I messed up my first year

<p>I messed up as well 0.0 first semester kinda struggled for about 1 more year then got my act together getting 4.0’s now in harder classes and going to ucla in fall also got into ucsd, uci, ucd. Definately retake the classes if you can or if they pertain to your major. Figure out what you’ve been doing wrong poor study habits etc… and fix them before the next semester starts gl!</p>

<p>i go to fullerton college too and i am in the same boat as you, or even maybe worse.
I had a counselor’s meeting the other day and she looked at my classes that i’ve taken and she said “ohh. you’ve taken all the easy classes.” and she basically told me that I could probably not apply anytime soon. what a beezy.</p>

<p>oh. and i think fullerton does academic renewal. i THINK. best bet would be to go to a counselor. Don’t go to Sunshine. With a name like that, you would expect…well nothing.</p>

<p>hey thanks for all the replies guys. i saw my counselor today. didnt really help. the guy basically told me im done with UC. nothing new to me. ive been told i cant do something. just gotta prove myself. straight A’s from here on out. and best of luck to anyone else who may be struggling like me. =)</p>

<p>honestly, it won’t take STRAIGHT A’s… though, obviously, that’d be ideal. </p>

<p>i had 3 counselors tell me flat out that i had no shot at UCLA / Berkeley / San Diego and one (Roth at Pierce… only person anyone should EVER talk to in the counseling department over there…) told me that it was ‘one hell of a long shot’.
they all tried to push CSU Northridge as the objective. </p>

<p>while i think they should approach each person individually and attempt to instill that little bit of inspirational hope that ‘all is not lost’, their job entails that they pay close attention to statistics. statistically speaking, most people who mess up that badly during their first year don’t make a come back… let alone one strong enough to make themselves competitive enough for those top schools.
they’ve also heard it all before, and, according to Roth, ‘it all’ usually ends up being BS. i really can’t stress this enough… do the research YOURSELF. rely as LITTLE as possible on counselors at your school for the guidance their titles suggest they’ll give. you’ll find plenty of similar success stories on this forum. be assured that, if you follow the formula (get better grades + knock out prereqs + address lack of performance in personal statement + maybe even join a club or two), you’ll do just fine.</p>

<p>i agree with pinkerfloyd. </p>

<p>@jkim90, I did terrible at my previous private university and now I am getting 3.8+ gpa at fullerton college. It just takes some hard work, but if you are dedicated and follow the formula that pinkerfloyd, i think you’ll do great. I’m in the same boat as you too, so don’t feel like it’s hopeless. it can be done!</p>

<p>soo…despite all the support ive been given on this forum i still managed to get subpar grades and now my gpa is at a 2.6. im still bent on applying to the UC’s, and i calculated some things and by the end of my third year i have a chance to bring it up to around 3.3-4. is that good enough for even one UC? as long as the school has University of California _______, my parents are okay with it.</p>

<p>3.0 = riverside i would say</p>

<p>2.8 even maybe riverside it really depends on your major</p>

<p>2.8= uc merced prob</p>

<p>you know what sucks, I wish i can retake all those C’s. I got like 7 C’s which is a gpa killer, i should have just fail it.</p>

<p>there is another solution, find another college that is not in the same district with the one that u did poorly at. and then attend there as a “New Start”, what i mean by new start is that dont tell ur counselor that it was your first year in college, and dont even mention u attend to any other college in ur UC application. and then do great in there and transfer</p>

<p>weeeeiiirrrrd seeing stuff you wrote a year ago… </p>

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</p>

<p>man… i’m sorry to hear that things didn’t work out. however, all is not lost. if you can get your GPA up past 3.1, you’ll have a shot at many majors at either Riverside, Merced, Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara (in that order). </p>

