Chances for Top Colleges with Low Freshman GPA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Freshman year I had a bad year with a 3.55 and 3.617 UW GPA
Classes: Honors Algebra 2, Honors Chemistry, Honors Physics, Honors LA, Honors History, Spanish 2, Art 1

*Another question… I actually had a bunch of B+s, which really dragged the GPA down. Would colleges see and understand the B+s as opposed to Cs or Ds?

Sophomore Year: 4.0 GPA both semesters

Classes: Honors Biology, LA 10, SS 10, Spanish 3, Honors Precalc, AP Comp Sci

Junior Year: Both semesters 4.0

Classes: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, LA, SS

Senior Year (TBD)

Classes: AP Government, AP Calc BC, AP Psychology, AP Physics, AP Environmental Science, English 12

ACT: 35

Unfortunately, even with the significant upward trend, my UW GPA overall is still like a 3.85, which from I’ve seen, is much lower than the typical applicant for top schools.

I know Freshman GPA is the least important, but is it a big red flag in my application? Would they understand? Also, would my high ACT make up for it? Im so nervous!!

(My extracurriculars are very impressive and unique, but I will not include it here for space - I’d like to know my chances based on the GPA and ACT only for now)

Thanks!

2

You are a very strong candidate for all but a handful of very elite colleges - and that’s without considering your ECs. If they are as you say, that list would shrink further.

Where do you want to go to school, what do you want to study and, how much can you afford?