<p>Second semester freshman year I broke my arm playing lacrosse and missed some school because of surgery, and a subsequent stomach virus I got in the post-op room. I had to wear a wrist brace on my writing hand as well so it was hard to take notes. That year my GPA went from a 3.9 first semester to a 3.4.</p>
<p>I’m currently a junior and my first semester GPA was a 4.4, but that 3.4 has hurt my overall average, will this hurt my chances of getting into Brown?</p>
<p>I am also planning to apply ED if it matters.</p>
<p>Most schools don’t really look at your freshman year grades. They’ll see that things went up after that one semester, so it really isn’t a big deal. They realize that things that happened three years ago don’t really portray your character today.</p>
<p>Brown looks very closely at your freshman year grades. They look at everything. If you offer something they want – geographic diversity, athletic prowess, URM, etc. – they’ll overlook a flawed transcript.</p>
<p>Okay, two completely different responses… which one is it? :P</p>
<p>Also, if they do look closely at freshman year, is there somewhere on the app to explain any discrepancies in your transcript?</p>
<p>^Have your guidance counselor mention your illness and injuries in his/her recommendation form.</p>
<p>This is where your GC comes in. The recommendation letter should include mention of this challenge and how hard you worked to get back up to speed. If you had a blip on the radar in freshman year, how was soph year?
Adcoms look at your entire transcript- nt just the gpa. Among the things they may do is recalc your gpa w/o that off semester- it’s additional input, in a sense. Just a look-see. If you were strong except for that one period, don’t worry too much. Make sure the rest of the app shows your strengths.</p>
<p>Definitely have your GC mention what happened.</p>
<p>Here’s how it works: Brown will NOT look at your 9th grade GPA and immediately put you into the reject pile. However – Brown does not look at your 9th grade GPA and say, “oh, we don’t care about that because his grades improved after that so we’ll ignore it.”</p>
<p>What Brown might say, though, is: “We’d rather accept someone who had an injury like that who still maintained their 3.9 GPA.” Or, they might say, “Well, that 9th grade GPA is a problem, but the lacrosse coach really wants him/he comes from Utah/he published a book.”</p>
<p>Also, if your school ranks, your rank will be more important than the 9th grade GPA.</p>
<p>Here is the really really crummy thing about Brown having an acceptance rate as low as 9 percent – they can afford to be choosy and decide not to “take a chance” on an applicant with a “low” freshman year GPA.</p>