Abysmal first two years undergrad; Chances if great improvement?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

<p>I am starting my junior year undergrad (still a sophomore by a few credits; 78 right now);
and my GPA is 2.29. I fixed the problems now; and last quarter pulled 3.5-4.0. but my early grades are already shot. </p>

<p>Im realizing that none of the open majors interest me; that im primarily interested in STEM. But by application time my maximum GPA with 3.8+ every class could be ~3.1. Regardless i will get the best grades i can; and still apply to CSE.
But i know the stats of these majors usually have average GPAs of ~3.8. </p>

<p>--</p>

<p>Im wondering even if with Herculean efforts; if messing up the first two years; then really buckling down; and getting into any competitive major ever happens? I want to major in CSE; and in 143 now. Im hoping some programs can look past mistakes in the first 2 years.</p>

<p>Anyone get into a competitive major after making up a low gpa?</p>

<p>Should i just pick an open degree; to get <em>any</em> degree; as i have completed a fair chunk of credits.
im interested in programming; and could later self-teach to try and get into the industry if i got a different degree.</p>

<p>any comments appreciated; thank you for your time
(and i can take honesty; i know im screwed)</p>

2

<p>CSE is going to be a longshot as CSE is competitive even for those with 3.5 GPA. But if you have 3.8 in CSE 143 and in the highest math and physics classes, they will definitely look at the grades in the highest classes more closely than in the earlier classes with lower grades, particularly if you can explain what the problem was and provide convincing evidence that you have fixed it. They also want to see a high grade in English. So you might need to take another English class as well. What prereq classes / grades have you taken so far? </p>

<p>If you are interested in programming, the CSE non-major courses are open to all majors. A major such as ACMS or even math or physics (math and physics are open majors) plus all the CSE non-major classes would prepare you for industry, <em>provided</em> that you have CS internship experience and a final GPA > 3.0.</p>

3

CSE probably won’t happen, I agree with the poster above. However, open majors are great!