<p>As a freshman, I got a C+ in Spanish 1 the first semester, and a D in the second semester. How much will the D hurt me? But as a sophmore, I took French 1 and I got a A in the first semester, and a B in the second semester. Hopefully colleges will look at the improvement in foreign language? How much will the D hurt me? fyi I want to apply to UCs.</p>
<p>Cs and Ds never look good for any top colleges.</p>
<p>Many colleges do not consider freshman grades in calculating the GPA. Yes, they will have your transcript and they will see the grades, but the GPA they consider will only include grades in later years. Why don't you head over to the UC admissions website and check it out. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>You are lucky. UC does not include grades you get from 9th grade in the GPA calculation. They only use 10th and 11th grade.</p>
<p>Yay. Lucky me. I had a very stupid and bad attitude as a Freshman.</p>