<p>Well, your parents are right for the most part. Out-of-state public schools charge you about double the tuition than in-staters. The other alternative, privates, are always expensive either way.</p>
<p>By the way, I just finished my final semester at PCC, and can tell you that you can not re-take a C for academic renewal. Also, in case you have any other unsatisfactory grades for which you used academic renewal, USC will not honor it.</p>
<p>“Grey_Syntactics”</p>
<p>Dude, I know, but I don’t go to PCC, I go to COC. My counselor @ COC told me that I can’t re-take POLSCI 1 @ COC, but if I wanted to, I could take it at another college, and then COC would place the new grade on my GPA. That’s ok that USC won’t accept it - the other schools will :D. </p>
<p>I got into the class btw, studyin’ the governments!!</p>
<p>I really REALLY think its worth it. I just calculated my GPA now, and where it would be if I were to complete this class with an A (and I WILL complete it with an A). , it would bring my 3.74 up to a 3.89. Totally worth it.</p>
<p>Hmm, ok, so I think a good question is…Does this change anything?? Now that I’m going to be a student with a 3.9 (and believe me, I WILL get an A in this class, especially after paying $70 for admission), Does that improve my chances? I’m really thinking about cornell, would Cornell possibly accept me? </p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone answered this yet, but what about overseas? Cambridge? I’ve always wanted to do that…</p>
<p>Remember that many schools will look at more than just your GPA (especially once outside of the UCs). </p>
<p>How are your ECs? </p>
<p>Do you have close relationships with professors so that they’d be willing to write you a GLOWING recommendation? </p>
<p>Just remember to look beyond just the GPA numbers and make sure you are working on the whole package. Colleges don’t want “smart 3.9+” students… they want intelligent and curious students who are movers and shakers, leaders, outside-the-box thinkers, etc. The colleges (outside of UCs) will definitely take a certain number of “smart 3.9+” students to keep their admission stats up and to round out the classes with some real solid academic performers… but if you really want to impress admissions, be an impressive <em>person</em>.</p>
<p>I know someone who had a so-so GPA (I’m guessing 3.5, not certain) who not only got into Berkeley, but got a FULL scholarship ride as a transfer. Why? Well, who knows… but I got to read his essay, and in it he talked about the work he did (a job) with autistic adults living in a group home and how he handled a crisis with one of the autistic clients. It was a gripping essay – and about who the student was as a <em>human</em> being… What I really saw when reading his essay was that he was responsible, compassionate, emotionally connected, cool yet very quick in an emergency situation and someone that any university would be proud to call one of their own.</p>
<p>In short - stop freaking out about the numbers (3.7 is good, 3.9 is also good) and think about who you are as a person and how you can connect more with others and contribute something to your larger community - academically at your CC as well as your own neighborhood/job/church, etc. That way no matter where you get accepted (or not), you have already “won” because you have become a well rounded person. </p>
<p>You are basically asking “chance me” – I think Cambridge might be a stretch – your best bet is to pony up a bunch of money for applications… and write up a large list… 6 reaches, 6 matches and 3+ CSU type safeties… that way you have given yourself a good shot at some interesting opportunities. Throw a few adventurous colleges in there… LACs from unusual places for example that are good though not necessarily ivy league… be open to going down a slightly less beaten path that will still challenge you academically even if it doesn’t have the brand-name. Maybe you’ll get accepted by one of the elite colleges – but if not, you will probably have some really neat alternatives to choose from.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Annika</p>
<p>Well that’s good 
I listed my EC’s before, but I know…this thread is getting too long haha</p>
<p>Here are my EC’s that I’ll tell the college in an application:</p>
<p>I’m the Treasurer for Gamma Beta Phi (honors society)
I’ve taken pictures for my school newspaper for two semesters, and have been published several times. At JACC (Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference), I won 1st place in the Feature Photo Category (out of about 250 other community college photographers), and honorable mention in the News Photo category.<br>
I obtained an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) license at the age of 18 (earliest age you can), and have been working on an ambulance for the past year (I have MANY stories I could tell from my experiences there).<br>
I ran Cross Country for four years in High School, and earned a Varsity letter my Junior and Senior year. </p>
<p>I hope they consider this too be ‘well rounded.’ Frankly, I don’t have time for any more. Between the newspaper, my job, treasurer, and working on Homework, I’m a VERY busy student during the school year.</p>
<p>I like your ECs, esp the JACC win. Congrats.</p>
<p>I like your EMT experience… if the work in the ambulance fits into any of the essay questions, I would use that for certain. It has the potential to show your maturity, a big plus.</p>
<p>I think your essays will be more of the tipping point than your concerns about a 3.7 vs a 3.9 – be sure you write some great essays to highlight this other side of you and/or get some good feedback on your essays before sending them out.</p>
<p>Annika</p>
<p>Thanks alot annika :D</p>
<p>Ok, so on to the list…Here is what I have so far, please help me fill in the rest? lol </p>
<p>Reach:
Berkeley (does this belong here or is it more of a match?)
