Am I only restricted to UC schools now?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello! I am currently a junior at a pretty competitive school in the bay area and I did absolutely TERRIBLE my first year of high school. He is my courses and my grades:
PE: A
Japanese honors: A
Literature: B
Biology: B
Algebra 2 trig: C
Java: D

Obviously, I messed up taking Algebra 2 trig and Java… those 2 hit me pretty hard. I have to admit however I was EXTREMELY lazy back then so I didn’t really care. The second semester went a little better but not so good. (dropped java AFTER the D was on the transcript. I’m stupid)

PE: A
Japanese honors: A
Literature: A
Biology: B
Algebra 2 trig: B

Basically, all the easy subjects such as my language and PE I got A’s and everything else is a B… so yea I did bad again. Also with only 5 periods which is pretty sad.

Then, next year I matured much more and actually started working harder. I learned my lesson to take slightly easier classes. (physics instead of ap physics, math analysis instead of precalc). The change was very clear.

PE: A
Intro to Engineering: A
Math Analysis: B
Physics: A
Japanese AP: A
World Core Lit: A
World Core History: A

Basically only got one B… which I was pretty proud of myself despite getting a C and a D last year. And the second semester, I got all A’s!

PE: A
Intro to Engineering: A
Math Analysis: A
Physics: A
Japanese AP: A
World Core Lit: A
World Core History: A

I have to admit going from all B’s, a C and a D to getting all 95+ in all my courses is pretty impressive. However, due to my poor performance in freshman year, I don’t want it to negatively affect my average GPA. (feels bad when you finally got all A’s but your C and D ruins all of it) I feel like I’m only restricted to the Uc’s now… only because I did bad freshman year. I really wanted to have more opportunities (of course colleges like Princeton and Stanford don’t look at freshman grade but being realistic, I know my limits). For example, I was maybe planning for a university in Japan, but they probably look at freshman GPA, so I have a much lower chance. The only thing backing me up is the huge improvement I made. Do you think I can still apply to good colleges considering my huge improvement, or am I only restricted to UC’s now? I know I can go to a decent UC college but does that mean I can’t apply to any other good colleges? I really wanted to apply to a decent college in Japan but they might freak out about my C and D. Obviously I can probably apply to colleges like San Jose State but that is way under my standards, and was hoping to aim higher. Thank you guys in advance!

2

Its WAY too early for anyone, including yourself , to have any idea what colleges you might have a chance of getting in to. Come back after your Jr year, when you will have standardized test scores and hopefully lot s of A’s on your transcript.
BTW- start studying NOW for the PSAT test which is coming up in Oct. , by doing online test practices at Khan academy.
Getting a 223 on that test will qualify you for National Merit status AND will make admission to many colleges in the US automatic ,as well as tuition free.

3

You’re only a rising junior. Do well next year. Try to get all As. Colleges like upward trends. You aren’t only restricted to UCs, but UCs do not consider freshman year grades, which will work in your favor.

4

Canadian U’s also disregard freshman grades. Not sure what you’re hoping to major in, beyond wanting the opportunity to spend time in Japan, but you might look into this: http://thecoopjapanprogram.com/

P.S. You have a ways to go in terms of building your own academic record before declaring SJSU “under your standards” will be defensible. There are a lot of highly qualified students at San Jose State.

5

Cal States (except Cal Poly SLO) and Stanford also do not consider Freshman grades in their GPA calculation however, the UC’s and Cal states still look at your 9th grades to make sure you pass and complete your a-g courses.

An upward grade trend will definitely help your chances at many of the schools and just remember that the 7 of the 9 UC campuses are ranked in the top 50 for Public universities.

6

Thanks for the reply! I just mentioned SJSU was not right for me because my sat is way above their sat range. Also mentioning the fact that I got a 4.0 GPA I thought I can aim higher. However, I do agree with you that my wording was a little harsh. I might end up there; What do I know, I’m still a beginning 11th grader. Also Thanks a lot for the link about the Japan/Canada university. This will definitely be one of my options!

7

Some majors (e.g. computer engineering, computer science) at SJSU are much more competitive for admission than most majors at SJSU.