So I’m in a big predicament with an awful GPA in community college. Right now I have a 2.6 GPA, with 56 credits… I know AWFUL - Got a 1.5 in a class at the first community college I went to ( intro to sociology - I didn’t take the class seriously and got lazy, this was my first or second quarter out of high school and was stupid) and ended up moving to another state and transferred to a different community college and got a D (computer science - which is the major I’m going for) this recent spring quarter and have just dropped Calculus based Physics (211) (First withdrawal), this summer and a lot of this spring-summer complications have been due to work related problems of hours of working > study time which has caused the D and withdrawal. I underestimated workload and didn’t put a lot of things into consideration. Me dropping this physics class will put me back a quarter or two in receiving my AA science transfer degree, due to me needing to take 3 consecutive physics classes (211,212,213)
My plan is to boost my GPA with the last 34 credits I need, to receive my AA and I might take an extra course or two related to my preferred major to boost the GPA and bit more and prove that I can get back on track and receive A’s without any complications. I’m planning on retaking the Computer Science class I received a D in Fall quarter and retaking the physics class that I dropped Fall quarter as well. I know I have no issue with the material in the classes that I ‘struggled’ with due to work but the thing concerning me is what are my chances in getting into Western University when they open my transcript and see all the inconsistency from the past semesters. The school’s acceptance rate is 84.6% and it would be a huge shame and embarrassment if I somehow get denied because of all this inconsistency on my transcript including the withdrawal.
All you can do now is what you stated you will do. You seem to have a plan. If you hold to it, and keep your grades up, then maybe you’ll be able to make it.
Understand that school is not your forte, maybe you are more cut out of the workplace? There’s a lot of people who do poorly in school but great in the working environment and vise versa. Maybe you are just the first type of people.
An Associate’s Degree is typically 60 credits… as I see it, you’re about 4 credits away from your AA, not 34. Is that a typo somewhere?
Can you find a transfer school that offers Open Enrollment? Not sure whether that applies to transfers, but it might be worth looking into.
I’m pretty sure that GPA’s don’t transfer… so once you get into a 4 year school, you basically have a clean slate as far as that goes-- but not on the issues that caused the low GPA in the first place.
At my school Associates are 90 credits or at least for the AS-T degree, even an integrated studies AA is 90 credits. The thing is I believe that the thing that lowered my GPA the most was D in Computer Science as well as 2 C’s I received in a other courses I took and the 1.5 GPA I received in sociology when I was a freshman. So I’m curious to see how much my GPA would improve with retaking the computer science class and receiving A’s for then remaining courses.
Yeah I was thinking about retaking the 1.5 as well but it has nothing to do with my major and I spoke to an adviser and they said I could retake it and get a better grade and boost my GPA but it wouldn’t make sense because it doesn’t relate to my major at all. But I might just retake the course anyway because I can’t stand having such a low GPA and having the risk of being denied entry to the University I want to go to even though their acceptance rate is pretty high. I know I am retaking the Computer Science course this coming fall quarter and retaking the Physics course.
Normally I perform well in school, but I have had trouble balancing work and study time the past couple of quarters after moving to a new state and getting a new job, that is somewhat more demanding than my previous job and isn’t as flexible when it comes to scheduling.
So I have 56 credits as of now:
If I retake that course you mentioned and get A I’ll still have 56 credits
Same goes for the D I received in Computer Science - I’ll receive an A in that class as well.
Now for next 40 credits to finish of my AS-T degree, (I’m going to be taking an extra computer science class - 4 credits) I believe I can get straight A’s.
@blahblabl194 If your GPA matters retake the freshman year class for an easy A. Straight A’s in Computer Science is incredibly difficult because you’re often not receiving partial credit and it’s difficult for students to anticipate the testing the teacher might run to break the code.
I’m not concerned with Computer Science as much even though I received a D during one quarter, I have several resources within my family that have experience with the programming languages that I’d be learning and I already have a high understanding of the programming language that I’d be using within these courses (C++) so I’m not concerned with receiving anything lower than A, and the computer science courses I’d be attending happen to give partial credit on most assignments.
Western Washington University a pretty lenient transfer requirement when it comes to GPA of a minimum of a 2.0, but for whatever reason I’m still concerned with all the inconsistency on my transcript with poor grades and my withdrawal. If say I were to receive A’s through the remaining of my AA and showed consistency, would this be more of a positive than a negative when my transcript is reviewed and notices that I am capable of performing at a high level if I fix the issues that caused me to do poorly in the past?
@blahblabl194 Personally I would take the time to do an easy clean up of those freshman grades. Even if it adds a semester if your GPA is important at your next college. Your understandable issues with work are so recent. From a conservative viewpoint, there is no guarantee that there could not be juggling issues in the future. I was just in mechanical engineering but my husband and son are in computer. Straight A’s in CS is a very high bar. It requires a lot of self discipline and planning. Just be careful expecting perfect as a reasonable goal.
@blahblabl194 You need to transfer into Western Washington U but you also need to get accepted into the proper major. I would contact WWU and get advise on the importance of your GPA to meet your goals. Contact the CS department directly even.
Have you considered reaching out to an admissions officer at Western? Request a meeting and have your current transcript. Find out what the admissions officer recommends and follow through on that plan. At the very least, meet with your current advisor and ask if they will reach out on your behalf.
Take a gap year or two to fix your learning attitude or personal problem before going back to college.
I had a slight less than 2.0 in HS before graduation, I had to take remedial exams to be able to graduate. I was immature, not focused on academics, lots of side tracks, cut classes, played around in the classes etc. After my graduation, I went to the military and it fixed a LOT of my problems and matured during the process. When I returned, I went to a noname college and excelled, I was able to become a useful person in the society. Now I am retiring/semi-retiring, I am pretty well off and actually not rely on SS for assistance
The grades for classes you retake will still show but not be included in your gpa. Your gpa is a clean slate after transferring. I am very surprised at the 90 credits. Even in nursing, the most challenging program where I work, is in the high 60s.
As a first step you might want to see if your school has an academic forgiveness program where you change your program and those classes are removed from your gpa calculation. If you’re having trouble with earlier computer science classes it’s probably not the right major for you. Later classes are very difficult.