Do UC schools look at freshman year grades?

No, the UC's consider the 10th and 11th grade GPA, plus look at senior GPA to make sure you're not slacking. (You report all grades on your app, but they don't do the GPA based on all grades.) The official UC GPA is your 10th and 11th grade GPA in a - g classes, weighting allowed for up to 8 semesters in UC approved a - g AP/IB/Honors classes. You'd have to ask a counselor to figure it in 10th grade, as legit AP/IB/Honors classes are sometimes not yet approved due to paperwork, etc. If you take a - g classes needed for graduation in 9th, you do get credit for taking them. Many students take art and other non-AP classes at that time since the AP grade with bump won't count if taken in 9th grade.

From the UC website:

"Calculate your grade point average (GPA)

Convert the grades earned in all college-preparatory courses ("a-g" courses) taken in 10th and 11th grades, including summer sessions: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1. (Pluses and minuses don't count.)"

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshm...

High school gets tougher each year, and you need to take a lot of AP classes and get A's to be admitted to UCLA and UCB. Be ready to prioritize that school work is #1. You'll want over a 3.8+ unweighted GPA, and a 2100+ GPA to just start to be competitive. In part it depends on your high school, the higher ranked it is, the higher stats you must have, as you have more opportunities. So at a top high school, especially private, UCLA and UCB take mostly kids who also get into the top Ivies and similar colleges, like Harvard and Stanford.

USC does look at 9th grade GPA. Maybe you meant UCSC. Here are UC freshman profiles:

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campus...

Click on a campus and then Freshman admission profile. I believe they all post UC GPAs. A typical applicant wants to be above the average to be competitive, as it includes the (sometimes quite lower) stats of those with amazing talents other than academic (like some recruited athletes).

Stop slacking! Put in more effort and you'll raise your grades. Ask for help when you need it. Use your summers wisely, do lots of community service, participate in a summer program related to your future major or profession, STUDY for the SAT.

Good luck!

UC's do look at your freshman grades.

I'm sorry I sound harsh, but I need to be honest. You will not get into UCLA, Cal, and (most likely) UCSD. USC isn't a UC...but you probably won't get accepted either. And it isn't because you aren't a good student. UC's don't look for well rounded students (Cal does kind of but they don't take as holistic a view as a private); UC's are straight up stats.

You might have a chance at UCSD, UCI, or UCD. Try to get mostly A's for the rest of high school, do well on the SAT / SAT II Subject Test / AP's, do EC's. You don't have to be in a billion and one club. Choose three or four clubs / activities that you enjoy and work at them consistently during high school.

You always have a good chance at UCR or UCSC. Both are really good campuses too. UCSC is beautiful and UCR is really rising up in ranks right now.

Good luck! Don't give up!

UC schools are hard to get into. Offcourse there going to check freshmen years report cards. But if there's a big change with your softmore, junior, and senior year then you might get accepted if that's what you want.

No they don't.

Anyway why don't you try British education? You pick a more narrower path so that you excel at the areas you want to do and are good in, and leave your bad subjects behind.

I do not believe that is true