<p>hey, the question is asked in the title. So how important are they in the college process? Last year (9th grade), i had 4Bs and 2As.... which will probably look terrible to a college (at least a prestigious one). The freshman year grades will probably mess up my rank as well. I MIGHT be able to make it into top 10% by end of junior year. So i was thinking about applying to Upenn. Do you think my freshman grades might mess me up?</p>
<p>It is definitely a stumbling block, but you need to pick up the pace and let them know you have changed.</p>
<p>You definitely still have a chance to get into Upenn.</p>
<p>A current senior at my school was a complete slacker his freshman year and he ended up getting numerous C's (not even B's!). But throughout the rest of his high school career, he's worked hard and has made straight A's in the toughest course load (including every single AP science). He has repaired his class rank and has been accepted to Princeton.</p>
<p>It is not hopeless, just remember to always work hard.</p>
<p>well thats because princeton ignores freshman year grades xD. um this year, i have 1 honors and 1 AP (chemistry)... i have all As and 1 B (algebra2 !) so i guess i pulled up pretty well. I got a solid A in AP chemistry (and probably a good AP score as well). Thanks for the help guys.</p>
<p>in my school freshman grade are extremly important. here if u mess up freshman year u won't be in the top 10%, but u can still get into a good school :)</p>
<p>Rank is very important, especially because many high schools have grade inflation. Your cumulative gpa isn't worth as much as your rank if nearly everyone has an A average. </p>
<p>Your school obviously has grade inflation, how could you get 4Bs and barely make it into the top 10%? </p>
<p>You can still get into a good school like UPenn if you do well for the rest of high school and get a good SAT score. Good Luck!</p>
<p>^^^MANY schools, if you get 4 B's you'll be no where near the top tenth percentile.</p>
<p>^ Ditto.</p>
<p>It's not simply grade inflation, a lot of schools simply have A LOT of smart people.</p>
<p>Freshman grades do matter, its worth just as much as junior grades in cumulative rankings</p>
<p>you arent in trouble.i mean you have a's and b's. those are good grades.colleges wont deny you for freshman year grades like that.just show an upward trend in your grades and get involved in extra curriculars.you are in good shape</p>
<p>My school is horrible and gives 6 points for any grade 90-100. If you get a B, you are over.</p>
<p>im in the same situation (im a freshman)
last semester, i got 2 A's and 4 B's, just like you.
but then this semester i turned things around and im pretty sure im pulling off straight a's
my rank (which is weighted) will probably go from 150/600 to around 80/600</p>
<p>er heres the thing, 4Bs and 2As in freshman year left my rank at like 130/600... then this year, i have almost all As (1B boo hoo), so my rank is like 80-90, next year, i ll be taking IB which has every class weighted (some honors/some AP weighted lvl), so if i can pull off mostly As next year, i ll be able to sneak into top 50(top 10%). I do have a lot of extra curricular activities and leader ship positions this year. (next year even better)</p>
<p>Many top schools (like Stanford) do not look at Freshman grades.</p>
<p>But...they do look at your rank and cumulative GPA, which will factor in your freshman grades.</p>
<p>I think, as long as you improve, (a lot more A's), you'll still have a chance at those top schools.</p>
<p>thanks. i mean, from 2As 4Bs (9th grade) to 5As 1B (10th grade) is a good upward trend. Hopefully i ll be able to achieve straight As next year.</p>
<p>Diamondbacker: thats the definition of grade inflation, duh...</p>
<p>I'm sure Harvard students are all very intelligent people but they don't all get As, hmmm... I wonder why? My school has 20% attending top schools next year, but they don't all have As. </p>
<p>I have a C on my transcript and I'm in the top 15%, with a 217 on my PSAT. So I'm by no means unintelligent, it's just my school actually grades fairly. Its not how smart the students are, its the distribution of grades.</p>
<p>yeah axactly what the person above me said.i used to go to a magnet school that was ranked 23rd in the nation by newsweek and world report.we had 100 percent graduation rate and 99 percent of people going to college.it was very rigorous and i had a 2.0 GPA and gpa's like mine were common at my school and everyone got into a good college because they knew how hard that school was.so it all depends on the school</p>
<p>my school does have a LOT of smart ppl.</p>
<p>Freshman year grades would certainly factor into your cumulative GPA, but it's definitely not too late to pull that up. Colleges like seeing upward trends. Plus, you might consider applying to Stanford and Princeton - two excellent schools that don't really look at freshman grades.</p>
<p>Does UPenn look at freshman grades?</p>