Low GPA - Upward trend

Transfer Students
1

<p>I apologize for the long post. I figured the more details provided the better.</p>

<p>In high school I got a 3.8 and received a 33 on my ACT.</p>

<p>I originally went to my current state school because it was both affordable and and had a top engineering program, which I originally thought was the field that I wanted to pursue. Freshman year I rushed a fraternity and absolutely hated the school, my major, and hated my living conditions even more. I became depressed and lost all motivation to get up in the morning, sleeping through the majority of my classes second semester. </p>

<p>After my freshman year I had received a 2.79 and a .81, giving me a 1.79 as my cumulative GPA at 27 credits. I was devastated. I could barely live with myself.</p>

<p>Over the summer I underwent psychological testing. What had originally been misdiagnosed as ADHD turned out to be SERIOUS anxiety and underlying depression. After a couple months of meeting with a psychologist, I saw huge improvement in my mental health and a large increase in motivation. Although I was reluctant to return to the same school I disliked, I realized that I wouldn't be able to live with myself at home an entire semester and that if I saw improvements in my GPA my eventual goal could be to transfer to another school.</p>

<p>I returned this semester and received a 3.23 GPA at 15 credits while still taking rigorous STEM courses. Not as great as I wanted, but a huge improvement.</p>

<p>My goal is to get at least a 3.8 next semester, while starting to retake classes I did poorly in last year. I will do everything in my power to get that.</p>

<p>I realize that I messed up my first year in school but I'm very serious about my future and will do my very best to transfer to a school I will be happier at.</p>

<p>My dream schools at this point are reasonably competitive (UW Madison, McGill University, UIUC). I've talked to counselors in the past, but they are not the best at giving transfer advice. I'm most curious about how many semesters of ~3.8 GPAS I am away from applying to these schools and what my best chances are of admittance even if I am able to show an upward trend. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>3.8 is hard to achieve if you are continuing to take rigorous STEM courses. </p>

<p>Most big name universities have a 2-yr (or equivalent units) residency requirement. So you would want to apply for transfer right now. If you apply next Fall or Spring then you could end up losing units in the transfer process. The residency requirement of your target school and their admissions period will determine how many upward trend semesters they see. </p>

<p>Also not all schools allow grade forgiveness for repeating a failed course. Some will average the two grades together to determine your transfer GPA. </p>