You will still have a good college to go to with your current GPA. You need to breathe, relax, and realize that this gives you opportunity to look for the schools that are the best fit for you.
There are some big unknowns, such as the budget and what your standardized test scores will be. But, if you are correct in thinking that they will be “strong,” then I think these are some schools (roughly categorized from what I think are the schools most likely to least likely to grant an acceptance):
Group 1
- Florida Gulf Coast
- Illinois State
- Long Island (NY)
Group 2
- DePaul (IL)
- Loyola Chicago (IL)
- Saint Louis (MO)
- U. of Missouri - Columbia
Group 3
- Hofstra
- Syracuse (NY)
- U. of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
- U. at Buffalo (NY)
- U. of Tampa (FL)
Group 4
- Chapman
- Loyola Marymount
- U. of San Diego
Also consider the possibility of starting at a Florida community college with a transfer agreement with U Florida. You could race through the 2 yr degree (probably already have AP or dual enrollment credits, could also do CLEP credits) in one year, and then transfer to U Florida with the 2 yr degree and spend 3 yrs there, possibly coming out with an MA in a total of 4 yrs, and at less cost than most other options.
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Fyi Emory disregards 9th grade grades.
Take heart! You are most certainly not the only kid in this situation!! Unfortunately lots of kids fell off a cliff with online learning and covid. One of my sons did (though he was already in college). Keep up your excellent work – it will pay off, and makes the freshman grades explainable. This is where holistic admissions helps you. You are more than a gpa.
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oh my gosh. this made me feel so much better thank you, sometimes i really do feel like i am alone and am too afraid to admit (unless online behind an alias lol) that i fell off during covid online learning 
i will continue to show an upwards trend. i appreciate this, thank you!
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As someone mentioned upthread, you should be sure to take advantage of the section on the common app that allows you to explain covid-related circumstances that affected your learning, especially those that might be specific to you.
My D23 put certain things in that section that were very specific to her situation that were probably different from many students because of a policy unique to her high school. The issue came up during an interview with an admission counselor and it was actually kind of nice to just be able talk about it and have the admission counselor express so much compassion for what students have been through and an understanding that many students did not have the opportunity to show their potential.
I think you will be fine.
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