<p>bit of advice… buckle down, man… once you transfer, it only gets harder. </p>

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</p>

<p>well, that depends. if you have post-graduate studies in your sights, you’ll find that flat-out failure in any course you’ve taken will do well to set you further along the path to, well… failure. you should have withdrawn. let’s say you’d failed them and then retaken 7 F’s for 7 A’s. that’s 7 4.0’s averaged – and they will be averaged for grad/law/med school apps – with 7 0.0’s which ='s 7 2.0’s… you’ve just danced in one BIG, painfully repetitive circle, and for what? to get that (near useless, in anything short of econ.) B.A. from a slightly higher ranked institution? big deal… let your ego suffer for two years at some 2nd tier state school, pull crazy good grades, pursue internships over summers, get a year or two of work experience post-grad, and wind up Ivy in grad school… this is TOTALLY doable, and is a far more viable option for someone with your numbers.</p>

<p>again, that’s only if you’re considering (CONSIDERING! not ‘set on’) grad school. </p>

<p>+++ B.A.'s generally don’t mean what they used to. don’t be fooled into thinking that you’re set to make those big bucks in an entry-level 9-5 grind w/o some higher-higher education. in all likelihood, you won’t.</p>

<p>^^^ dumb. you can get your admission revoked from the UCs and forever blacklisted (oops meant this about the guy ABOVE pinker)</p>

<p>jkim, you can get into riverside, or merced, I guess, but are you sure you even WANT to stay in college? Or it’s the place for you? Community college is very easy to get decent grades in if you put in even minimal effort (I got As in classes I was completely stoned in every class session). You need to understand why you’re not doing well, even a year after you attempted to start trying. If you’re only going through the motions to get into a UC to please your parents… stop. Go do something more worth your time, that you enjoy, and you’re better at. I’m not saying any of this to be mean, by the way, I’m just concerned that a year has passed and you couldn’t get your **** together. I, like you, and pinker, totally screwed myself the first two years at CC by withdrawing from many classes and even failing a few I found too boring (again, I was high a lot). But, as I said earlier, I did well in the classes I was slightly interested in, and when I finally decided to get my **** together I DID. So… I guess, I’m curious, why did you not get your **** together?</p>

<p>@ the OP: Pinkerfloyd has spoken some serious truth in this thread. He and I are actually quite a bit alike. Pinker, I, like you, had a terrible first semester (W, 2 F’s, 1 D) and am a phil major to UCB and psych major to UCLA. As I’m sure we both know, resilience speaks volumes compared to wallowing in one’s lack of success. What I’m trying to say is this: OP if you want to get to a UC you need to TAG with a 3.0 to any UC (other than UCLA and UCB). If you can nab a 3.0, not only will that show persistence, character, and an ability to turn things around, but it will also show your dedication.</p>

<p>I know what it’s like to be doing poorly at school. I dropped out of high school at 16. Honestly it’s a pretty vicious cycle; you just never know how to pick yourself up. That said, the only way to do it is by easing into it. I took 9 units for 2 semesters a piece after my first terrible semester, got into the flow of things, and then worked things out from there.</p>

<p>I know that you can get to a UC. You seem like an intelligent person with goals. All you need to do is focus on progressing to those goals. Make use of AR, retake classes if need be, go to office hours, and take minimal units. It’s not a race; it’s a marathon.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>@ pinker: How’s everything going for you at UCLA? Are you going to be applying to law school soon, and do you feel prepared for the rigor of law school?</p>

<p>I’ve been considering it lately. Do you think my first semester grades (W, 2 F’s and 1 D <em>all AR</em>) will affect my chances very adversely? Even if they were to, that wouldn’t discourage me from working hard from here on out. I’m just wondering what the real deal is. </p>

<p>Hope to see ya in the fall, and good luck in your endeavors at UCLA and beyond!</p>

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</p>

<p>hahahaha… yeah… do that. </p>

<p>and by ‘do that’, i mean ** DO NOT**, under any circumstance, do that.</p>

<p>emils,</p>

<p>grades wise, i’m alright. i don’t see myself graduating anywhere south of 3.65, which i’m pretty content with… </p>

<p>also, about law school, here’s my information starter kit:</p>

<hr>

<p>[GPA</a> Calculator Law School Predictor](<a href=“http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/?page_id=45]GPA”>http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/?page_id=45)</p>

