So I’m preparing my TAP, as I’m looking to transfer into a UC after much thought. These are my stats so far. I’m honestly not thrilled about my GPA. I did poorly for about 3 semesters because I was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation for a year. I’m currently rocking it this semester and I have a good feeling I’m going to finish with a 4.0 this semester. I calculated that if I get A’s during Fall 2018 and Spring 2019, I should have an overall 3.23 GPA and 3.32 GPA that is Assist Certified. My biggest concern is that I will not qualify for TAG, due to my high number of units~ I’ve been in CC since 2013. I really hope I get accepted to UCSB as an English major and can somehow sway the admissions people with my cancer story and personal stories that I can weave into explaining my crappy GPA. I currently work two jobs and I’ll be interviewing for my third job ASAP. I have 100+ hours of community service and both of my jobs are through a school district working with students via AVID and I work at a retail store. I’m planning in joining the Associated Student Government at my CC and joining two clubs this upcoming week. Can someone tell me that I have hope in being accepted somewhere :((
Current Status
ASSIST Certified Courses: 3.02 83.00/124.50
Non-ASSIST Certified Courses: 1.35 9.33/ 14.00
Overall: 2.82 92.33/138.50
After completion of Spring 2018 Courses
ASSIST Certified Courses: 3.24 79.00/118.50
Non-ASSIST Certified Courses: 2.64 9.33/ 14.00
Overall: 3.17 88.33/132.50
What major are you looking at?
Based on your GPA alone you look good for UCSC, UCM, UCR, and certain majors in UCSB and UCD. I wouldn’t put UCSD out of the question because of your story, either. I don’t know much about UCI.
Bottom line, yes you will get in somewhere! Probably UCSB. This is holistic review, your PIQS and ECs matter too!!
Just make sure you have all major requirements done, preferably by fall.
congrats on your remission and all that you’ve accomplished too.
You’re a warrior. Honestly, the ECs are nice but I’d rest easy on joining all of those clubs and focus on academics. Your priority should be raising you GPA as best as you can in the 1 year that you have left. See if you can retake any classes that were lower than a C. UCs only look at the higher score for repeat classes for GPA calculation.
I saw some ppl on the UCSB transfer forum this year get in with a similar GPA w/o TAG. Tho it wasn’t too many. So yeah as I already said, do whatever you can to raise the GPA. You already have enough ECs and an excellent story to talk about in your essays. Joining all those clubs and ASG could deter you from what schools care about the most, esp for us transfers. (They don’t care about ECs for us nearly as much as they do for HS)
Thank you for the reassurance @OhWhatsHerName ! I’m looking into majoring in English! I hope its not a popular major at UCSB, since thats the only UC I’d like to attend! I have quite a lot to add onto my personal insights, so I’m not too concerned about that. I’ll be starting to volunteer at the library as an literacy assistant; to help those who unfortunately do not know how to read
@ericbadmon Thank you so much, it’s greatly appreciated! I’m currently retaking 2 classes this semester to make up for the one’s I got below a C. I’m sure I’ll be getting A’s in them!
Bad B!!! All I can say is a) wow! You’re amazing! and b) there are a few boxes on the UC app especially for explaining circumstances, this definitely qualifies for that! I think they’ll understand, to say the least!
@vrios95 You should also consider applying to UCLA for the American Literature & Culture major - this is basically the non-impacted alternative for the English major, and for last year it had a 73% acceptance rate with the 25th percentile GPA being 3.39 and the 75th percentile GPA at 3.73.
If you will be getting TAP Honors certified, you might stand a pretty good chance at UCLA with American Lit & Cult.
Non-assist certified courses in CC should not factor into your GPA, so you have that going for you! I’m sure you’ll get in somewhere great - but they won’t factor in Spring 2019 grades if you’re applying to transfer in Fall 2019.
Also, if you retake a class under a C, the old grade will not factor into calculation of your GPA. You might want to check with your CC if they offer academic renewal (I think that’s what it’s called?) where you can get bad grades wiped from your transcript.
But don’t overwork yourself! It’s hard enough to get straight A’s and work two jobs. Joining a club or two really won’t help you much in the long run, and it could be really burdensome.
I second the comment about applying to the American Literature & Culture major at UCLA. I’ve heard that, if you get accepted, you can change your major to English without much trouble. I’m not sure if things have changed, though.