Alright, so basically in 8th grade right before high school I was so ignorant. I did not try in school at all and I regret it completely now. I had to redo Spanish 1 and even redo algebra 1! I was so embarrassed and self conscious freshman year being in lower classes. (I go to a competitive private hs) I got picked on and was miserable, but freshman year I started picking up my grades and my final gpa was a 3.2, still not a good gpa, but much better than what I had middle school. however I do not believe UCs calculate your freshman year gpa t they still check it
Sophomore year I tried so hard and raised my gpa to a 3.6. I’m still in lower math and Spanish though and i hate it so much, I get made fun of a lot and I feel it looks terrible to colleges so I’ve decided to work as hard as I can this summer to skip algebra 2 and take a placement test. I’m not taking any ap’s though 
junior year I want to raise my gpa by .1 and get a 3.7. My absolute dream school is UCSB and I saw there average freshman class had a 4.0 and they did not accept barely any OOS applicants! That’s just what their website says, others have said differently so it’s confusing. I want to go their so bad but I feel like I don’t have a chance do you think I currently have a chance? Thanks! Sorry for bad grammar on a tablet
To address this part of your question - it depends. Does your school offer APs? If your school had AP courses, but you opted to take lower level courses - then admission officers will be wondering why you didn’t challenge yourself. Of course if your school doesn’t offer AP (or is limited), then they will know this when reviewing your application.
I think at most schools, guidance counselors have to write how rigorous your schedule was in comparison to other students (ex. most rigorous course load possible, rigorous, average, below average, etc…)
I think the website is true. It seems like less than 5% are OOS? If I’m wrong, then correct me.
UCSB may be a “reach” school for you - and that’s fine. You never know unless you apply! If I were you, if it’s really your dream school, I’d apply. You don’t want to be beating yourself up with all the “what ifs”, if you don’t apply. Just make sure to find matches and safety schools, as well. Good luck!
And please don’t have your heart set on one school! Have a few different ideas. Reaches are ok but you need safeties too. That means a school where kids with your stats get accepted in higher numbers (google common data set + school) and make sure you can afford the school. Many forget that last part. It was helpful for us to go to last years threads in each schools board and see what aid others were offered and how much especially OOS. Also run each schools NPC calculator required by law on their website. See what they think should be your price tag.
UCSB will cost your $55K/year with little or no financial aid available as an OOS student. Do as @Rdtsmith recommended above and run the net price calculators on the schools of interest. Also UCSB is funded by the tax payers of California, so their 1st priority is to admit in-state applicants. UC’s are increasing the number of OOS admissions but you also need to a competitive applicant. Good Luck.