<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>Can you get academic renewal for your previous grades? Also have you repeated the courses? For the UCs Ds and Fs will be excluded from your GPA if you make up the course (even at a different institution) </p>
<p>I’ve looked into academic renewal but, I found that the courses need to be retaken at the same institution =T I haven’t transferred academic past to my current school. Even if I were to transfer the coursework, the class offerings are completely different, and not offered at my current school. Is there no other way than going back to that institution and spending 2 years? </p>
<p>THANK YOU for your response, I was beginning to imagine comments. [: </p>
<p>@TRYING, At this point, the only thing you can blame yourself for is that you haven’t even done the research about doing an academic renewal. I would normally tell you everything you need to know, but seeing as you’re a potential UC student, you should be able to do a simple task like going to your old cc and checking the catalog on what their policies are in regards to AR. I will tell you that bomerr is incorrect. You can repeat failed classes at your present cc, but you would have to go back to the old school to repeat classes you failed there. I was in the same position you are. It’s too late for you this year, but if you want to wait until next year, all will be forgiven with an AR. Good luck.</p>
<p>Okay, sorry, I guess you did do a little research. Academic renewal is actually a process of removing the grades from your gpa without repeating the courses. Every school’s policy is different, but most of them require at least a two year period in between the failing grades and a minimum gpa of 3.0 at your new school. What they do is remove the grades from your gpa for whatever semester you are applying for. The UCs will still see the grades, but they will not count against you. They will, however, count against you if you plan to go to grad school or a private college like USC, this is the problem I’m running into. Remember, they do not remove individual grades, but whole semesters. Meaning, if you passed one class, but failed the rest, they will remove the passing class as well. Like I said, go to the college catalog to see exactly what their policies are. Good luck. </p>
<p>To make it clear. Academic renewal is a process to remove grades WITHOUT repeating the course. </p>
<p>Some universities such as USC will combine GPAs from past attempts with passed repeats. They will also NOT honor academic renewal.</p>
<p>UCs will replace any substandard grade (e.g. F, D) when the course has repeated. The course doesn’t have to repeated at the same university it was failed at. Furthermore they WILL honor academic renewal. </p>
<p>@repo11
Thank you for your useful advice, along with the brutal harshness well deserved on my part. My school has been giving me the run around and since they are closed until Spring semester begins, and with no other reliable outlet I’ve come here. If you dont mind me asking, when you were in the same position which school and with what kind of stats did you get in? </p>
<p>I am in a similar situation as you. I also screwed up my first semesters in cc and ended up switching to a different school. I began at a new college but screwed up my first semester there as well. I stopped going to school and returned after a couple of years. Just like you,I didn’t realize my past grades could hurt me so much. However, after 24 units I was able to apply for academic renewal for previous classes taken at this college and currently have a 3.68. The problem is that at the first college I attended they will not consider AR unless you have taken 24 units at that same college after the classes you want to remove of your gpa. Counting those grades on my gpa brings me down to a 3.4. I retook the classes from that first college at the college I am in now and have applied for transfer this year. I was told that as long as it is the same class they will only count the highest grade earned, but I guess I will find out. I have reported every single class I have taken at both schools and have gotten admitted to CSU’s so far. I also applied for UCI and am hoping that since I have gotten a 4.0 my last 3 semesters, it will show that I am not the same person I was 10 years ago. If you can’t get AR I would at least suggest you find the same classes at your current school and retake them for a better grade.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten Academic Renewal, twice. You should just search the name of your school and academic renewal. Most ccs have it, so you should be able to find it. It could really save you although you wouldn’t be able to benefit from it for this application year. But for next year it could help you a lot.</p>
<p>@TRY1NG, It’s no problem. Schools will always be limited in their resources and desires to aid students through the difficult process of transferring. This site is a valuable tool, but I think a lot of people use it as a crutch and do none of the research on their own. Sorry if I came off as being harsh, but I’m just so used to people asking stupid questions they could have easily found out themselves, and forgot that the guidelines between lining out classes and getting an AR are a bit confusing.</p>
<p>I transferred Fall of '12 and didn’t find out the specifics of AR until I was going through the application process. I went to two schools before attending the one I transferred from. I’m prior military, and would collect the money for the first months and then just stop going. I couldn’t drop the classes or I would have to pay the money back, so I had many Fs before I got the AR. I stopped going to school for about three years before I went back and was fully committed to transferring. </p>
<p>I applied with a 3.5 and got accepted to UCLA, UCB, UCSD, UCI, and UCSB. I’m at UCLA now and am about to graduate in June. I didn’t have a problem getting in with the academic renewal, but the option of grad school is very limited because of the Fs I received when I went the first time. </p>
<p>I want to add something about academic renewal: not all colleges require you to have the entire semester of grades removed. The three cc’s I attended allowed me to “cherry-pick” only the D &F grades across several semesters that I wanted renewed, up to a certain amount of units. So you may be able to academically renew your poor grades while not losing an entire semester worth of credits.</p>