<p><em>PLEASE NO JUDGEMENT, JUST GENUINELY NEED ADVICE</em></p>
<p>In highschool, having only gotten into a few schools, I decided to spend a few years at cc and reattempt. However, being the dumb teenager I signed up for classes and never went. (FOR 2 WHOLE YEARS) gpa 1.2 </p>
<p>After a year or so of being lost and floating around, I got serious about my schooling. At my current school, I have maintained a 3.58 while trying to survive with a fulltime job. (I started at this school as a "new" student unaware that my academic past would follow me)</p>
<p>Last year I attempted to transfer(to the 1 school i desired), and was rejected. Mid-wait period they contacted me as to why I excluded those 2 years after highschool. I submitted transcripts from that cc, and explained that my intent was not deceit but thought that my recent 4 years of schooling was all that was required since it was such a long time ago. (WRONG) SO VERY NAIVE OF ME. I genuinely believed that since it was so long ago, and all the pre-requisites were retaken at my new school (not to mention the lapse in schooling) I would be ok without submitting those documents and grades. My admission's rejection reasoning was that I have made too much degree progress with such bad grades(1.2 + 3.58 = death of me) </p>
<p>This year, I have reapplied to the same school along with UCI and UCLA. Although the 2nd attempt is a long shot, having taken a serious look at my academic standing I am beginning to understand and come to terms that maybe UCI and UCLA are ALSO LONG SHOTS. </p>
<p>Please understand that I genuinely had not given a glance or a thought to my academic past until said school rejected me!</p>
<p>As I wait on the admissions decisions for Fall 2014, I am wondering is there really no hope? How can I go about raising my gpa? I have so many units attempted that I fear I may have enough units for a BA just in general education. Any advice is welcome, but please no negative judgement and snide remarks. I am already overcome with anxiety and feelings of hopelessness, with nobody to blame but myself. </p>
<p>There is forgiveness for academic performance. There is much less tolerance for deceit. When you applied to that first school you signed an application stating that it was complete and truthful, knowing it was not. Every college application has that statement for the applicant to sign. You chose to hide the earlier CC attendance. You can tell yourself “my intent was not deceit” but of course it was. Otherwise you would have listed it. The sad thing is that you might have been ok because of your improved record, but you are not going to get in when you lie on your application. I hope it wasn’t a UC school because they are all part of the same system and so every campus will know what you tried to pull last year. </p>
<p>Perhaps it was deceit but I genuinely felt it would not be a game changing factor. It was a private school. Thank you for your judgement, but do you have any advice? </p>
<p>Whenever you apply for admission to a degree program at an accredited college or university in the US, you are obligated to provide official copies of your transcripts from every post-HS institution that you have attended. No matter how far in the past, no matter how few credits, no matter how bad/good the grades, no matter the relevance/lack of relevance to the new degree program, no matter where in the world, no matter… well you get the drift. Lots of applicants learn this the hard way just like you did. </p>
<p>Go to the Transfer Advisor at your current CC, and get some help with your transfer list. It is my understanding that in CA, some of the UCs have restrictions on who is admissible based on number of credits attempted, but others don’t. It also is my understanding that the CSU system has different policies. The Transfer Advisor should be able to advise you as to which in-state institutions have accepted students with records like yours (and there are lots of students like you at every CC in the country, so you are not in a unique situation), and may even know about some out-of-state options that could work.</p>
<p>First of all, there is hope - my husband had pretty low performance in his first attempt at college; he took 4 years off and joined the military, and now he’s at Columbia finishing his degree.</p>
<p>But you have to be honest and up front about your academic performance, AND explain why you think you’ll do better the second time around. You can’t pretend like it didn’t happen; you have to address it and why you think you’ve grown and learned to perform better. When you apply to new schools, submit ALL of your transcripts and take the time to write a supplemental essay explaining that you failed out because you failed to withdraw properly, and weren’t as serious about school work, but you’ve since matured a lot and are far more ready to pursue college.</p>
<p>Try applying to some CSUs. I really don’t think the UCs will take you. Your situation is not like a non-traditional student that took 4 or more years off before going to school.</p>