How important are 1st semester exams/grades ? (freshman year)

Applying to College
1

So I just had my finals and these are my current grades

  1. English 1 H 94% (A) got a 89% on final
  2. Biology H 84% (B) (this subject is very difficult for me and the teacher isnt a very good teacher so I have to teach myself everything.. I had a 88 percent but my final lowered it down 4 percent) failed this final with a 114/170
  3. Foods and Nutrition A (no percentage shown) Finals hasn't been graded yet
  4. Math 1 H 88% (B+) 75% on final
  5. Orchestra A (also no percentage shown) 31/36 on finals
  6. No 6th period because I took college and career/health in the summer
  7. Marching Band A+

    no finals

    Im very disappointed with myself in Math and Biology since they are both Ds and Cs. I've never done this bad in middle school and so I'm really upset. Im a freshman and in all honors classes and wanted to know how much would this affect me in the future for college applications? Would it be alright if I get straight As in 2nd semester? I know biology will get easier because im switching to a different teacher for 2nd semester.

    I know I shouldn’t be worrying since it has only been 1 semester as a freshman but I want to get into a good college/university.

2

What you get on the final exam does not matter. They look at your final semester grades only. Depending on the school, some don’t look at freshman years grades but a lot of them do.

3

As long as you show an upward trend through high school, you’ll be fine. If you are struggling, get on Khan Academy or talk to your folks about getting a tutor.

4

Many schools don’t look at freshman grades, others do. They can impact your class rank if you are at a school that does that. But overall, if you improve, this will be noted.

Figure out what you need to do to get the results you want and stick with your plan. Your classes should be getting more challenging each year, so now is the time to develop good study practices and habits.

5

Thanks for telling me about Khan Academy, I never heard of it so I think it’ll help me a lot.