<p>My freshman year of high school was really tough. I took algebra II and my teacher was horrible. She was also the cheerleading coach and she didn’t spend very much time teaching us. I took a required freshman science class and my teacher was a former college chemistry professor. He would give us tests over material that we hadn’t learned. We also didn’t have textbooks, so it was very difficult to even figure out what would be on the tests. I managed to get a B in both classes. I’m currently in the top 8% of my class and I plan on taking every single Honors/AP class that I possibly can within the next two years. Will my “low” grades that I received my freshman year affect my chances of getting accepted to Brown? </p>
<p>Brown looks at all your grades, including freshman year.</p>
<p>Since none of us work for admissions, none of us can give you a truthful answer. We just don’t know. Fewer than 10% of applicants are accepted, and there are multiple reasons why one person gets in and others don’t. If you have strong test scores, good extracurriculars and excellent recommendations – and offer something that Brown wants – you have as good a chance as anyone else to get accepted. Two Bs freshman year are a minor piece of your application.</p>
<p>Take AP test (get 5) and SAT II (get 800)to prove you have good grasp on he subjects, i think Adcom will understand it. Don’t let unhappy things bother your learning, life is sometimes tough after all.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack your thread but I have a similar question. In 8th grade I took Spanish 1 and got a C one semester. I have since taken Spanish 2 and 3 and got As in both for both semesters (except for a B one semester in 3, dang 89.4). I have the opportunity to retake the course online, my HS will replace the C with the A I WILL get but what is Brown’s policy that? Will they take the average of the two grades or something else? Will that one C really screw me up? I have an otherwise strong GPA (3.90/4.43).</p>
<p>I got 2 Bs in 8th grade, 4 Bs in 9th grade, 2 Bs in 10th grade. I got straight As in 11th, and so far in 12th, with all APs. I don’t have great test scores, but these are my major weaknesses. I’m applying to Brown ED, and if i get accepted in 4 weeks, then I hope I can show some people that there is more to the application than the “perfect” grades, scores, etc.</p>
<p>It’s not on your transcript. I took French I, Latin I, and Algegra I in middle school and none of them show up on your transcript.</p>
<p>The two Bs in freshman year definitely won’t hurt you. They like an upward trend just as much as or more than straight As. If they had been two Ds, that would have been different. But really, grades aren’t enough anymore. You need something else that’s really good besides grades and SATs</p>
<p>^ It’s all about where you live. My high school courses in middle school were on my transcript, but they don’t take into account the grades for admissions. Also, I know that freshmen grades do matter, but it’s not a catastrophic mistake. I didn’t do amazing my first semester freshman year (4 As, 3 Bs), but made it up.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to create a new thread for this question, but I’m trying to figure out my schedule for the next two years. My senior year will be interesting. </p>
<p>I want to stay in concert band/marching band and debate, but I also want to take AP Bio and Physics, along with Pre-Calculus, AP US History, AP English and Spanish III (as an independent study). </p>
<p>The problem is: I have to have a practical art credit, so unless I take summer school, I won’t be able to take Physics. </p>
<p>My real question is: Brown cares whether or not you stick with extracurricular activities, right? I could quit band, and even though I’d hate to do that, I want to take Physics and possibly College Algebra too.</p>
<p>^If you’re taking Pre-Calc you don’t need College Algebra, what you learn there is a very basic version of some stuff you learn in Pre-Calc.</p>
<p>How many classes do you take per year? 6,7 or 8?</p>
<p>If it’s 6 just do this:</p>
<p>Junior year: AP Lang, APUSH, whatever math class is the easier version of pre-calc at your school (probably college algebra), Marching Band, Debate, Honors Physics.</p>
<p>Senior year: AP Lit (if you want it’s kind of redundant, if you don’t want to take this take Honors English Junior year and Lang in this spot), Honors Gov and Econ (or AP if you want), Pre-Calc, AP Physics B, Marching Band, Debate. </p>
<p>Do you have to take Marching Band as a class to actually be in the Marching Band? If not, I’d drop the class for something else.</p>
<p>Honestly, band does not matter to colleges like Brown. At all. Millions of kids have band, so it will not make a difference in the slightest whether or not you drop it.</p>
<p>I can take 7 classes. My school is very, very small, so there aren’t very many options.</p>
<p>Yes, you have to take marching band as a class to be in marching band. I actually like it more than concert band, so I could drop concert band, and take a semester of something else. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my school doesn’t offer an AP Government, AP Physics, or an AP Literature class. AP Bio is considered the hardest class that my school offers, so I’m definitely going to take it. </p>