Need Advice On My Situation

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>I have been a trolling reader of College Confidential for quite some time now, and this is my very first post.</p>

<p>Let me give you guys a brief history about myself:</p>

<p>I consider myself to be a pretty smart guy who just happened to make some pretty stupid decisions.</p>

<p>Senior year of high school, everything was going great and I was on track to go to UCI. I was already accepted...even received my dorm assignment and contacted my roommate! Well...things weren't so great after all. I got a bad case of senioritis and failed my AP Calculus class. My admission to UCI was rescinded and I was devastated. I fell into a bit of a depression and bummed it at home for the summer.</p>

<p>Fall rolls around and I apply to the local community college in hopes of transferring back into a UC. I was still really hung up on my situation. All of my closest friends left town for college and I was stuck at home going to the community college. Not that there's anything wrong with a CC, but I guess I was still dreaming about what "could have been". Needless to say, these thoughts of my failure resulted in poor performance. I received horrible marks...lots of Fs and Ws. I was a community college dropout after two semesters.</p>

<p>I skip a few semesters to work and finally decide to get my act together. I reapply at the same CC, but am told by my counselor that my chances for transferring to a UC are slim to none. My transcript damaged beyond repair. I then decided to apply to a different local CC and start off fresh with a brand new transcript. However, this time with work involved, I found it hard to balance to two and performed poorly once again. I dropped out once again and began working full time.</p>

<p>A year passes by and one day at work, I had some sort of epiphany. I decided that I could not possible let myself become this way. I will not work this dead end job for the rest of my life. I put in a two-week notice and quit my job. After some soul searching, I applied to ANOTHER local community college (again to start off new/fresh).</p>

<p>I am currently still enrolled at this community college and have been doing pretty well so far. I've taken Spring 2009, Summer 2009 and Fall 2009 semesters so far. Everything seems to be going great. I am completing my IGETC requirements and hope to transfer to UCI again as a Computer Science (Informatics) major.</p>

<p>After writing all of this, I can't seem to formulate one specific question I want to ask. I guess I just wanted to share a little bit of my struggle in hopes to find out that I am not alone.</p>

<p>Is there anyone on here with a similar story?</p>

<p>Quick questions: (I know I can read the FAQ, but I just want them answered here please)</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Will UCs know that I have attended three different CCs with horrible transcripts at two of them? I've read that when I apply to transfer that I must include the transcripts of all the college I attended. Is this true?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there anyway to some how erase, delete, expunge my community college records? I would like to attend a previous attended community college which is closer to my home (transferring the courses which I have taken at this new CC).</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I guess that's all for now.</p>

<p>Sorry for making this so long. If anyone out there can help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>Hey there!</p>

<p>Welcome to College Conf :)</p>

<p>Aww I feel like I’m the complete opposite of you–I went to a 4 yr school, had a 3.6–and now i will be happy if I make a 2.5 this semester haha</p>

<p>Anyways, yeah when you apply you have to show all of your transcripts–if you don’t they will find out somehow–they’re good at that! (I heard that from a rep) it’s good to just be honest.</p>

<p>If you end up doing well these terms before/during your application, it could work in your favor as an increasing grade trend. The admissions committee looks at that too!</p>

<p>I think you have to have a 2.4 minimum for Irvine and can sign TAG at 3.0, but I’m not sure what your gpa is if you meet the tag criteria or not–but there’s stilll time I think.</p>

<p>Just keep your head up and keep working hard! It’s hard for me to do anything at a CC since I was at a 4 yr school for two years then moved out to this coast from pittsburgh–soo it’s basically the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, so don’t feel too alone in your struggles!</p>

<p>Good luck :P</p>

<p>Hope I answered/helped with some of your questions!</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for your reply.</p>

<p>After more research, I’ve found something called “Academic Renewal”.</p>

<p>"A student may petition to have up to 24 semester units of substandard work (D, F or WF grade
assigned) taken at El Camino College disregarded in the determination of the grade point average
(GPA), subject to limitations as follows: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>The student must have earned a GPA of 2.25 or higher in the last 30 units of graded work, or 2.5 or
higher in the last 24 units of graded work, completed at any regionally accredited college or
university. </p></li>
<li><p>At least two years must have passed since the end of a semester with a grade to be disregarded. </p></li>
<li><p>A student may be granted academic renewal at El Camino College only once. </p></li>
<li><p>Units disregarded by other institutions shall be deducted from the 24 semester units maximum of
course work to be disregarded by El Camino College. </p></li>
<li><p>Course work with disregarded grades may not be used to meet degree or certificate requirements."</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I think this procedure answers my expunging transcript question!</p>

<p>Does anyone have more information about this?</p>

4

<p>Academic Renewal is fantastic. My first semester at my CC (College of San Mateo) I received 3 A’s, a D, and 2 F’s. I was a Middle College student with little ambition, motivation, and was depressed. I disliked my teachers and classes, and the 3 A’s I received were, of course, not trasnferrable to the UC’s (which is where I had told my counselor I wanted to eventually attend). </p>

<p>Anyways, unfortunately the classes I failed and received a D in were transferrable, and my UC GPA was something like .8. However, after that semester I left Middle College (I was “asked” to leave) and pleaded desperately to my college’s administration to allow me to continue my work in the actual college itself. Best decision I’ve ever made. After leaving Middle College and taking classes that I was actually interested in such as Psychology and Philosophy, I became incredibly more motivated - inspired. My Gpa went from .8 -> 3.3 -> 3.3 -> 3.7 -> 4.0. Now I have a cumulative GPA of 3.57 (UC-transferrable). </p>

