Bad grades from 5 years ago haunting me

So here is my situation:

from 2011-2013 I attended a CSU straight out of high school with no real goal in my mind. I barely passed my first year. The second year I didn’t even attend class and got kicked out obtaining straight F’s for 2 semesters (yikes). Stupidest thing I’ve ever done no contest. I ended up with an overall 1.22 gpa (lol)

After 3 years (2016) I attended my local CC and began my journey again this time with a goal and motivation. Since then I have a 4.0 GPA in courses taken in the last 2 years at that CC and am now working to transfer as a computer science major. My issue is, the past grades heavily reduce my GPA to a 2.4 though I’m not sure how many of the CSU courses actually transfer since there is no official agreements between CSU’s and UC’s.
I’m now looking at my chances at any UC.

Do I even have a chance?
If not where should I look? CSU’s?
If I retook some classes that I failed at the CSU and they are considered course equivalents on ASSIST at my CC will the UC’s disregard the previous grade?

I’m not sure on the academic renewal process but from what I can gather from my CSU’s site (SDSU) is that its not an option for people who aren’t enrolled at SDSU.

https://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/catalog/webfolder/440-454_U_Policies.pdf (for reference,use ctrl f “academic renewal” to find the section)

Does anybody have experience with academic renewal from a CSU?

the online guidance and information is for the common case. Because your situation is unusual you may not find a lot of info on what you can do but that doesn’t mean you don’t have options.

  1. you should be working with a counselor at your school xfer center
  2. the UCs send counselors around to all the CC’s. Make an appt and talk with one next time they visit
  3. while the online info at SDSU does not look promising, that does not mean there are not other options. Chances may be slim, but you’ll never know if you don’t try. Contact the advising office http://advising.sdsu.edu/ and see if they have any suggestions about what you can do; maybe their is a path to expunge those classes or withdraw after the fact.
  4. if you repeat the courses you took and failed UC will count the new grade. See http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/q-and-a/repeating/index.html#1
  5. don’t rule out the CSU schools. CS is a concrete skill that people can assess in interviews. Sure, Cal or UCLA on the resume looks good, but someone from CSU Wherever is still going to get a look if they have good grades in their CS classes and some relevant internships

Thanks a lot that answer was exactly what I was looking for! Its a relief hearing that they will take the new grade.

I’m going to contact SDSU and see whats up and I’ll update here just in case someone in the future runs into the same issue.

How is you gpa still a 2.4 after 2 years of straight As? I feel like your gpa has got be higher than that.
And yeah, exactly what mikemac said. Try to retake all the transferrable classes, as UCs only count the higher grade when you retake a class that is below a C. However, you still have to report those grades on the application, it just won’t effect your GPA as long as you retake them all.
As far as the ones that aren’t transferrable, you don’t even have to worry about them. You wouldn’t even be putting them on the app, as the app only has UC transferrable courses. You may want to retake them in the future tho if you’re planning on grad school tho, depending on where you wanna go.
And did you go to SDSU? SDSU is a great school nowadays, it even has a lower acceptance rate than some of the good UC schools. It’s crazy how far they’ve come, my teachers told me they used to accept anyone with a GED back in the day.
Anyways, good luck and good job turning it around

Yea back then SDSU had a guaranteed acceptance if your school was in a san diego district and you had a 3.0 gpa.

As for my GPA being 2.4 I think its because I still have more units taken at SDSU than at my CC.( wont be true after this semester.)

I just contacted SDSU about academic renewal but they said they cant discuss it over the phone so I am planning on going to their office this week. We’ll see what my options are the person on the phone made it sound like there was some things I could do but I’m still skeptical about it after reading the academic renewal policy from their policies.

Even without academic renewal, if you retake all of the transferrable classes you should be good! the UCs have a really favorable policy towards people in your situation. They don’t hold the lower grade against you as long as you retake it for a good grade.
So if you’re able to keep what you’re doing, retake all your classes, maintain a very high GPA, and finish your prereqs + IGETC you still have a good shot at all the UCs. Private schools are a different topic, and certain grad schools might hold the lower grade against you if it’s related to your major. However, you’re talking about transferring to a UC as an undergrad, so your situation has a lot of hope!
If there are no course equivalencies to a transferrable course that you did poorly in at SDSU, see if another community college has it. Otherwise, explain your situation and see if you can retake it there again? I’m not exactly sure how that works. But hopefully it won’t come to that.

I was in a similar boat. Had a false start at an unusual, unknown private liberal arts college. Started over at CC, earned a 4.0 there.

I applied to transfer into political science with a 3.35 (IIRC). Because the original college had an unusual curriculum, I couldn’t do academic renewal, grade replacement, etc. Rejected from UCLA, and a spring admit at Cal. Graduated from Cal with high honors.

So, keep at it. You’ve still got a shot.

-Update on the renewal process

Met with an adviser at SDSU and they told me the only way to obtain academic renewal was to file a “Retroactive Late Form” and meet with the Dean. In order for this form to be accepted I need some kinda 3rd party proof of an extenuating circumstance. Since I never got help after becoming academically disqualified I have a lack of 3rd party proof. Although my adviser said that If I can somehow prove that I have a medical or mental condition that has been recently diagnosed that could explain the situation from a couple years ago It might still work.

So I’m going to schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist and see whats good (as during my last year during uni I was depressed and had severe anxiety problems)
After I’ll meet with the Dean and see what the outcome will look like. I’ll update again after appointment.

It sounds like they’re really willing to make this happen, you just need to come up with something that allows them to justify it. I hope this works out for you!

@KeyakiRepublic and any others who may be in similar situations - don’t lose hope! The UCs are very forgiving of students who had a rough start to college, but were then able to turn things around. I personally had a sub-3.0 GPA at my first university (which did not have any academic renewal policy) prior to starting fresh at a community college. I ended up applying to UCs with a 3.6 CC GPA but was afraid the grades at my first school would greatly hinder my application. I ended up being accepted to UCSB, UCI, and UCSC, and I applied for one of the most competitive majors to boot (electrical engineering).

Thanks that’s good to hear but I’m still worried about my gpa hopefully they will give me a chance

btw update on my academic renewal( which is actually retroactive withdrawal at SDSU ) I’ve got all the paperwork done just gotta go turn it into the registrars office and wait on the decision. Something tells me it wont be accepted though since its been 5 years and the dean brought that up when I talked the her. She seemed suspicious of my situation. Im not sure how valid depression is for a retroactive withdrawal. But well see.

Update on the withdrawal petition:

Had a meeting with the dean and she discussed my career and degree options but said the petition was still in review but things sounded positive so maybe its gonna go through I will update again once the result comes in.

Thanks for the update. I hope it goes through!

After a long a hard journey I finally received the news that my retroactive withdrawal petition was accepted. I guess this goes to show that even after a few years people are still willing to help you and you just have to look for it. I would suggest anyone who reads this and is going through a similar experience to give it a try you would be surprised. I had little faith it would get accepted but here I am now.

My GPA is now in a healthy range for UC’s and things are looking up. ^ ^

Congrats!