GPA Trend

With only a 4.05 cumulative GPA, I’m not sure how much of an impact my GPA trend will have. Here are my grades:

9th: 3.6
10th: 3.9
11th: 4.2
12th: 4.5

I’m interested to know how much this trend actually affects my chances of getting into a school. In other words, how much better is it to have this upward trend than just a flat 4.05 GPA?

It always better to maintain a high GPA all 4 years, but an upward trend is the next best thing.