My first two years of high school were pretty bad grade wise but junior year I raised my GPA a significant amount. Would be better off using first semester senior year to bring it higher to improve my chances at some EA schools or just apply EA? Obviously I’m going to try to raise it as much as I can but will the college still look at it if I apply EA? Will they even look at it if I apply RD?
Figure out how much would that improve your GPA and whether the school has high EA rejection rate like Stanford. If the school has a low EA rejection rate like UMich, you may still apply EA as they would just defer you if not accepted EA. Otherwise, you may want to bring up your GPA, work more on your essay, and get a better score before applying RD.