chance of acceptance to university of denver?

Spent freshman year at clemson U, wasn’t for me. looking to transfer to University of Denver; approximately 3.2 gpa in high school, 33 act. first semester I bombed, second semester passed with Bs, Cs, and 1 D. cumulative GPA of my first year is 1.7; should i not waste my money applying to DU and do a semester at my state school to get better grades to meet the 3.0 transfer requirement? Or would they possibly make an exception given my upward trend? thx