Making up for low GPA

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Is there a way to make up for a lower than desired GPA?
In my specific case, I received a weighted 4.0 first semester and a 4.3 second semester both my freshman and sophomore years. I was dealing with a number of personal problems at the time and was not able to focus completely on school. I really turned my grades around my junior year and got a weighted 5.0 last semester and am on track to do it again this semester. I am also taking a second science class this year so that i have 7 AP/IB classes. This leaves my GPA at a weighted 4.47 for 9-11 and 4.62 for 10-11. My UC GPA is a 4.0.

I participate in Track and Cross Country and am involved in a number of extracurriculars such as hospital volunteering and refereeing. I have a decent SAT score of 2180 (planning to retake in June) and participate in National Honors Society and the Pre-Med club at my school. I currently attend one of the top public high schools in California and I am confident in my potential letters of rec and application essays. Due to the competitiveness of my high school, my class ranking isn’t too high (20th percentile most likely). My dream school is Duke University. I plan to major in Bio Chemistry or some other sort of biological major as I hope to attend medical school.

Primarily, I was wondering if there was a way to make up for my lower than desired overall GPA?
Additionally, do colleges take notice in the fact that I greatly improved academically from my first two years to my third? If so, how much will it help my chances of getting into Duke or other universities such as UC Berkeley and Northwestern? Will they focus more on my potential abilities or will they focus more on my early high school performance?
Lastly, how big of a role does race play in acceptance rates? Does my Latino ethnicity affect my chances in either a positive or negative way?

Any advice to finish out my high school career is greatly appreciated!

2

Wow. You literally the same stats as me… 20th rank, weighted gpa, UC gpa, IB/AP classes.

What I did to make up for my low GPA (3.6 unweighted - 4.3 weighted - 4.0 UC GPA) was to participate in meaningful and significant ec’s that correlated to my intended major in college. I also happen to volunteer alot.
Yes, colleges will definitely see a (hopefully) upward trend in your grades as a good sign but to what extent? I do not know. I cannot explicitly tell you your chances for top colleges/universites without your complete resume (SAT/ACT, awards, ec’s etc…). However always remember that top universities (especially Berkeley) do not want that 4.0 unweighted gpa 2400 sat student if he does not have some form of extracurricular or wrote a bland essay. Colleges want well-rounded individuals. I can only speak for UC Berkeley on this but, since they use the holistic approach during admissions, they will look at you from a specific context, and not solely from your grades. The UC’s do NOT factor in race/ethnicity or gender as it goes against Prop. 209 banning Affirmative Action. As a result, being Latino does not give you any form of advantage. However, if you are 1st generation or low income, that is a different story.
Advice for your high school career: Pad up your ec’s more and truly stand out from other applicants by doing something not many people would do (Perhaps an internship?) Try to get the best grades possible, of-course. Good luck!

3

What does that put your UW GPA at?