Does having a high GPA in college make up for a low high school GPA?

When transferring universities, will having a low GPA in high school still hold you back if you have maintained a high GPA in college?

If you are applying for junior year, with two years of college credits, they will care much more about your college GPA. If you have less than two years they will ask for your high school transcript and standardized test scores. They will certainly consider an improvement.

Most colleges will not use HS info when you have two years of college grades.

No, it will not hold you back. They will look at your college GPA.

So, what if you’re applying for transfer after only one year of college? When they ask for your HS transcript, will they still consider the 1 year of a 3.8-4.0 college GPA more important?

Sophomore level transfers will only present one semester of college grades, so high school stuff is still important in transfer admissions. Junior level transfers will present three semesters of college grades, plus the course patterns should show progress toward their intended majors, so high school stuff becomes much less important or not considered in transfer admissions (depending on the college being applied to transfer to).