2-parted answer…yes, and it depends. Let’s say you had a great first semester, apply to college, and get accepted. They still look at your second semester grades, so if you have terrible grades in all your classes, they see that you stopped trying and that doesn’t look good. If it’s one class, and it’s not an F, they will probably not deny you admission! But it does get seen, so do everything you can to pull up that grade and make sure your other grades are great to offset that, and you’ll be fine! If it’s a smaller school that you’re trying to get into, write a letter to admissions about the situation and explain that it is not a reflection of your effort, and that you are working your butt off for that D and that you really do want to attend their school (worked for me!).

hey look at your cumulative highschool grade point average to start, and since most schools sent out acceptance letters in early new year, they would only be able to see your first 2 quarters (pre Xmas) grades