<p>Okay, so i really messed up my first year of college. I am about to get 3 D's or maybe even one of those could turn into an F. I realize I shouldn't have messed up this bad, but it happens? i dont know if retaking the classes will replace the grades and even if they do, im not sure it will blow over so well with the UCs. btw. i dont want to go to a CSU. i could have done that straight from high school.</p>
<p>If I’m not mistaken you’re put on academic probation for doing poorly for a semester and then only face repercussions if you continue to do badly. At least that’s how it is at most colleges I believe.</p>
<p>At my CCC, you have to petition to re-take a class. </p>
<p>It does happen, life gets in the way sometimes. If you have a good excuse and write it in your personal statements, I’m sure you’ll get your point across. Don’t be discouraged though, try your hardest 'till the end and retake those courses!</p>
<p>iamsounsure is right. You will be put on academic probation (less than 2.0) which will cost you with transferring because it lists on your transcript you are/have been on academic probation (how I know this, I go to a CC and friends have been on it). You’re limited on taking a certain number of courses I believe too.</p>
<p>But on the bright side is that you can be able to take this course again to retake it for a better grade. The bad side, you will definantly be hurt when applying for Grad school because academic renewal is not given, private schools and some out of states don’t do academic renewal, and you might have to take an additional year at your school.</p>
<p>i’m not sure what your question is, but if you’re wondering if it’s doable, i’m living proof that it is. </p>
<p>i collected 9 W’s, 5 F’s, 1 D and 2 C’s during my first two years at community college. </p>
<p>i got my **** together during the second two… my cum. GPA is 3.47. i applied to philosophy at all campuses. i’ll be at UCLA in the fall. also got into UCSD and UCSB, but was denied by Cal. </p>
<p>for replacing classes: you should jump on them as soon as possible. i hear it looks better if you take them over immediately, rather than wait a semester. after you’ve retaken the class(es) and received your better grade(s), go the admissions office at your CCC and ask for the form for grade replacement. once you file that, you should receive something in the mail a few weeks later reflecting the change. i did this for 3 of the F’s. </p>
<p>for academic renewal: two years have to have lapsed from the time of your insufficient grade til the time of your petition for academic renewal. i did academic renewal for 1 F and 1 D. </p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>^
Did you spend 4 years at a CC? I dont think this guy is planning to spend any longer than 2 years.</p>
<p>yeah, i did… :(</p>
<p>but he isn’t nearly as far gone as i was… he’s just wasted one semester, and taking summer and winter classes, he’ll be able to apply on time.</p>
<p>BUT</p>
<p>in order to ensure a reasonable GPA, he’s got to retake the classes ASAP… over the summer, if possible. also, i got A’s in the three classes i retook. if i had received B’s, i get the feeling that it might have impacted my application very differently.
i mean, the point of the whole grade replacement thing is to show that you simply didn’t put forth the effort necessary to achieve an A… not that you were incapable, or that you struggled and were only able to pull a B or a C the next time around… </p>
<p>yeah…</p>
<p>Yeah it makes sense in your case but if he applies in November, he only has Summer and Fall to make up the classes (with good grades) + show great improvement within the two semesters.</p>
<p>yeah… also winter… </p>
<p>the way i see it, if he didn’t want to wait another year to show steady improvement / performance, he’s have to take 4 classes over summer, 5 or 6 in the fall, and 2 during winter, preferably knocking out his math and english requirements in the process… </p>
<p>so that’d be something like 32-35 units? then there’s the following fall’s update, which would put him at (at least) 44-47 units… if he pulls a 3.5 or better, i think that’s plenty to establish oneself as a ‘good student’. needless to say ‘good’ depends on the major, but, again, yeah…</p>
<p>They don’t check winter grades unless they specifically ask for it, right? I thought the January update only included Fall grades because Winter ends on Feb.</p>
<p>At my school, for an Academic Renewal, you need just a year lapse and 24 units since the end of the bad semester. I got one at my CC and all I had to do was write down my reason for needing the academic renewal (I had a bad year with family deaths, which I actually mentioned in my UC application). Every CC is different when it comes to AR’s. First go to admissions&records and ask if they have an AR application (at my CC they do). If not, they may refer you to counseling. When you do the AR, those class grades will not be calculated into your GPA and the UCs and CSUs will simply ignore them. Also, at my CC, the AR affected the entire semester, so even if you got a couple A’s that you wanted to keep, they would be lost.</p>
<p>Just see to it as soon as possible so you know what your options are. You may need to stay at the CC a little longer to get the AR if you decide to go that route.</p>
<p>@sephorazn… ahh, i misread OP’s post. i thought he’s messed up for just the one semester… not the year… yeah, he’ll have to spend two more years, essentially starting over if he wants a decent shot. i was forced to do the same thing… i’d have finished units on time in 3, but my grade trend wasn’t established enough to ensure UC’s faith.</p>
<p>" at my CC, the AR affected the entire semester, so even if you got a couple A’s that you wanted to keep, they would be lost."</p>
<ul>
<li>that sucks!</li>
</ul>
<p>also, it should be noted that they’re not to be factored into your GPA, but aren’t necessary ‘ignored’.
