Economics grad school GPA and grade requiemrnts

[rabolisk]

Generally in my collage we have 3 statistics and 3 calculus courses for an Econ major. An introductory course, an intermediate course and an advanced course. They're all pre-requisites and you have to take them in order as they build upon the previous course. My question is, my grades for the intermediate courses are poor, C and D+ respectively, while the advanced courses they're much better A and A- respectively, mostly because I've pulled my butt and worked harder. While this affects my GPA, do Econ grad schools look at overall GPA? Or do they just look at the hardest courses you've taken? Common sense would tell that if you can master the later courses then you probably know the material that builds upon it, and they should be ignored. However do grad schools take that into consideration?

Thanks in advance.