<p>I'm a sophomore at a CCC (California Community College) and my anticipated graduation date is Spring 2015. I have to wait a year because I would've had to cram my last 5 classes into next semester and I don't think that's a smart idea considering the difficulty of the classes I need. This semester I took Elementary Algebra, Modern World Problems, US Government and Politics, Spanish 1, and Macroeconomics. My current transferable GPA (not including the Fall 2013 semester) is 2.4 and my cumulative GPA is 2.035. My major is Political Science. </p>
<p>Here's my dilemma: I want to go to UC Davis with all of my heart. I've worked my butt off every single day. I'm no straight A student, not even close actually, but I'm still a good student who tries very hard. I'm trying my hardest to build my GPA back up. I don't get this semester's grades until tomorrow, but I feel like my Macroeconomics class is going to affect me, and it's definitely a class I would not be able to pass no matter how many times I retook it. It sucks because by the time I found out. I didn't need the class, it was already too late to drop it. I know that it's unlikely that I'll be able to complete the UCTAG requirements before I apply next fall, but I'm still going to apply without the TAG. No matter how hard. I try to take the right classes and get the best grades I can, but I always find a way to screw it up somehow. I know that I could go to any CSU in the state if I wanted to, but I really don't want to. Settling for a CSU is like settling for mediocrity to me, and I don't want to be mediocre. I'm sick of being mediocre! I had spent all of high school being a ****-poor excuse for a student to the point that community college was my only option upon graduating. I felt like such a failure. Then I tried to redeem myself in college, having some slip-ups along the way (including a failed class which I'm considering applying for academic renewal for). Each semester I've tried to cram all of these hard classes and twice out of three times it has come back to haunt me. It worked out once last spring and I was very happy--so happy in fact that I thought I could do it again, but it didn't really work out that way this time. I've never slacked off, but I think my problem is that I keep overwhelming myself. If I manage to get my GPA to a 3.0, or even just a 2.8 (although 3.0 is obviously what I'm aiming for), do you think that the UC system will like that I kept trying as demonstrated by my class load and my admissions essay? I'm trying to be as optimistic as I can because I don't want to be told that I'll never be able to go to Davis. That just makes me work even harder, just as it has done since I graduated high school. I won't settle for anything less than what I feel I've worked my hardest for. I won't settle for a CSU. Will the UC system appreciate my efforts? Any additional advice? Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>If you’re motivated to improve, you’ll be just fine, if you improve. I was talking to the owner of a local magic shop who’s very well connected, and he said that all the successful people he knew were addicted to self improvement. Many lost a lot of weight, learned how to manipulate themselves (psychology), improved conversational skills, and the rest. </p>
<p>School is no different. If you want to do well in school, you need to be self motivated and socially savvy. There’s a book called What Smart Students Know (recommended elsewhere on this forum), which is a great representation of our school system and how to work within it. Another one I’d recommend is Thinking Fast and Slow (more if you’re into psychology, but still good even if you’re not).</p>
<p>Bottom line: Go to school because you love to learn, and do things that are consistent with that passion. Read a lot, and talk to people about the coursework. If you can’t remember things consciously, read about memory (I’d recommend The Memory Book, by Harry Lorayne). Just do what it takes.</p>
<p>If you really think you’re UC-material, you’re gonna need to prove it to them by having a UC-material GPA. Your current one doesn’t even meet the minimum GPA requirements and even a 3.0 is unlikely to get you into Davis.</p>
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<p>Do you have any examples of this? How are you screwing things up? Does it have to do with outside factors that are out of your control or perhaps just bad study habits?</p>
<p>As for my screw ups, I would say that overwhelming myself would be #1. There have been some outside factors: sickness would be one, but it hasn’t really been a major problem. I have a problem of taking classes that I think I need, start having difficulty with the material, finding out I don’t need the class after all, and then it will be too late to drop. That’s happened to me twice now. All of the classes I have taken that I definitely need I have done well with, nothing below a C, but I feel like I’m still a good student. I feel like those Cs could have been As if I just took my time and didn’t take 5 classes at once. I’m definitely taking it slow next semester. I know that an above 3.0 GPA will give me the best odds, but I’m just being realistic looking at what I have so far. Realistically, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attain a GPA higher than that by the time I’m ready to transfer. I would gladly retake the classes I got Cs in, but once you pass a class with a C or higher, they won’t let you take it again, or at least that’s what I’ve heard. I know I can write a killer essay, and I’m planning on using the year I have in-between transferring to build up my extracurriculars: find internships, get a job, etc. I’m a political science major so I was thinking of trying to get an internship with the local congressman. If I can’t get that, I’ll keep looking. Trust me, the last thing I am is lazy, but I’m going to have such a hard time conveying that on my application because there are Cs instead of Bs, Bs instead of As. What should I do?</p>
<p>HaleyKatz, you need to take either Macroeconomics or Microeconomics for Political Science at UC Davis. That is required. According to Assist.org</p>
