How do colleges view improvement over the years?

Applying to College
1

<p>In my fresh year I got like a 3.96 with one AP and no ECs and then in my sophomore I did 2 APs and a few ECs but did drop to 3.88 or something, and this year I am doing 5 AP courses and acing everything as well as putting in volunteer work, leveraging myself for leadership positions of a few major clubs, drawing up plans to found my own club, and have a strong shot at winning this local scholarship to do community service in a foreign (developing) nation. </p>

<p>So my question is will colleges appreciate how much I've changed in terms of ambition and social ability or will I be hurt because I was really detached during my first few years?</p>

<p>Also a question from a thread I made that went unanswered, how does your high schools status affect your admissions? My school is like 85% nonwhite, lots of nonenglish, migrant, etc and has a horrible academic reputation (we average about 10-15 passes on AP tests out of maybe 400 tests taken, I got 2 5's and a 4 so far though).</p>

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<p>I dont know the answer to your second question, but as for the first I would say that you will not be hurt by your slight decrease in GPA. It only dropped .08 and you increased your number of APs. I would say this year try to stick around the same, but as long as you stay above like a 3.8 I think you should be fine because you are taking 3 more aps than last year, which obviously makes this year a much more difficult courseload</p>