having a bad semester and overcoming it can possibly even work to your advantage, evidencing that trait of perseverance you’ll surely claim in your personal statement.</p>
<p>^I guess they can still see the bad grades, but they are supposed to ignore them and trust that you had good reasons for the AR, which was why your CC gave it to you. </p>
<p>But I guess it would be like in a court of law where a jury hears something they shouldn’t and the judge instructs them to disregard it… we all know that’s sort of impossible and it’s why lawyers say things they shouldn’t sometimes, cause even if the jury is supposed to ignore the info they can’t really forget.</p>
<p>Sorry I was rambling, recently saw A Time to Kill again, which totally emphasizes this point :)</p>
<p>woah so if u get put on probation is it really that bad for transferring?</p>
<p>^ ask yourself the same question and the answer should be obvious</p>
<p>okay, so i still have a few questions.
what in the heck is academic renewal?
also, if i do retake all my courses and suppose i get straight A’s,
will those bad grades come back to haunt me?
oh and i go to Fullerton College if you know anything about how they operate.
they dont like to share things online apparently</p>
<p>It is not over for you, but you have to realize that this is your second shot at getting into a good school, and you cannot blow it. I was a horrible student in high school and didn’t push myself to my full potential, but I woke up in community college. If you have the willpower, you can pick yourself up from a dismal first semester. This is no time to be lazy because this gpa will stick with you. There is no more starting over at the college level.</p>
<p>This OP had more of a dismal year rather than semester. Academic renewal = retaking course for better grades. Yes, the bad grades will come back to haunt you if you are planning on going to graduate school, trying to transfer to a private institution or some out of state schools that do not allow academic renewal, trying to transfer to any institution because you have not gotten out of academic probation (which is unallowable), also there will be a notification on your transcript that says you have been on academic probation I believe.</p>
<p>^ actually, academic renewal is different than grade replacement. with academic renewal, as long as the time specified by your campus has passed, and you are approved, the grades are simply removed from being factored into your GPA… meaning you do NOT have to retake the class(es). they remain on your transcript, but count for nothing when applying to UCs / CSUs. the grades for the classes i took for which academic renewal was applied to appear in parentheses.</p>
<p>I agree with Pinkerfloyd’s definition of academic renewal. I got 3 F’s the first year I attended community college and have about 17+ W’s and still got into every college I applied to UCLA, UCSD, and UCI (didn’t bother with UCB). I retook every class I received the F in for an A and didn’t do academic renewal. Instead, I submitted a “removal of substandard grade petition” for each class I retook. Please see below:</p>
<p>“Upon completion of a repeated course (previous substandard grade “D” “F” “NCR”), a student should complete this form and submit it directly to Admissions. The highest grade earned will be computed in the cumulative grade-point-average and will be so annotated on the student’s academic record. Previous substandard grade(s) will be removed from cumulative grade point average and cumulative total units. Courses completed by Credit by Exam, may not be used to remove a substandard grade. This policy is adopted for use for courses in the Los Angeles Community College District only. Petitions will be processed and posted on student record within 10 working days.”</p>
<p>As long as you explain yourself well in your application essay and show how you’ve learned from it, then you’ll be fine.</p>