<p>My freshman year, both my father and my mother committed suicide in the space of 3 months. For this reason, my year was completely screwed up. I got an UW 3.32 (in all honors) but have been improving ever since. </p>
<p>Are there any schools that BARELY or COMPLETELY don't look at your freshman year? Though I did take challenging classes, I'd rather them not look at it.</p>
<p>And if they don't count 9th grade, does that make the school more competitive?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>the UC system uses 10th grade onward to compute GPA</p>
<p>There is a spot on applications for you to explain poor grades. If you put what happened in that space or have a GC or someone write a letter explaining then most schools would be willing to overlook poor performance that year.</p>
<p>Really? Wow. That’s great. ANy other schools? I heard McGill doesn’t count it.</p>
<p>All public universities in California calculate an admissions GPA that does not include 9th grade course grades, but any 9th grade courses used for high school course requirements for admission still need to have been passed with C or higher grades. In addition, the UC comprehensive review process will see your 9th grade course grades (most CSUs admit by GPA and test score formula, if they are selective beyond the minimum eligibility standard).</p>
<p>Stanford says that they “will focus [their] evaluation on your choice of coursework and your performance in 10th, 11th and 12th grades, mainly in the core academic subjects of Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Language.” [School</a> Reports & Transcripts : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/freshman/transcripts.html]School”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/freshman/transcripts.html)</p>
<p>I don’t believe Princeton directly uses freshman grades, but class rank is obviously important.</p>
<p>McGill and most Canadian schools do not look at grade 9.</p>
<p>A 3.2 is phenomenal for the circumstances that you faced. Kindly ask your GC to include this information in a note on your app and colleges will definitely overlook any poor performance.</p>
<p>Write about your special circumstances - colleges have to understand. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t hold off on any applications. Getting a 3.32 in those circumstances, as other have said, is very impressive (also, my condolences; it feels wrong just talking about it as a “special circumstance” and almost commodifying it at something that helps you get into college). CA4 has a special area to mention this stuff- and you should definitely bring it up because it’s pertinent to your situation.</p>
<p>It’s a shame that someone has to share something like that to college admissions officers so it isn’t counted against them.</p>
<p>Please use old threads for info only.</p>