<p>I'm a sophomore at a CCC (California Community College) and my anticipated graduation date is Spring 2015. I have to wait a year because I would've had to cram my last 5 classes into next semester and I don't think that's a smart idea considering the difficulty of the classes I need. This semester I took Elementary Algebra, Modern World Problems, US Government and Politics, Spanish 1, and Macroeconomics. My current transferable GPA (not including the Fall 2013 semester) is 2.4 and my cumulative GPA is 2.035. My major is Political Science. </p>
<p>Here's my dilemma: I want to go to UC Davis with all of my heart. I've worked my butt off every single day. I'm no straight A student, not even close actually, but I'm still a good student who tries very hard. I'm trying my hardest to build my GPA back up. I don't get this semester's grades until tomorrow, but I feel like my Macroeconomics class is going to affect me, and it's definitely a class I would not be able to pass no matter how many times I retook it. It sucks because by the time I found out. I didn't need the class, it was already too late to drop it. I know that it's unlikely that I'll be able to complete the UCTAG requirements before I apply next fall, but I'm still going to apply without the TAG. No matter how hard. I try to take the right classes and get the best grades I can, but I always find a way to screw it up somehow. I know that I could go to any CSU in the state if I wanted to, but I really don't want to. Settling for a CSU is like settling for mediocrity to me, and I don't want to be mediocre. I'm sick of being mediocre! I had spent all of high school being a ****-poor excuse for a student to the point that community college was my only option upon graduating. I felt like such a failure. Then I tried to redeem myself in college, having some slip-ups along the way (including a failed class which I'm considering applying for academic renewal for). Each semester I've tried to cram all of these hard classes and twice out of three times it has come back to haunt me. It worked out once last spring and I was very happy--so happy in fact that I thought I could do it again, but it didn't really work out that way this time. I've never slacked off, but I think my problem is that I keep overwhelming myself. If I manage to get my GPA to a 3.0, or even just a 2.8 (although 3.0 is obviously what I'm aiming for), do you think that the UC system will like that I kept trying as demonstrated by my class load and my admissions essay? I'm trying to be as optimistic as I can because I don't want to be told that I'll never be able to go to Davis. That just makes me work even harder, just as it has done since I graduated high school. I won't settle for anything less than what I feel I've worked my hardest for. I won't settle for a CSU. Will the UC system appreciate my efforts? Any additional advice? Thank you in advance. :)</p>