I have a question about how admissions in Universities will look at a GPA. I am currently a freshman, and I am looking to transfer after two years. I completely tanked first semester of college, and got a 1.9 GPA. I didn’t apply myself enough and it hurt me. Now, I am afraid that my 2.0 GPA for my first semester of college is going to hurt my chances of transferring to some of the schools I want to transfer to.
In an ideal work, let’s assume I get a 3.5+ GPA for the next 3 semesters until it is time to transfer. Will admissions see that I got a 2.75 GPA first year and 3.5 GPA second year and go off that, or will they see that I had a bad semester first year. but got a 3.5+ the next three semesters and go off that, or both? (I understand that it doesn’t all come down to GPA, but it’s still a major deciding factor.)
Some of the schools I was looking to apply to are University of Michigan, University of Southern California. Florida State, Penn State, University of Miami, and probably some more.
I think that both the cumulative GPA and the improvement of the next 3 semesters will be noted. I would imagine that most admissions officers understand that sometimes it takes a student a semester to adjust to what is necessary for success in college. If I were you I would apply to a wide range of colleges (as far as selectivity goes) because you don’t know how your college record will be viewed.
I am sure you will be accepted someplace where you can be happy!