Do elite colleges take much consideration to upward gpa trends. I’d imagine they just look for students that have consistently been strong. Also how positively would my trend be seen?
Freshman year I had 3 B’s each semester and 4 A’s
Sophomore year I had 1 B first semester and 6 A’s then 2 B’s second semester and 5 A’s
Junior year aiming for straight A’s
Elite schools will always prefer a student who is strong and has always been strong. But many of them will take into consideration and upward grade trend and those who started out rough freshman year but then turned it around do end up with a shot. Depends entirely on the school; your sweet spot generally will be the “lower elites”–ie: not the top 10, 20 schools (these will be reaches no matter what).
For example, I can confirm BU 100% takes into account upward grade trend, alongside course rigor. ie: did your grades go up AND go up as your course rigor increased? If so, your freshman year won’t matter as much. There are other schools who examine/interpret academic records in the same way.