Will colleges notice my "comeback" in grades even if my cumulative GPA is low?
In my freshman year, I didn't care about school at all. I never matured in 8th grade due to the pandemic so I wasn't properly prepared for the transition into High School. By the end of my 1st semester in my Freshman year, I had a 0.0 GPA, all F's, which is abysmal and I regret making such a decision, by the second semester I had a 0.74 GPA, 4 F's with 1 C- and a D. For my first semester of sophomore year, I didn't really care. It was up until the second semester of my 2nd year, about 2/5's of the way in, that I had an epiphany and I wanted to go to college and become successful. From then on I have achieved 3.0+ GPAs and my work ethic improved. Currently, I have a 3.4 GPA in my Junior year so far. However, my cumulative GPA remains extremely low, sitting at a 1.82 GPA. Will colleges notice my drastic improvement in grades and ignore my low Cumulative GPA?
College admission committees do take notice of an upward trend in grades, especially if you provide an explanation for your initial poor performance. In your personal statement or application, you can explain how you have matured and grown throughout your high school years and what motivated you to improve your grades.
Colleges will also take into account your extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and any leadership positions you have held. Additionally, your standardized test scores will play a role in the admission process.
It's important to note that while colleges may take notice of your improvement, they will still consider your cumulative GPA as an important factor in their decision-making process. As a Junior you don't have too much time to improve though, so I highly recommend keeping up the work to improve your GPA and to try and get the highest standardized testing scores you can. If you continue to perform well in your junior and senior years, you can demonstrate to colleges that you are capable of academic success and that your poor performance in your first two years of high school was an anomaly. However I would not count on getting accepted to a top school straight away, as that wouldn't be realistic. If that's your goal (it does NOT have to be of course), I can also recommend the transfer route from a 2 year institution.
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