Hello everyone, my son is a Jr in a competitive HS, he has been taking AP and honors courses since freshman year. Recently received notification that he has been invited into National Hispanic Recognition and though we have not received notice yet on his SAT scores, I am confident he will do well. He is also quite active is his school and community. My concern is that he has received some very low grades 1st - 3rd Qtr of Jr Year. Example D in AP Biology and an D in Honors History…He also got an F in the 1st Qtr for Honors Journalism ( Ironically he received B’s for both mid term tests )…He just hasn’t developed good study skills and has failed to turn in some critical assignments that really dropped the grade for said classes. He is working hard this final qtr. Can the last qtr save him?? If it brings his GPA up? Or since those 1-3rd qtr grades appear on transcript, he has very low chance of getting into a good school. Also will 1st Qtr of Senior year help?? Or again is it too late? He is looking to UCF, FSU, or UF. Thank you so much for your feedback. So happy I found this site 
I think your son will be fine if he can really bring the grades back up as much as possible. The D in Bio is a concern. Please get him to use the AP Bio crash course study guide, or 5 steps to a 5. Those are really helpful. If he can do well on the exam, he will redeem himself a bit in the eyes of colleges. AP classes are important because it shows he can do college level work. D or F grades are never good, and next year, colleges can rescind offers if he gets a D. If his grades in the other quarters were strong, that will help.
Is there an issue that might have caused his grades to drop? A crisis, family problem, or something? If so,it might be worth having his guidance counselor mention it in the rec next year. Also, the first half of senior year is going to be very important. There is no time for slacking off. To ease the stress of app season, he can think about writing his common app essay during the summer. Many kids find the essay a huge hurdle.
Will he still be able to join Nat Hispanic Recognition? That is a great thing to put on an app, so I hope he hasn’t jeopardized that. Good luck to him.