<p>Do UCs take your educational history seriously? What I mean is that if I had a bad GPA(only about 4 or 5 classes taken in total) years ago at a college which is in another country, will that be counted toward my GPA earned here in the States? Is it okay if I don't report those couples of classes ages ago ( guess not). </p>
<p>I just wonder, how do UCs evaluate GPA and our educational history?</p>
<p>Any insights are welcomed.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>They don’t care. They ask for the sake of record and to see if you’re honest, but I had some gaps in my educational history and some bad grades in the past and it had no bearing on my admissions (got accepted to all UC’s).</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. </p>
<p>I remember that you got in UCB for civil engineering! I wish you have a great time coming fall in school! </p>
<p>I hope I can get in too next year. I’m applying for mechanical engineering,tho. UCB is my first and possibly only UC candidate. I have not much to offer but a decent GPA, therefore I’m sensitive about scores. I did pretty okay in my college back then, but I am not sure about the exact GPA because they use a different evaluation system/ grading rules. And I just recently started to think about some other classes I took in another country, not my home country. So I had college experience in two countries other than in the States. This second college experience was bad when it comes to academic aspect, I did not study at all, so my gpa was trashed, it was only no more than 5 classes tho. </p>
<p>My worry is that GPA will be counted toward my over all GPA earned over here from the States, even there were only 5 classes, but it will have a really bad impact on my GPA right now. I’m trying to keep my GPA at at least 3.8 prior to transfer, so far I am having 4.0. And I hope I can end up with 4.0. But even I do, with the GPA before, I will only have a 3.6-3.7 at most. My hope of getting in UCB suddenly looks slim. </p>
<p>Anyhow, I have to keep my work up now, and hopefully they care more about the improvement than what I had in the past.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be too worried about it. I attended a university out of the country and as long as I wasn’t trying to transfer those classes over for credit here, then didn’t ask me about grades or to supply a transcript.
Are you trying to get credit for those classes?
If not, then you’re fine.</p>
<p>Seriously? I am not trying to transfer any classes from past at all. I’m only going to transfer the classes I take here in the community college. </p>
<p>However, on my application I think, I will need to be detail about my past educational history, I have to list all the colleges I have had attended in the past. In that case, they will ask for my transcript, even though I’m not planning to transfer any of those classes or take any credit out of them.</p>
<p>So now I am confused. Dose it mean that if I’m not transferring any of the classes taken before, the GPA I earned would not affect my current GPA? Will UCB only consider my current GPA earned from cc in the States?</p>
<p>PS, I remember that there was a guy who got rejected by UCB. He was saying that he took some classes long time ago in some other college east coast, and he reported the history and somehow his GPA was dropped from nearly 4.0 to a much lower point because the GPA he earned before was bad. I am not sure if that was really the reason of the rejection or there were actually some other factors. I am just very concerned about the whole GPA thing.</p>
<p>Put your classes from out of the country on your app, then explain the drop in grades in the additional comments section.</p>
<p>The effect those grades on your GPA depends on whether the university is accredited and the specific classes are accepted for transfer.</p>
<p>Honestly, though, admissions will look at that stuff, but primarily they will be looking at the CCC grades. If you’ve been taking classes here for 2-3 years and doing well you will be fine.</p>
<p>I would suggest, though, that if all you have to offer is a GPA then you take up some extracurriculars. People with awesome GPA’s get rejected for people with “mediocre” GPA’s because of an outstanding personal statement and/or EC’s. You definitely want to be able to “brag” about more than just academics.</p>
<p>Thanks for your insight. I agree with what you have said.</p>
<p>I know that I need to do some decent ECs but there are not many good opportunities. </p>
<p>I only have one volunteering event going on, a little bit of other trifling things that would impress nobody. I have a 1 year old to cope with at home. AND I am looking forward to find a part time job. </p>
<p>I will try to improve my EC , but I hate to do things that serve merely a purpose of being on a EC list, and remain nothing more than just that. </p>
<p>Thanks again! It’s been very helpful.</p>
<p>working and having a family is an EC! in fact its listed on the UCLA website as one of the criterias along with military service and participation in clubs: [Transfer</a> Admission - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/tradms.htm]Transfer”>Transfer Admission | UCLA Undergraduate Admission)</p>
<p>Personal Criteria:
Employment while attending school
Family responsibility
Returning to school where early grades are not indicative of strong academic performance
Ongoing involvement in campus organizations, student government, community service, or clubs
Circumstances that may have prevented students from achieving their highest overall academic performance
Military service</p>
<p>Aw. I didn’t know you had a 1 year old!
Never mind then, you don’t need any EC’s cuz that’s an extra, extra curricular activity!
My son is 10, so he’s not as needy and “high maintenance” as a little 1 year old.
I really hope that you get into Berkeley. Apparently student parents in engineering are very rare (they haven’t been able to find someone to mentor me yet). I always think to myself that if I were in L&S my life would be a whole lot easier cuz engineering is so demanding! But whatever…
Like I said, I hope you get in; that way I can pass down any of my first year experiences and lessons with you.
If you have any other questions I’m full of answers (in terms of being a student parent, financial aid, etc) just private message me.</p>