<p>Last semester as a college freshman I failed two classes, a circuits class and differential equations. I then took both classes again and got an A in both. My higher grade gets calculated into my GPA which is at a 3.72 at the end of my freshman year. I would like to know how graduate admissions officers would look at these F's since I got an A later? What are my chances of getting into grad school?</p>
<p>What matters is your overall GPA and your more recent classes. Two Fs in freshman year won’t matter a bit if you finish with a 3.5.</p>
<p>I have a slew of Fs and Ws on my transcript and I was admitted to 7 of the 8 programs I applied to.</p>
<p>Does this apply to elite graduate schools like MIT, Michigan, and Berkeley. I’m an engineering major. I’ve heard that for the elite grad schools you need above a 3.8 to even be considered.</p>
<p>It is not all about GPA and what you’ve heard is wrong.</p>
<p>^Ditto this. Your application is about more than your GPA. Even if they did have a hard and fast cut-off, it’s unlikely to be higher than a 3.2.</p>
<p>Anyone that says you can’t go to graduate school is not in graduate school. Being well-rounded is what is important. If you’ve never fallen, you’ve never learned to get back up. Schools know that and a candidate that has real life experiences and accepts their imperfections is much more appealing that a candidate who is perfect on paper.</p>
<p>Agree with the above comments. I had one abysmal semester in undergrad, in my junior year for that matter, but was able to get into the program of my choice (which is a top program in my field). I put in considerable prep time for the GRE. So I think my good GRE scores plus field-related experience between UG and grad school tipped the scales in my favor.</p>