Will colleges look past one bad semester?

<p>I'm a sophomore in high school and I kinda messed up by getting a 3.0 gpa weighted (2.8 unweighted) my first semester. Freshman year I got 2 B's and 4 A's both semesters. I'm trying my hardest to get above a 3.7 (UW) this semester and next year as a junior I'll be taking APUSH and 2 honors.
This year I joined water polo which was much harder for me to fit in than I thought. It was really time consuming and tiring since it was my first season (won't be doing polo next year). I know it isn't much of an excuse but I also had my first AP (euro) class this year and it was all too much for me. I have a chemistry and math tutor this semester.</p>

<p>My EC's
6 years of competitive swim
8 years of piano
2 years of violin
I can speak assyrian and am learning spanish in school (taking 5/6 next year)
Water polo 1 year
CSF since freshman year
tutored kids to read for 1 year (maybe do it again)
I was in a service learning class this year if that counts for anything
I was in speech and debate this semester (it became a new club at our school really late but we didn't have that many members and no on was able to make it to many meetings after a while)</p>

<p>I'm going to do Mock Trial next year and I'm just joined peer court and will start volunteering at a local hospital next month.
I'm also planning on making a short documentary this summer for my community.</p>

<p>I really want to get into UCSB, SDSU, USC, USF, CAL POLY SLO, UC DAVIS, or NYU.
(I'm also in-state for the california universities).</p>

<p>Do you think I've ruined my chances for any of these colleges??? I either want to study political science then go to law school, biology, or film
-I know they're all completely different subjects but I can never really choose :/</p>

<p>I got a C and 2 Bs in AP core classes my first semester junior year, as well as 2 bs second semester. Got into all the schools I applied to so far, which are in the top 20, also got accepted to Uchicago and got a likely letter from Cornell. Although I had an excuse (personal problems junior year), your bad grades happened sophomore year and aren’t as bad as mine. Just do better and show them an upward trend. Also, the schools you’re applying to aren’t the most competitive to be honest.</p>

<p>As long as you show an increasing trend in your grades, you should be okay. Just try your best not to show any more decreasing trends.</p>

<p>If you end up doing rather well your other semesters you should have a shot. My only concern is if you struggled with AP Euro how will you handle APUSH (which is known for produce a TON of work)?</p>

<p>If you struggled with AP Euro, I would tell you to look at your decision to take APUSH. As someone who took it as a Sophomore, I can say that it produces a boatload of work, and it is much more detail oriented when compared to AP Euro.</p>

<p>Also, your junior year is the focal year when it comes to college admissions. one terrible semester will not be fatal to your application if it is surrounded by strong, rigorous semesters.</p>

<p>Thanks, and I was worried about APUSH but I think the main reason I struggled first semester, especially the first couple months was because I had just joined water polo and we had 2 hour practices every day after school and tournaments every weekend which made me exhausted and almost no time for focusing on studying. So I’ll only be doing swim next year which is in spring so I’ll have the hang of every thing by then. Also AP Euro isn’t as “impossible” for me right now.</p>

<p>I just really want to try to get into UCSB or NYU, is there anything that I would have to do to get them to accept me with out hesitation??</p>