I messed up. Freshman and sophomore year i’m looking at a 3.2/3.3 GPA (out of 4). As a NJ student, I’m interested in schools such as UMass Amherst, Uconn, Rutgers etc. From my research, they all have admission averages of ~3.6/3.7. If I can get my GPA to that average or above in junior year, how will my chances look?
It would look a lot better! Do the best you can. An upward trend is favorable to you.
Yes, an upward trend is certainly a positive. An upward sloping 3.6 is better than a downward sloping 3.6. Junior year is the most important to admissions officers - the most recent, most advanced coursework, etc. It provides the best picture of your readiness for college.
Check the math to set your expectations. Unless you have many more courses/credits/weighting Junior year, a cumulative 3.25 for 2 years plus a 4.00 for one year would be a 3.50.
I think that you want to do as well as you possibly can next year. If you can get nearly all A’s next year this will help you a lot.
A daughter had an acquaintance who had a very mixed high school record, with a very strong junior year. The acquaintance was very nervous about admissions and applied to a large number of schools, including some solid safeties. They got into the large majority of schools that they applied to. The strong junior year was the most important part of this. I think that several of the schools waited to see first semester grades senior year (which were also very good in this particular case).
Your junior year will be the last full year of grades that universities will see. They understand that some students get their act together part way through high school.
Doing better in harder classes is always good.