I was academically dismissed from a California Community College Spring of 2015. Since then I’ve worked my ass off at a new community college and am sitting on a 3.8 gpa (4.0 major gpa). I’ve also got many hours of community service, clubs, and student government. The part where this all goes downhill is the fact that I left my first college with a 1.2 gpa. I wanted to apply to transfer this Fall 2016 but I already know that won’t work out considering my 1.2 gpa. Now I plan on doing academic renewal and retaking courses to get that gpa up starting this Fall.
So the question is, once I get the first colleges gpa up to a 2.0, will I have a chance of transferring to a CSU/UC? Will the academic dismissal be detrimental to my chances of getting in?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Also, I will be done with IGETC after this Fall and major classes after this Summer.
I would think that the GPA at the new community college is the one that counts. Nobody is going to average the results from the two schools - is that what you are concerned about? You have two separate transcripts. Usually schools want to see all transcripts but your most recent work that will receive the most consideration.
Warning: Joke ahead–
It might be difficult to sit on your amazing 3.8 (4.0) GPA if you worked your ass off, but . . . .
Congratulations!
I agree that the latest work is what’s considered most strongly. Your enthusiasm and spunk are shining through.
@mamaedefamilia @Dustyfeathers I was just afraid colleges would see the dismissal and reject me right away! Thank you both for your insight! As you can see from the time this was posted, I stay up thinking about this a lot.
No worries . . . well just a little worry, but very very manageable.
While nothing guarantees acceptance into any school, you can help things along by coming up with a short, sweet story that summarizes your background in positive terms. This 30-second-or-less story hopefully will highlight how much of the go-getter you clearly are. It’s okay to make mistakes, own them, and then show how you learned and moved on. We all like redemption stories. When someone asks you in an interview – you never know when the question may come up, maybe a phone call or when you meet someone in an elevator – be ready to whip out the 30-second explanation. "I’m glad that you asked about that. . . . " and then in one sentence tell them what happened that caused the issue, the next sentence explain that you figured out your mistake, and the third point out in organized form what changes you made. “Now I know to X Y Z and doing so has consistently placed me in the top of all of my classes” or whatever. If you want, you could summarize with a quick sentence that tells them who you are now. Hardworker; willing to persist until I succeed; understand the importance of teamwork; love of learning for the sake of learning–or whatever your personal lesson(s) may be.
In four short sentences or less, you’ve set that person’s mind at ease that you are solid and ready to move forward. You’ve defined yourself for them, instead of them defining you.