Hello. I have just officially finished my freshman year of high school and I am about to be a sophomore. I go to a school where 7-12 grade is all in one big school. But my GPA just started counting and the reality of the competition at my school has really hit me. I go to a small town school so there is a lot of pressure to join all the clubs and build up the best resume because not much is actually expected from us and we all know that staying here forever isn’t going to get us far. The problem is that I am one of the “smart people” and my grades really matter to me. I worry about my GPA constantly. I just got my report card to see that I have a 79 in Spanish 1 (It is through an online class and I really wish we just had a teacher) and that class is weighted. I hadn’t realized it was weighted until the end of the year. I am taking the classes for an advanced diploma but I just realized I don’t want an advanced diploma simply because the math is way too hard. They won’t let me change to a standard diploma until I’m a Junior. I have a final grade of 88 in Algebra 1. Now next year I have to take Spanish 2 and Algebra 2. Maybe I can make it on those but is it too late? I really want to go to UCLA and get into the film program eventually but have I already gotten my GPA too low to even get into UCLA? I’d like to know so I can make better backup plans but if I can still salvage the chance then I want to. I also need a lot of scholarship money to go to college at all let alone UCLA and out of state at that. My parents have told me I have plenty of time to worry about it but what if I don’t? I don’t want to worry once it’s already too late. Sorry for rambling. Can someone please help me?
UC’s heavily weight 10 and 11 grade, not 9 grade because they believe we’re still maturing, which most of us are. Don’t worry and don’t give up. UCLA is definitely still achievable.
One thing you really need to know is that UCLA does not give financial aid/scholarships to OOS (out of state) students. If you need lot of money to go to college, then UCLA is not a good choice. It costs $55,000 per year now, with costs expected to increase.
The University of California schools are public universities, which means that they are funded by the state and California taxpayers. That’s why they can’t fund you; there is no public money to fund students from other states.
Do as well as you can in your courses and take your tests and make a list of schools that you can afford.
nobody really cares about 9-10 grades. public universities like UCLA tend to see GPA more than ECs and standardized tests (SAT) but if you’re solid in 11th and 12th year you’re fine.
@lightpassion UC’s only consider 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation so do not post misleading information. All selective schools want to see you do well all 4 years, but several will not put a huge emphasis on Freshman year grades.
@Gumbymom Thought they looked at 11th first semester grade. Maybe you’re right. I forgot a lot since a graduated long time ago. As for “all selectivr schools…” comment, you’re wrong. That’s a pretty wide generalization. So non-selective schools don’t look at all four years? As unfair as it might sound, it’ll actually work in yoir favor if you show an upward curve. And many selective schools" just don’t care about 9-10th grade g.p.a. Think about it from admission’s point of view. Also, they look at the rigor of courses for freshmen year rather than g.p.a.
At the risk of going off topic, does your school offer any foreign language courses taught live by real teachers? I wonder if your difficulty with Spanish stemmed from the on-line format. It would be difficult to learn how to speak under those circumstances, IMO.
As for math, if you feel as though your preparation is not as solid as you would like, you might want to try some supplemental studying or on-line resources for review over the summer so you are ready for Algebra II in the fall.