I had mild dysthymia, depression and recurring suicidal thoughts during my freshman and sophomore years of high school which ultimately bring down my cumulative GPA to a 3.6 UW, 3.8 Weighted. However, it has been dealt with and my work habits have improved. If I get a 5.0 junior and senior year (not guaranteed, but committed), add dual enrollment and achieve a 1500+ on the SAT, will colleges take note of that? I feel stupid because of my first two years of high school, and my parents told me that.
Yes, it definitely helps. Colleges accept seniors, not freshmen. Many colleges ignore freshman year grades.
Ask your GC to mention your situation. Also, if you think it reflects who you are, you can include in your essay what you learned about yourself/others as you made that turnaround.
I would respectfully disagree with the above comment – while your guidance counselor could note that you had some medical issues freshman and sophomore year that have been resolved, I would not suggest that you or your guidance counselor highlight depression/suicidal thoughts as that may be a red flag/cause for concern at some colleges.
4.0 (unweighted) is the best.
For non-4.0 GPA, upward trend is better than downward trend.
Yes! The upward trend will be a boost.
Yes, colleges like to see upward gpa trends. My son consistently went up in grades from freshman year on. I had his GC specifically point that out and even had a transcript sent that showed the trend more dramatically used because he went up every single quarter. The transcripts most high schools send to colleges show only the year end grades unless a course is only a semester in endurance.