<p>*first, use this to calculate you LSDAS GPA / potential LSDAS GPA</p>

<hr>

<p><a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsa…hools/rankings%5B/url%5D”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsa…hools/rankings</a>
use this to familiarize yourself with the rankings.
also, get used to the term T14 (top 14).</p>

<p>[Law</a> School Probability Calculator](<a href=“http://www.hourumd.com/]Law”>http://www.hourumd.com/)
a guesstimator of your chances, statistically.</p>

<p>[Top</a> Law Schools](<a href=“http://www.top-law-schools.com/]Top”>http://www.top-law-schools.com/)
the mecca for all law school-related discussion.</p>

<p>[LSN</a> :: Welcome to LawSchoolNumbers.com](<a href=“Recently Updated J.D. Profiles | Law School Numbers”>http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/)
the informal guide to law school applications… people post their numbers, soft factors, where they’ve applied to, admissions decisions, dates and more. + everything is graphed. i’ve seriously spent FAR too many hours on this site. </p>

<p>[url=<a href=“Search for Law Schools – LSAC Official Guide | The Law School Admission Council”>Search for Law Schools – LSAC Official Guide | The Law School Admission Council]LSATGPA[/url</a>]
another guesstimator.</p>

<p>those will tell you more than i can… </p>

<p>if your LSDAS GPA is relatively low (3.0-3.3), but you manage a high LSAT score (>/= 167) you’ll be considered a ‘splitter’, like me. </p>

<p>MUCH to my surprise / delight, all is not lost for us splitters - as a few forum searches and hours on LSN will show you. with some work experience or service experience after college (a year or two), and an excellent LSAT score, we’ve got quite decent shots at breaking the T14, or even at getting $$ just outside of it. </p>

<p>i’d have sent this to you in a personal message, but here, i guess someone else might benefit, too. </p>

<p>also, to answer your question, you grades will certainly put you at a disadvantage, but, again, not an insurmountable one. honestly, the best thing you can possibly do to boost your chances is to get A’s. it’s really that ‘simple’.
also understand that this is easier to achieve at less-competitive schools… food for thought, i guess. </p>

<p>cheers</p>

<p>@ pinker: You’re the man!</p>

<p>Seriously, thank you so much! I’m bookmarking this thread. You’ll graduate UCLA with a 3.65? Or overall your GPA will be a 3.65? jw. Either way, that’s an incredible feat considering how you began at CCC. I’m going to dig through each of these links assiduously and get back to you on my plans and/or tons of questions I will have if that’s alright with you. Thanks again for all of that! I hope to see you at a T14! lol. </p>

<p>Time to sift through each of these links and extract the mounds of information!</p>

<p>my UC GPA should be in the 3.65 / 3.7 vicinity, if my performance continues. thanks for the kind words… you should see the look on peoples’ faces when i admit to being a high school drop out… </p>

<p>however, at the moment, my LSDAS GPA is 3.05. if i maintain ~3.7 during my senior year, i can get it up to 3.15, which, believe it or not, makes a pretty significant difference.
over the next year, i’ll pour my entire self into the LSAT, and hopefully land in proper range. (to clarify, i haven’t taken it yet… no diagnostic, no nothing… i’ve only just begun to study for it.)</p>

<p>i’ve got my fingers crossed.</p>

<p>hey thanks much for the advice, @ Soph unfortunately i don’t have the option to stop college so i’m going to have to keep pushing to get myself back on track. ive done it before in high school so im fairly confident i can do it again. a lot of my failures fall on my lack of preparation so if i can organize and prioritize i should be okay. But there is truth to the saying things are easier said than done so i need to get on it. thanks again for the support.</p>

<p>Hi, I hope you have a chance to read this! I’m in a similar situation as you. I have about 15 w’s but I have a 3.6 GPA. I’m on track to keep this GPA going, and I have about 53 units. I’m discouraged to apply to my top choice UCLA because I’m worried that they might just laugh at me because of my multiple w’s. I don’t want to settle for CSULB, could you give me any advice on how you got accepted to those UC’s with as many w’s as you had? Thanks so much!</p>