Quarter and mid term grades

So what’s the deal with sending quarter and mid term grades for college apps? I’m interested in applying to Columbia ED and on their website they say they require quarter grades for ED applicants and mid term grades for RD applicants. How much weight is put on these senior year grades? Will my cumulative GPA be looked at with or without these grades, as well as class rank? I had some lower grades freshmen year due to some personal problems but was apply to bring them up, so could doing will senior year with a heavy IB/AP course load (like I had junior year and received all A’s) help compensate for some not so good freshmen year grades and bring up my GPA? Help please I’m v confused

able not applying

Your cum GPA will be used WITH the senior year grades. Yes, a rising GPA with more difficult classes will help.

So if I want my cumulative GPA to include senior grades then I should apply RD?

Because my school doesn’t update GPAs during quarters, only at the end of the semester

When I applied to colleges last fall, almost all of my applications were Early action since they were non-binding; I wasn’t going to mess with applications my second semester of senior year. That being said, when considering grades for application statuses, when you apply, only your first semester senior year grades will show up on your transcript for either ED or RD. Normally decisions on applications don’t get released till around late March maybe February at the earliest, so then you’ll need to provide your college with what are called “midyear” grades, normally your counselor sends these out automatically if you’re using common app, otherwise you’ll have to request them. Even then, don’t fool around your second semester of senior year because colleges still request a final transcript at the end of school year, and this can also make or break you, as some colleges will retract admission if you have abnormally low averages that second semester.

My advice would be apply ED or EA, because it takes off so much of the stress of second semester and gives you some good news to look forward to as well. All of the above advice was how it was for me when I was applying, and I hope it helps!

Thanks for the advise!