GPA vs grade trends for transfer students?

I’m a former Terrible Student™ that gave up in 2017, and recently got my act together in the spring with the hope of transferring to a CSU for Fall 2021. Since re-enrolling, I’ve had almost all As and my individual semester GPAs are great; BUT because of how poorly I did before, even if I were to Ace every single lower-division course left, my overall GPA would only be 2.8 at best (according to a GPA calculator I found).

For a transfer student with a poor GPA, is there a chance they might consider the positive trends in my grades after the gap, rather than solely the overall GPA? Or should I save myself the time/heartbreak and look into other options? If it’s relevant, my CC is part of the California CC system, although I don’t entirely understand what that entails.

Yes, the CSU’s will put more emphasis on your more recent grades than grades from 3 years ago. That said, did you repeat any courses where you Received a D or F? Did you look into academic renewal? Both of these would help eliminate some of those lower grades and make you a more competitive applicant.

Good to know they do consider time! So much of the information I find is skewed towards freshmen, it’s very hard to understand what’s different for transfers…

I did repeat a few courses, but I have never heard of academic renewal! According to my school website, there are only 3 of my courses applicable for that, but it’s definitely something. Thank you very much for the advice!

as long as you’ve passed the required classes, the non-impacted campuses would be fine with a 2.8

https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/degrees-certificates-credentials/Pages/impacted-degrees.aspx

also, in most cases, your ‘local’ CSU wiil also be an option.
https://www2.calstate.edu/Apply/freshman/Documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf

Pulling your GPA up through re-taking and/or academic renewal will open up more options.

good luck