Do transfer schools realize/care about how rigorous your past programs were?

For reference I went to SUNY ESF for one year, and got a 2.7. If you know anything about SUNY ESF you would realize that for a freshman GPA that is average, if not above. My current plan is to transfer to my home college and get my grades up and then hopefully go to Baruch. I’m just curious to see if my ESF Grades will help/hurt me in the future.

Thank you everyone in advance!!

Colleges and universities have general notions about the grading system at other institutions. But raise your GPA anyway.