<p>hmom when you say top 30, do you mean Private Schools or Public and Private. At top 30 private schools I would somewhat believe that. However if you are talking good public scools, I’ll say UNC, UVA and UofM, it definitely does not kill you to have bad grades freshmen year and then have good grades later on. I know for a fact that people who did bad freshmen year still got into UNC. I have also heard that UNC greatly considers trend and that a bad freshmen year will not hurt you too bad. And that was strait from the mouth of an admissions officer there.</p>
<p>Although out of state wise it will make it a bit tougher. Of course top 30 could be a rough estimate from you. If you were to change it, to like top 10-15 then I would agree with you for the most part.</p>