How do colleges look at a bad HS Freshman year?

Applying to College
1

<p>My rising Junior S is by no means a great student but has improved a lot during his Soph. and Jr. years - cum GPA of 3.1 for those two years with all college prep classes including 3 credits of Latin and really no layup classes. The problem is his Freshman year. Long story short, he’s very young for his grade and wasn’t well prepared to start HS. Ended up with lots of C’s. His poor Freshman year pulls his total cum down to 2.8. </p>

<p>My question is, will colleges give him some credit for this improvement? He got a 21 on his first ACT without any preparation. He will take again in the Fall and is committed to do some preparation this summer. He plays football and wrestles and is looking to do one of the two in college. He’s looking at D-III schools in Ohio which I think would be a good fit for him socially, academically, and athletically. Just wondering how high he should shoot given his grades are out of range from the profile of some of these schools. To his favor he has some nice awards from athletics (leadership, coach’s awards, etc.) which demonstrate a willingness to work hard.</p>

<p>Any input is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Improvement is always looked upon well. Many schools don’t even look at Freshman grades.</p>

3

<p>There is a college for everyone and the profile helps you find the “possible” matches but thats about it. This might be a good time to visit, express interest, and ask your questions to coaches and admissions reps.</p>

4

<p>There are so many threads on this; just look around the site. :P</p>