Is it too late for me to improve my chances of getting into my first choice college?

im a junior in high school. and i want to get into unc. unc is pretty competitive. they only accept 35% of their applicants. im an in state resident and a lot of people from my area will probably be applying. i didn't do so well my first two years of high school, but now im determined to do something about it. what can i do, besides improve my gpa (3.2 right now) and sat scores? is it too late for me? will taking easy unc courses help me? what kind of extra curriculars should i do? (im planning to do summer college this summer) its it really important that i join clubs at school? what if i just want to volunteer at the hospital, summer college etc.? are those enough?

my second question: if they say that you should apply for colleges before senior year or during first semester of senior year, does that mean that half or all of senior year doesnt even count? i mean, do colleges even see your grades from senior year?

Is it too late for me to improve my chances of getting into my first choice college?the grand theater

It's never too late. I didn't even plan on going to college until all my friends did the 'where are you going?!' So I applied to 1 school and got in.. lucky me. Any who... on to question number two... They still look at what you do your second semester of HS. But as long as you don't fail all of your classes you're fine.

Is it too late for me to improve my chances of getting into my first choice college?soap opera opera theater

Nope, it's never too late. If anything, colleges love to see improvement. Plus, you can write about how you turned a new leaf yadda yadda in your essay to account for your first two years, and show how you've changed.

Since your grades and SATs aren't impressive, focus on extracurricular activites, and I mean focus. The easiest way is to join clubs (with the intention of becoming an officer the following year), but since you'd only be starting junior year it's probably okay to just volunteer outside of school. Put a lot of effort into volunteering, though, don't just do it so you can put it on your application. That's cheap. Plus, if you work hard, you can get a good recommendation from your supervisor.

Your question "are those enough?" worries me. If you really, really want to get into this school, that's the wrong type of attitude to have. Do as much as you can.

Junior year counts the most, but senior year is important as well. Colleges evaluate your grades at the end of the year as well, and if they're not happy with them, they have every right to take you off the accepted list.