Many high school students cringe at the thought of their freshman year grades being taken into account on their college applications. To put it bluntly, yes, colleges do review the grades from your freshman year on your college application. In order to learn more about freshman year, please read this article.

Do Colleges Look At Your Freshman Year

In spite of what you may have heard (or hoped), colleges do consider your grades from your freshman year. Since you are already aware of the answer to the main query, you might want to stop here.

The solution is a little more complicated than it first seems, though, as with many college admissions-related issues. Even though you are aware that colleges consider your freshman year, you may not realize the impact it has on your entire application.

How do admissions officers consider your freshman year in relation to your overall high school performance?

The more significant and difficult query is that. What is the solution, then? The first year of the high school serves as a foundation for the subsequent years.

Your sophomore, junior, or even senior year’s performance in these classes, as well as your academic performance overall, can influence the direction of your future. Although this first year has an effect on your overall high school trajectory, it does not imply that you cannot overcome obstacles or setbacks.

For instance, if you sign up for an extracurricular activity in your first year and continue to participate, you might advance to the position of leader by the time you graduate.

If you enroll in an advanced history course your freshman year, you might end up enrolling in an AP history course your junior or senior year. Admissions officers consider your weighted high school GPA, which takes into account your high school grades, on a more concrete level.

But there’s even more complexity to talk about. The vast majority of universities approach their admissions process in a manner that is referred to as being holistic.

This merely indicates that a number of different factors other than an applicant’s application are taken into consideration by admissions officers when deciding whether to accept or reject a candidate.

Why Your Freshman Grades Matter

You are correct in believing that colleges are more interested in your junior and senior year grades than your freshman year grades. What purpose do your freshman grades serve then?

due to the fact that they have an impact on your overall GPA, which is a crucial component of any application. But keep in mind that not all aspects of an application are taken into account equally by colleges.

For instance, while your extracurricular activities may be important, your test results and GPA are more significant and, as a result, carry more weight. So, while freshman grades are important, they are not as important as senior grades.

How To Recover From Bad Freshman Year Grades And Get Into College

If your child is worried about their subpar freshman year GPA, they should concentrate on raising it by performing well in their remaining high school courses. Additionally, don’t assume that your child should enroll in easy classes to boost their GPA.

Many high schools give AP, IB, and other honors classes more weight than other electives, so a strong performance in one of these courses will particularly make up for earlier weaker marks. Plus, the types of classes your child takes still matter—frequently more than the grade itself.

Admissions officers frequently read applications locally, so they will be familiar with your child’s school if they are reading their application.

If it is well known that AP Chemistry is a difficult option while Environmental Science is an easy A, your child will benefit more from an A- in Chemistry than an A+ in the latter.

Another option for your child is to sign up for online courses or courses at the community college in your area.

In addition to possibly raising your child’s GPA (if their high school uses outside coursework in their GPA calculation), this can show your child’s dedication to their education and help them do well in their remaining high school classes.

How Colleges Look At Academic Rigor

The courses your child enrolls in their freshman year matter just as much—if not more—than the grades they earn in those courses.

Why? Despite the fact that most colleges don’t have minimum GPA requirements, they do want your child to have finished a certain amount of coursework. The majority of high schools also require freshman courses as a prerequisite for more advanced classes.

Furthermore, colleges want to know that your child has pushed themselves by enrolling in challenging courses at their school. It is not as advantageous to get a high GPA by taking easy classes as it is to get a high GPA by taking challenging classes.

The classes your child takes their freshman year serve as a springboard for the classes they take the rest of the way through high school. Making informed course selections will help your child get ready to enroll in the best classes for their interests and strengths in the future.

For instance, if your child is interested in art but their high school does not offer honors or AP courses in that field, they shouldn’t forego taking the painting elective in their first year. Instead, your child should enroll in it and find

How To Strengthen The Rest Of The Application

If possible, your child should ask their guidance counselor to include a statement in their letter of recommendation stating whether or not extenuating circumstances affected their course load during their first year of high school.

Your child’s guidance counselor can also include that information in their letter if your child attends a high school that doesn’t offer many challenging course options for freshmen.

If your child didn’t get the chance to enroll in a class in a subject they find interesting or comfortable, they might think about studying independently for an AP exam in that subject since a strong performance on one of those exams will show how well-versed they are in it.

For AP English Language or Literature exams, for example, many students opt to self-study since these tests assess essay-writing skills rather than knowledge of the subject matter.