Cornell</p>
<p>Match:
UCLA
USC</p>
<p>Safety:
UCSB
UCSD
CSUN hahaha</p>
<p>What’s a LAC??</p>
<p>Berkeley is in the mid-reach section. :p</p>
<p>LAC = Liberal Arts College.</p>
<p>i would say also keep in mind that not only do schools look at your GPA, they also look at the rigor of the courses you took. I noticed that you said you haven’t completed pre-calc or calc yet, and you’re already done with 2 years of CC? i just think that even though you have a high GPA, the courses you took might affect admission. good luck though</p>
<p>Ya Yelnats, I’m working on this thing (I think its a cali thing) called IGETC, I’ve been spending all my time taking the required classes to fill every requirement of it. It is sort of a transfer agreement type thing; complete all the classes in IGETC, and Cali colleges are much more likely to accept you. Pre-calc and Calc are a part of IGETC (either that or statistics), I just decided to save it for last; I’m scheduled to take them starting in the fall</p>
<p>Yep, stands for “Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum” and fills the Gen Ed Requirements for UC’s and CSU’s</p>
<p>Match: Santa Clara University (LAC in the Bay Area), UC Davis</p>
<p>Reach:
Cornell
Princeton
Yale
Dartmouth</p>
<p>Mid-Reach:
Berkeley</p>
<p>Match:
UCLA
USC
UC Davis
Santa Clara University</p>
<p>Safety:
UCSB
UCSD
CSUN </p>
<p>Just curious, but what does one have who claims to be a match for Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, or Princeton? I’m guessing that to be a ‘match,’ one must have done very well in High School, and transfer directly from HS to one of them, correct?</p>
<p>solidblu, just so you know, princeton and harvard do not accept transfers at the moment:(</p>
<p>also, sadly, you can’t really be a match for Yale as they only accept 2-3% of transfers and there really is no guarantee that you will be accepted no matter how astounding your application is.</p>
<p>I imagine you’re making up a basic list of schools to apply to and I would not recommend applying to more than 6-7 because</p>
<p>a) the application fees are very expensive (so is sending your SAT scores)
b) unlike when applying out of high school, all applications are very different when applying as transfers. most schools have their own sets of essays and don’t necessarily overlap. I personally found that while maintaining a full course load it was hard to work on 5 transfer applications</p>
<p>Thanks sofy, I’ll take Princeton off the list. Yale too, I guess. </p>
<p>Wow, well that’s scary lol. I have heard, however, that the UC’s are very easy to apply to. I can (according to a friend) fill out one application, and then mark check boxes for all the UC’s I want the application to go to (as in, I can send an application to UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, and UC Davis all at the same time). </p>
<p>Is this truth?</p>
<p>No one is a match at those top Ivies unless they won a Nobel prize.
And I don’t see anything stunning at all from the stats you posted. I know a few people in CC that didn’t do well in HS and have very high GPAs. So I would say those Ivies that you mentioned are ULTRA-reaches, Berkeley is a reach, and the rest remain. I don’t know the difference in competition between transfers and freshman applicants at UCs, but it seems you are on the higher end of GPA and have weak extracurriculars. As for Cornell and Stanford, still apply, but don’t expect to get in.</p>
<p>Hey Strikemaster,</p>
<p>This is my old post, about half a year old, to be exact. My stats have improved. I’m not even sure how you found this lol, it must’ve been on the bottom of the list. I am planning on applying to Cornell, Upenn, Duke, and Syracuse. </p>
<p>I’ve already applied to UCLA, Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara. A UCLA rep. told me I was an easy in. From everything I’ve read, I’m also an easy in to Berkeley. </p>
<p>As far as the ivies go, the only one I really care about is U Penn. Hopefully they’ll accept me.</p>