Community College to UC

So I basically messed up my high school, I’m entering my senior year with a 2.7 GPA… yikes. But I started thinking college will be a fresh start for me, seeing as once you enter college, your slate is wiped clean to put it simply. I am so determined to get back on track and work very hard. I live in California and my dream schools have always been to go to UCLA or Berekly. UCSB is still great, I’d still go there if I had the chance, but my preferences are UCLA and Berekly. So I was thinking of doing 2 years at a local Community College and then hopefully transferring to a UC. Does anyone have any tips for me on how to be qualified for a UC? Like what classes, how many classes, GPA, etc? I was thinking of maybe majoring in Business, but I’m not certain. Maybe even becoming a doctor? If that’s even possible since I’d be starting so late, and at a community college. So if anyone has any tips for me, that’d be greatly appreciated. Sorry in advance, if I’m being illogical in some parts of my thinking.

Get as high a GPA as you can if you’re aiming for UCLA/Berkeley. A 3.7+ GPA would be good.

Earn at least 60 units before trying to transfer.

Try to join your community college’s TAP program; completing it makes it much easier to get in to UCLA. Berkeley also has a TAP program. If possible, try to join that as well.

See your counselor frequently.

Study a lot. It can only help.

It can be done; I had a high school GPA of about 2.1 when I finished. Then I got a 3.8 in community college and got accepted into both Berkeley and UCLA. You can do it, too!

I’m working on a guide to help prospective transfers, but I agree with everything @Cayton mentioned.

I finished HS with a 2.9 and have a 4.0 after two years of community college. It’s very doable - you just have to work for it. Study regularly, try to always go to lecture, and pick your classes wisely.

You’ll be starting college with a completely blank slate. Your high school grades won’t matter if you apply to the UCs. All that matters now is your effort - work hard and you’ll be able to achieve whatever you wish (within reason).

If you do well in CC then you’re fine. You’re NOT starting late or starting behind. You’re taking a perfectly acceptable, more cost effective route. It will be up to you to do as the other poster said and get and keep your GPA high. Once you graduate from whatever 4-yr school you transfer to, no one (prospective employers and graduate schools) will care if you went to a CC first.

Also keep in mind that UCLA does not have a business major for undergrad- just economics. Berkeley has one of the best business programs for undergrads and is probably one of the most competitive majors for all the UCs combined. So if business is what you really want to major in, Berkeley is a reach for anyone, and UCLA is not an option. So definitely apply to Berkeley for business, but definitely have some viable alternatives.

Really look at the specific admissions requirements for all schools you’re interested in transferring to, for your specific major. It varies from school to school, so don’t assume anything. Use assist.org to help plan your classes. As @Cayton said, meet with counselors often, but do your own research and don’t rely on them for complete accuracy.

Lastly, don’t blow off your senior year because you can start fresh at CC. Use this year to start practicing good study habits and food academic discipline. This year can help you figure out what works best for you, so next year when you start CC, you can hit the ground running!

Best of luck!

I hated HS,I always tell people that. I was a total slacker, I wouldn’t go to my classes, and I would just leave school and hang out with friends. By the time my senior year rolled around, I decided to leave my HS to be home schooled. It was by far the best academic decision I had ever made(To that point). Home schooling essentially prepared me for College. You were given a specific amount of work(You were allowed to do more) and you had to pass with at least a B on the exams.

After graduating, I took some time off to work and just to relax. But then I enrolled in some CC courses and I kicked boohtay. I made connections with my professors, I did all I could do to stand out. After sometime, I finished my CC with a 3.8 GPA(I probably would’ve gotten closer to a 4.0 but my last semester I took Stats and French 2 and got B’s in those) and got into UCLA and all the other school’s I applied to(All the UC’s I applied to and USC).

So, it is never late, CC is a new lifeline on your academic life. Personally, my experiences at UCLA, the transfer students were always a step above the students who had gotten in right from HS. The way I look at it, is, that they(Myself included) got into UCLA from another College, not HS.

Just do your work, raise your hand in class(Stand out) and study for exams. You’ll be surprised that CC’s still holds plenty of slackers, so when you do your and speak during class, the professor will take note of that. So basically, engage, engage, engage!!!

A piece of advice I can give you is to take night courses. The professors and fellow students were always better at night.

Talk to your counselors. You don’t have to decide on a major right away. Just take your GE courses and continue from there. Once you have your major, your Counselor will pull your requirements for the UC’s school’s. They’ll probably pull out the good ol IGETC checklist and start telling you what you need.

Take your time at CC, it is not mandatory for you to finish within 2 years and apply. If you need to wait a semester to take a course because you do not think you can handle the workload, then wait a semester. Here on College Conf, you hear stories where students try to rush through CC and have applied then all of a sudden at the 11th hour they’ve gotten a D in a course and their admission is in limbo. I always tell students, FINISH EVERYTHING before you apply, cross your T’s and dot your I’s. Because then, you’ll have to wait the extra year, reapply, and there is no guarantee that you will be getting in the second time around. Do you really want to go through the stress of waiting to see your answer?

Don’t be scared of W’s either, I had 4 W’s myself. I had a classmate at UCLA who had 6. Don’t risk your GPA, take the W(I don’t recommend getting 10 or something, but if you have 4 or 5, don’t sweat it).

Best of luck to CC journey.

Use http://www.assist.org to see what courses at CCs cover the courses needed for your major at UCs and CSUs.

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major can show you what 25th-75th percentile GPA ranges admitted students to each major at each UC had in past years, as well as admission rates.

have you taken the SAT/ACT?