UCs Help! How to explain to colleges your low Freshman GPA

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

<p>I will be applying this fall and throughout my high school there has been a lot of growth and a steady increase in my gpa. Freshman year my GPA was a 2.3, but with Junior and Sophmore year I maintained a 3.8. I don’t know what was wrong with me Freshman year besides the fact that I was too hung up over drama with a boy and I did not give school the attention or care it needed. I’ve changed a long way since then, thankfully!</p>

<p>Basically, how should I explain to colleges why my GPA was so low freshman year, and will this affect admissions at all? I’m mainly looking at the University of California’s.</p>

2

<p>Get yourself a UC application and get ready for some good news: your freshman grades don’t count.
You will enter the classes, but not the grades, for 9th grade.
Your UC GPA is likely to be significantly higher than your 9-11 GPA as calculated by your high school.</p>

3

<p>You don’t enter the grades just the classes? I had been mistaken this whole time then! Wow, I hope this is true because everyone else has been saying otherwise… but thanks!</p>

4

<p>Yup. For UCs your freshman year grades are NOT factored into your GPA.</p>

5

<p>They are not factored into the UC gpa but they are still seen aren’t they?</p>

6

<p>uhh, you have to enter the grades for all years.</p>

7

<p>[University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/eligibility.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/eligibility.html)</p>

<p>“UC calculates a student’s GPA based on all UC-required “a-g” courses taken in the 10th and 11th grades.”</p>

8

<p>alright thanks… but even though your freshman grades are not calculated onto the uc gpa they are still seen… so how do you explain that. they just “look over” the freshman grades and senior coursework</p>

9

<p>yes, ALL grades are entered and will be seen by the app readers. For admissions eligibility only, ‘UC gpa’ excludes Frosh grades. They are fair game for admissions, however.</p>

<p>And OP, do not even attempt to explain your Frosh grades. Hung-up over a guy/gal is not a valid reason, such as death of a parent would be. The reader will see the upward trend and figure you know have what it takes to succeed at the next level.</p>

10

<p>Alright well it wasn’t just hung up over someone I was just being stupid. You’re right though, there is no way I could explain that. So (since making something up is out of the question) I was wondering if I should somehow incorporate my upward trend into my essays to help the reader see that I’ve learned from my mistakes… I mean is there any way I could explain it or should I just leave it alone…</p>

11

<p>While freshman year grades are not calculated into your UC GPA, UCs do look at courses you take in freshman year and the grades/rigor of your coursework are considered in context of your overall curriculum.</p>

<p>It’s ok for you to say that you were obsessing over a boy and just totally lost your head but that you found your way back and focused on school. We’ve all done stupid things like that and the readers will understand. The only recommendation I have is for you to consider putting this in the Additional Comments section. This may work ok for prompt 2 but I think you should focus the two prompts on your achievements.</p>