily in the core academic subjects of English, mathematics, science, foreign language and history/social studies. We want to see that you have challenged yourself by taking accelerated, honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses if they are offered at your school.”</p>
<p>(source: <a href=“Page Not Found : Stanford University”>Page Not Found : Stanford University)</p>
<p>The rep who visited our school mentioned that they look at core subjects in grades 10 and higher.</p>
<p>@eerboco Did they say that they don’t consider freshman year grades at all or that they just focus on grades 10 and higher?</p>
<p>They just said they “look at” 10 and higher. The talk was mostly on the importance of rigor, being “involved” in school, and finding the right fit. Every time the rep spoke of GPA, he mentioned grades 10 and 11, never 9. You could call/email admissions for clarification.</p>
<p>@eerboco Oh, I see. Thanks for the info! :)</p>