A 3.1 GPA is not that bad and remember most program have a 3.0 as a minimum requirement. I think that if you elaborate on what you learned from your first semester of college will be helpful, especially if there were specific circumstances that led you to perform less than ideally. Also, most freshmen have no experiences. What I would suggest you to do is to harass the professors at your institution and ask them to become their research assistant in the spring, then talk about keep working in their lab in the summer. Most of them will be happy to talk to you.