So on my transcript (I know it varies for different schools), my semester grades and final (average of the two semester grades) grade will appear. Do colleges look at all these grades? Or do they only look at the final grade, and then, if they have questions, they look at the semester grades? Similarly, is GPA calculated by your semester grades or the final grades? Sorry if this is kind of a noob question.
They look at all the info sent by your HS. GPA sometimes is recalculated but often they just use what your HS provides
They don’t just look at the number; they also look at the rigor factor behind the number, i.e., what (easy or challenging) courses you took.