How well is an upward trend in GPA looked at?

Applying to College
1

I’m currently a freshman in college, and I am trying to transfer to a different college for my Sophomore year. I ended my first semester very poorly with a 1.9 GPA. I live on campus, and I let the freedom and laziness get to me too much, and it affected my school work. I have completely changed gears, and am looking towards a very positive and productive second semester.

Some of the schools I was looking at to possibly transfer to are University of New Hampshire, UMass Amherst, CU Boulder, and Penn State (2+2 Program). Some of these schools are hard to get into, and my first semester really killed my hopes for some of these schools.

Ideally, lets assume I get a 3.5 GPA or higher for my second semester. How well will that be looked at for these schools? Will it help me get into these schools, or has my first semester GPA completely killed it?

2

The improving GPA will make your case better, but that is really all anyone can really say with your given context.

3

Apply and see what happens. You may be better off staying put for 2 years and showing 3 semesters of strong grades before transferring.

4

Im in the psu 2+2 program and i can say if you are trying to transfer to a smallee campus then you will be fine cause they don’t go too hard on accepting, however if for the last 2 yrs you wanna go to UP then you should stay put and work really hard then transfer to up. For a smaller campus student to UP all you need is a 2.0 and a C or better in 3 classes for your major. Idk abt outside transfers tho