I first attended college A, but had many personal problems, failed many classes, and eventually dropped out and returned to my home country. Three years later, I applied to local college B, where I started from the beginning and ended up earning excellent grades, strong GRE scores, lots of research experience, and good letters of recommendation.
I now intend to apply to PhD programs in the US/Canada, but the following has me worried. I understand that the answers depend on the school in question, but I need to know since it costs money to apply. If possible, please answer from the POV of an admissions committee:
How much will the grades from school 'A' hurt my application? Will the admission committees from renowned research schools look at my grades and reject my application outright?
Is it possible to turn my case into a narrative of triumph over depression and make me an even stronger candidate?
Can you point to any case similar to mine and how they ended up?