<p>Thank you, Ocnative. I looked a few weeks ago but I guess they were in the process of updating the page because there were only POLSC classes listed. I guess I’ll have to retake it, depending on my grade of course.</p>
<p>Last spring I took calc 1. After 2 quizzes I knew that I was really underprepared so I dropped the class. Last summer I took accounting and intro to business. During my free time I would study calculus. This semester I’ve taken 19 units. accounting, political science, ethics, geology with lab and calculus. Currently I am on track to get all As (besides poll sci because my teacher hates me). So from my point of view taking 5 classes isn’t exactly a big deal. In fact, if you are full-time student I would expect you to take beyond the min 12 units. </p>
<p>Even so I knew for a fact that I couldn’t handle a semester full of calc, calc based physics, chemistry, cs. Sometimes we have to really know our limits. With your GPA, you really need to just get an AA-T and transfer into whatever CSU will take you.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your predicament, and I hope that you can change things around. Do you know how many units and grades/gpa you will have by the end of this Fall semester? Just going by your cumulative GPA and transfer GPA, if you’re really serious about attending UCD, majority of your grades are going to have to be A’s, couple B’s, and nothing less than that. Luckily, you’re target graduation date is a year and a half from now which is plenty of time to take/retake classes and build up your GPA. If you keep seeing major improvements in your grade, but you don’t have the gpa that you want, you could also delay your graduation by one more year.</p>
<p>Honestly though, if your cumulative GPA is a 2.035 (C average), that tells me that you have a habit of doing C quality work, and the likelihood that you start getting straight A’s is going to be really tough. Without knowing the full situation, your 2.035 GPA could also mean that you have taken very few units so far. If you’re serious about UCD, you’re ganna have to make some serious changes from your past studying habits.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posters. You need to be realistic about the situation at hand. I would work on getting the best GPA I can and transfer into a CSU they’re great schools. If you are struggling in Econ at the CC level. You will for sure drown at the 4 year level.</p>
<p>I took 18 units this semester, and depending on what I get in my ECON class I’ll either get the full 18 or just 15, but I’ll redo ECON if need be. Before this semester started I only had 23 units completed, so I’m glad I have the next year to try and dilute the Cs with as many As as possible. And @bomerr, I won’t settle for a CSU. If I wanted to go to a CSU I could just transfer this coming fall, but I know I can do better. I’m just off to a bit of a rocky start. I just need to organize myself better and I can do it. I know it. </p>
<p>I can transfer to Humboldt State this coming fall, but it doesn’t have the best reputation. I’ve already been guaranteed admission to HSU which probably means that I’ll get into every CSU I applied for, but I hate the idea that I might have to settle for a mediocre school when I’ve done nothing but try my hardest to get into a great school.</p>
<p>I can understand not wanting to goto a CSU, I personally am only applying to UCLA, UCB and USC. With that said at my lowest I had a 3.5 gpa with 24 units completed. I didn’t even try my 1st semester and I somehow ended up with an A in macro-econ. So 24 units with a 2.0 gpa is a lot. </p>
<p>FYI Only UCB, UCLA, UCI and UCM even read personal statements as part of the admissions process, the other schools only use them for scholarships. So sorry but no one will care that you have tried your hardest. Your gpa + pre-recs will be entered into the system and a decision will be made. But this still doesn’t take into consideration the most important point.</p>
<p>Like the stan said. If you are struggling this much at CC, you will drown at a University. A 2.0 graduate from UC isn’t exactly much different than a 2.0 GPA graduation from CSU. </p>
<p>If you can somehow completely change what kind of student you are (like I did) then you have a chance (get 40+ units of straight As), if not then you gotta be realistic about your future.</p>
<p>Lol you’re calling CSU’s medicore, really?? Trust me, you’re barely above a 2.0 GPA, which I believe is the minimum for the CSUs. You’re grades are mostly C’s not cause you’re sick or anything but you’re not putting in the required effort. Honestly, you need to get all A’s from now on to at least get it above 3.2 for Davis. Grind now, so you won’t have to “settle” later.</p>
<p>I go to College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA. It’s in a rural area with not many students, but I don’t know if that makes a difference. Do UCs have quotas of where to get their students from or no? I’m not sure. </p>
<p>Thank you for your brutal honesty, everyone. I really needed to hear it. Regardless, I’m still going to try and turn my act around. Luckily I have that year and a half to discipline myself more and build up my extracurriculars. To transfer to UCs, is the maximum 70 units?</p>
<p>I’m actually getting mostly Bs at this point, with maybe two or three Cs sprinkled in there. My big slip-up was a class I failed in my first semester which I’m applying for academic renewal for. Once I take care of that my GPA will go back up.</p>
<p>For California resident transfer students, UC minimum GPA is 2.40, and CSU minimum GPA is 2.00 (calculated only on transferable courses for each system). However, campuses or majors may be more selective than that.</p>
<p>When UC Statfinder was up (most recent data in 2008-2009), it did indicate that transfer students with prior college GPA of 3.0 or lower tended to get about the same GPA at UC (the less selective ones, obviously, since such students tend not to get into more selective ones like UCB or UCLA). At the higher end of the GPA scale, GPA at UC was slightly less than prior college GPA (e.g. 3.8-4.0 prior college GPA => 3.4-3.7 GPA at UC).</p>