<p>A little back story: The three community colleges (yes, plural) I attended within the last two years forced me into taking non-transferable math classes to work my way up into Statistics. This set me back about 10 units. Then, last semester, I attempted to add into a Statistics class (when I was eligible) and couldn't get in due to the high volumes of students also trying to add. The budget cuts made me compete with roughly 60 students who wanted the three or so spots available, so this wasn't surprising. Because of this, I only took 9 units in Fall, setting me back another 5 units. In the 2 semesters prior, I was taking no less than 14 units, but only 9 counted. I tried to supplement this with summer and winter classes, but was still behind. To make matters worse, the main college I attended cut virtually all of their winter session classes for 2011, which I was stupidly relying on to squeeze under the wire. The only other college was the one that was way too far from me (about an hour away, I couldn't drive there daily) and the third did not offer a winter session.</p>
<p>In desperation, I asked several counselors what to do, seeing as I had already sent in my UC applications. They gave me what I now know is severely wrong advice, which was to take all the units I could to meet the 60 unit requirement. In my case, that was 23. Believing this would be the answer to my UC prayers, I added into classes at three community colleges at one time, settling for the most undesirable class times (late night classes and early Saturday/Friday morning classes). Somehow I managed to get 23 units. I gave up my life these past few months - I had a friend change my Facebook password, stayed in virtually every weekend, and watched my health deteriorate due to the lack of sleep/stress of attending school from the early mornings until 9:00PM, 6 days a week. And for what? Nothing. The only word I have received thus far from the UC's I applied to are rejections from UCSB and UCSC. I have a 3.4 GPA, IGETC completed and 60 units completed by the end of Spring. According to my Santa Cruz rejection letter, the reason is because my current units are not "in accordance" with the units I have taken in prior semesters. Which makes sense, I suppose - in their eyes, I've been slacking for three semesters, then randomly decided to care. This couldn't be further from the truth, and I explained this vaguely in the additional comments box. But when there are more qualified students who've finished their units with better grades and in a far more timely matter than I have, they deserve acceptance more than I do. I've made my peace with this. I've accepted, (for the most part, I'm just a tiny bit sad in all honesty) that it's just not meant to be and that hopefully I will get into a good private school. I know there is a reason behind this I don't understand right now, so I'm trying to think positively. :)</p>
<p>But now I'm virtually failing General Biology. Science has always confounded me - I've always been an English/Humanities/History person - and due to the lack I've time I've had to study, I really don't think I can pass at this point. I'm fairly certain I want to drop the class. After all, my chances for being accepted into the other UCs I applied to (LA, Berkeley, and SD) are very dismal anyway.</p>
<p>So my question is, should I drop the class without a second thought because there's no way I could get into those schools anyway, or is there some insane chance I could still get into those schools and I should stick with it? And if I am rejected from every school (which, realistically speaking, is likely), is it even worth appealing?</p>
<p>Also, in regards to private schools, am I in fairly good shape? I would be more than happy to attend a private school as well, so I'm really hoping I'll get accepted into at least one.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any and all advice!</p>