I am a current college student planning to transfer.
In 12th grade, I took an online dual enrollment course at GT. During that semester, I experienced a family emergency (the loss of my dog) and had significant technical issues with mandatory proctoring software during my exams. The professor was unwilling to make any accommodations. I ended up with a final grade of F in the course.
However, since enrolling full-time at my current 4-year university (University of Georgia), I have maintained a 3.97 GPA in engineering coursework and am in the Honors College. My cumulative GPA, which includes that old F, is around a 3.4 and rising.
When I apply to transfer to schools (Current places include Emory, UIUC, GT, UMich, Duke, USC), will admissions committees focus on my strong current GPA and upward trend, or will that one bad grade from 12th grade permanently overshadow my record? Is there any way to have that grade considered in the context of the circumstances at the time?