All hope is lost?

<p>Hello. Transfer newbie here, I guess. Just finished my first semester of CC after high school and...well, it wasn't that great. At the beginning of the semester, I thought about transferring to UCSC under Psychology major, and took a few psych prereqs that also cleared some units for IGETC. About midway through the semester, I thought about other colleges I might want to go to and opened my options to UCB and UCLA, possibly under Psychology or English major (either way, both are pretty competitive for both schools). Now I'm pretty much sure that I want to go to either school (leaning towards UCLA).</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure I screwed up first semester. According to my dad, I pretty much have no hope in going to Berkeley or LA because of my low GPA. It's about a 2.5 right now, and that's pretty much my fault because I had no idea that I could drop classes, so I ended up getting a C in PreCal.</p>

<p>Is all hope really lost? I also asked my counselor if I could retake the class, and she told me I could... So if even if I retake PreCal and consistently do well for the rest of my time at the CC, would my chances of getting into UCB or UCLA be that slim? Is there any way for me to reverse the damage that's been done? </p>

<p>Any advise in getting through the entire CC/transfer ordeal would be great. Thanks!</p>

<p>I'm trying to think of how to put this the right way.... </p>

<p>You should let your dad know, nicely, that his guilt trip and false information aren't helpful to you at this point, but have the potential to be very damaging.</p>

<p>Anyway..</p>

<p>GPA is one of many factors considered when you apply to UC. Academic prep, personal statement, work experience, etc, also come into play as do many others.</p>

<p>Double check regarding the C you got in Pre-Calc. You might be able to re-take the class, get a better grade, which would replace your C.</p>

<p>But even if you can't do that, the UC's do recognize improving grade trends. If you started out kind of slow, but ended up acing almost every class, they will surely notice that and see it as a good thing.</p>

<p>It's also good that you found this website early, as it will probably come in very handy to you along the way.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks! Yeah, I've cruised this site before, and have pored over the UC transfer agreements from the websites and figured I would be okay if I work really hard (since it's just my first semester). His conviction really shook me though, which is why I figured it wouldn't hurt to get some more opinions.</p>

<p>I definately agree with Edward04 and besides it IS only your first semester. One not-so-great-semester will not doom you. Make sure to take a well balanced course load is my advice to you. Balance taking a couple of harder courses with rather easier and basic ones. It's up to you to decide where your academic fortes and weaknesses lie and trust your instinct. It's worked for me and the GPA is nice. :) Best of luck!</p>

<p>Not to mention that PreCal isn't relevant to either of your majors. </p>

<p>We're not so different you and I. I was debating between psych and english for a while but finally settled on english, and I want to go to ucla aswell. You might be interested in an english minor, the psychology major at UCLA is one of the lesser demanding as far as how many courses are required so alot of the psych students pick up a minor.</p>

<p>I was taking PreCal because it was one of the prereqs for UCSC's psych major, and I think it was a possible prereq for UCB's psych major too, but aside from that, yeah, I don't think I really need the class. For math, stats would probably be more appropriate. </p>

<p>I'm leaning more towards English major/Design+Media Arts minor for UCLA (lolwut?) but I'll definitely keep your idea in mind too since I still have a thing for psychology. If I end up going to Berkeley, Psych/English would probably be the way to go. Thanks!</p>

<p>I plan to major in Psych too(as well as Sociology) and it is extremely competitive at UCB(probably at UCLA too). I just finished my first semester at the junior college and for the first time in my life, I'm feeling the grade pressure(despite it being high, I have to maintain it). </p>

<p>While you could probably get into UCLA's Psych program with a lower GPA than you would need to get to go to UCB, the pre-reqs are also more intense. You have to take an additional semester of math(on top of stats), chemistry, and physics. Assuming you didn't take any AP classes/tests in high school like me, such requirements are fairly demanding. I also suck at math, so as of now, UCLA seems unappealing to me. </p>

<p>Sorry for my rant. My point is that while all hope is not lost, it will be much more difficult to get into an impacted major at either UC with you having to fight to catch your GPA up by basically getting straight A's. Again, it all depends on your major. Looking at some of the acceptance/rejection threads here, I've seen Psych majors with 3.95's rejected from UCB and English majors with 3.4's accepted. Same for UCLA. They use that holistic approach to admissions that is hardly cut and dry.</p>

<p>Iono, the only way I can imagine a psych major w/ a 3.95 getting rejected is if that person didn't complete the pre-req's or something. </p>

<p>As for the English major's getting in w/ a 3.4... I imagine the english major type probably sucks at math and science and perhaps their gpa is much higher in the classes that are pertinent to their major. Not to mention English majors write the bombest essays :)</p>

<p>i would think it would be better to get below a 3.0 now when you're still getting adjusted rather than getting under a 3.0 when you're about to transfer.</p>

<p>i wouldn't worry too much about having a lower GPA. i have a friend that went from community college and into berkeley with only a 3.2 overall GPA. so all hope is not lost.</p>