How can I get better?

I’m only a sophomore, but I want to know how I can increase my chances of getting into a good school. I work really hard, but my GPA from freshman year was low for the colleges I want to get into, and my extracurriculars are weak.

In eighth grade I took two classes that go on my transcript. In Spanish I had a 95 final grade, but in Earth Science I only had an 87 and got an 85 on the Regents.

Freshman year, I took three honors classes, one which was called “Pre-AP World History”. My final grade was an 87. My unweighted GPA freshman year was a 93, and my weighted was a 95.

This year, I’m taking AP World History, the only AP offered to sophomores at my school, and I’m doing well. My average (weighted) for first quarter was a 97, and second quarter was a 96.

I know that my GPA is very low or second tier colleges, but I plan on taking 3 AP’s next year and more senior year.

Last year, I was on the JV Cheerleading team, and I wrote for the newspaper.
This year, I got my priorities straight, and am part of the drama club, spanish club, writing for the newspaper, and on my school’s forensics speech and debate team, for which I’ve qualified for state championships in declamation.

I know that I messed up freshman year, and that this post probably seems really stupid, but can someone please tell me how I can make my transcript look better to colleges?

Thank you so much!

You are thinking about this wrong.
You WILL be rejected if you “play towards the admission officers.” You want to develop your own character.
Look on this thread, and try to find the rejects. They all (well, most) had top GPAs, high test scores, debate team, and all these clubs. You may ask yourself, how could someone of this caliber be rejected? It’s the individuality from the application essays and uniqueness factor that makes colleges want you, not the activities that everyone does because they “look good” for colleges. This is especially true for volunteer hours…

Thank you so much!