<p>during my soph year my 1st semester i did horrible, and my grades dropped to mostly Cs and Ds. There was a family death and i was really affected by it. But during 2nd semester i pulled it up to As adn Bs, with one C in Ap Bio. </p>
<p>im still a junior. how would my drop in grades for soph year affect my chances for UCs such as UCI or UCD? Im taking summer school for the Ds so i think i soph gpa would be a little higher with the new grade.</p>
<p>plz help me out. im trying really hard this junior year but my grades in soph year are really depressing me. thanks!</p>
<p>NO NEED to be depressed here; a death in the family is not an easy thing to deal with. First of all, when your counselor sends transcripts to your schools in senior year, she should mention in her comments why your grades dropped that semester and how you have improved them... also, remember, for every college that doesn't want you, there are three who really do!! Just enjoy the rest of high school and relax. Keep up those great grades you just got, study for the SATs and have a great summer.</p>
<p>thanks for answering my question, i feel much better now haha
erm..is it true that i can explain this situation in my college essay?
also for the classes that i had Cs in in soph year, should i try to make those up as well? or only the ones that i got Ds in? </p>
<p>Both you and your GC can talk about the death in your family - you in the additional information area on your application, and your GC should definitely mention it in his remarks. You have to be careful about making it the main topic of you essay. But, the only years that count for the UC's are the soph and jr years, [although a steep drop off in the Sr year GPA can result in an acceptance being recinded] so if you really want to increase your chances, I recommend you see if there is a way to raise your "C"'s as well. You should talk to you GC to see if Summer can erase both C's and D's from you transcript. Good luck!</p>