<p>Hey guys! </p>
<p>This is actually my first post. I hope some of you can take some time out of your busy day to reply to my distress. You see, I had a 4.00 GPA last semester, but thats a completely different story now. I got depressed a few months ago and it hurt my grades so badly it dropped down to a 3.14. I got back up on my feet a moth ago, but it was too late to fix anything, I think my final semester GPA will be a 3.33 or something. My dream has always been to go to UCLA in the future, but I think its time I give up that dream. Should I even try anymore? Can I even get into a UC like Davis or San Diego? Honestly, should I still try in my Junior year?</p>
<p>You can still try, but if you’re going to be a junior in the fall, you would need to take a full load of AP courses and do really well to pull your GPA up. The other option would be to go to a community college first and then transfer to a UC school. If UCLA, or UCD, or UCSD is your goal, that would be the path to take. Good luck.</p>
<p>Your whole post is exhibits a horrible attitude. Your dream of attending a particular college is immature. Get a better dream, one that is within your control and one that will take you beyond college. </p>
<p>Step 1: Do the very best that you can.
Step 2: Assess where you should apply to college. </p>
<p>Any other approach is complete BS and you’re already a complete loser if you think that either a) your life is already ruined because you won’t get into a specific college, or b) It’s EVER not worth trying your best. </p>
<p>Sorry to be harsh, but you need to own your own life and strive for excellence at all times! The college you attend is a means not an end. If you’re doing your best and you know it, you’ll have a positive outlook on life and good things will happen regardless of how well you actually do. If you’re not even trying you’re wasting your time and everyone else’s and you might as well flip burgers, and no I don’t want fries with that. </p>
<p>The college stuff is irrelevant if you’re considering not trying your best.</p>
<p>I say that there is nothing wrong with applying. It’s not like it’s hard work.</p>
<p>Anyway if you get a 4.0 next year, you will end up with a 3.55ish. It is worth remembering that colleges look at junior grades more than sophomore and freshman grades. If your depression was a serious problem you can put it in your essay or personal statement or “do you want to tell us anything else” box. They might cut you some slack. And high course rigor (APs?) could also help. </p>
<p>But yeah, they are all still reaches. I feel like your chances as Davis or Irvine might still be reasonable, but IDK.</p>
<p>Also if it was a really serious reason why you did poorly, your guidance counselor can send a letter explaining that.</p>
<p>While I think ClassicRockerDad sounds a bit… well, way overly harsh, to put it nicely, I think he has a good point. It’s dumb to just stop trying because you can’t get into one school. Just do the best you can. You don’t know if your shot at UCLA is over. Pick yourself up, excel, and apply.</p>
<p>Hell, if I took your attitude in high school with my 2.9 freshman GPA after being smacked around bad by severe depression, I guess I’d never have gotten into any college at all. Not worth trying because most decent schools would reject a 2.9er, right? I ended up graduating at the top of my class with high honors and got in somewhere decent. Was it where I could have gone if I’d always been a good student? Probably not, but I picked myself back up and tried hard anyway. That’s what matters.</p>
<p>Agree with rockerdad. Listen to him.</p>