<p>However, the reason my GPA is that high after only 4 semesters of redemption is because of Academic Renewal. I swear this policy has saved me another year at my CC, saved me from retaking those horrible classes, and brought my GPA up nearly a full point! I literally went from cumulative 2.3 to 3.2! </p>

<p>Here’s how it happened: One day I was in line to schedule a counseling appointment, when I hear the person in front of me discussing academic renewal. Being curious, I asked what it was and if I was eligible. Fortunately, the F’s I had received were over 2 semesters prior to my petition for renewal, and I had above a 3.0 with 12 semester units taken since that time (or something along those lines).</p>

<p>Basically I’m not entirely sure what the Academic Renewal policy is at your college, or if they are all the same, but here’s how my semester by semester schedule went:</p>

<p>Spring 2008 - F,F,D
Fall 2008 - B, B, A
Spring 2009 - B, A, A
Summer 2009 - B, A, A <<< (where I petitioned for academic renewal and received it before the summer session ended).</p>

<p>So basically I had taken 9 units for 2 semesters in a row (18 units total) after my terrible semester and then I received academic renewal for my 2 F’s. Fortunately, my F’s were revoked and although they still appear on my record, they do not factor in to my GPA, and thus my GPA is 3.57. I literally am so happy to have heard about this because it saved me so much time.</p>

<p>I consider myself a pretty smart kid too. However, for whatever reason, in high school I was unmotivated and melancholy, and when all of my friends went off to college this year I thought I would lapse into another self-deprecating phase. Thank God this didn’t happen because I am now happy with my classes, teachers, GPA, and everything school-related. I am lucky enough to be receiving TAG’s to UCSC, UCD, and UCSD, and am also applying to UCLA << all as a Psychology major. All of my friends are currently Freshman in college, and next Fall I will be a Junior. Some of my friends, who worked an incredibly strenuous 4 years at our local high school (with terrible teachers), slaving away doing pointless busy-work and EC’s, got in to UCSD/UCD and are happy and doing fine there. However, all of them are astonished to see their good friend and high school dropout to be a grade ahead of them and possibly going to an even more prestigious university. </p>

<p>Academic Renewal saved me, man. No other way to put it. The moment I received my letter of acceptance for AR I made the decision to go all out and strive for the top. This semester I am taking 18 units and anticipate (hopefully) a 4.0 this semester with 100 volunteer hours also completed. I’m not looking back now, and I’m not going to again. AR is an amazing thing, and literally requires filling out a form! It asks for your information, classes you’ve taken, what grades you are petitioning to get rid of, and that is about it. </p>

<p>There is really nothing I am more grateful for than this second chance, and I think everyone should know about it because it is a chance at redemption. Someday I plan on returning to teach at this CC because of what I’ve learned and gained here. I wish you the best, my friend, and keep me posted if you receive Academic Renewal.</p>

5

<p>Also the universities you apply to will see all the colleges you’ve attended, so there’s no sense in lying or excluding them. However, if you receive AR for your poor grades, they won’t be factored into your GPA, and receiving a (3.0 < necessary GPA for UCI TAG/UCSD TAG) or (2.8 < necessary GPA for UCD TAG) won’t be a problem. TAG is another great system. As long as you get a 3.0 and complete your major req’s for the universities you’re applying to, you’re guaranteed acceptance. I’m hearing back about my TAG to UCD in a couple days and am hoping for the best.</p>

<p>Again, I wish you the best and keep me posted with any new changes or developments with AR or school in general.</p>

6

<p>once you’ve taken 30 units or more at your new CC you can do an academic renewal. academic renewal will either completely “eliminate” two semesters of coursework. or eliminate 15 units of D’s and F’s through various semesters. </p>

<p>the other option for those that feel like rebels. if you’ve received no financial aid of any kind and your current community college is in a different district then the two you did bad at, place a ferpa block on the two you did poorly at, add a privacy block to your national student clearing house records for those two schools, and hope you don’t get caught omitting schools like that. if you do you will be ineligible to apply to any UC or CSU ever again. </p>

<p>I went the academic renewal route, its up to you though. retaking the old classes will eliminate the F’s from your GPA as well.</p>

7

<p>I can’t do academic renewal until the end of this semester when I get 30 units from the college I’ve been attending the last year.</p>

8

<p>if the schools you did poorly at are in a different county throw down the FERPA block, contact national clearing house and have them add a privacy block to those two schools on your record, apply as normal. if you wont have 30 units til after this semester anyways how are you planning on applying to schools?</p>

<p>you could always apply to like UCSD for winter session, by the time that app is due you will have your 30 units.</p>

9

<p>If I looked up the correct college, you only need 24 semester units if you maintain above a 2.5 GPA. The number of units vary school by school as do the other requirements. Note that if you are at one of the three community colleges that is on the quarter system that you will need to do a unit conversion to see how many units you need.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.elcamino.edu/academics/academicsenate/BP-AP-4240-AcademicRenewalCvrLtr.pdf[/url]”>http://www.elcamino.edu/academics/academicsenate/BP-AP-4240-AcademicRenewalCvrLtr.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>EDIT: Whoops, ignore my posting. I’m sick and didn’t see you had posted the full thing. Sorry :)</p>

<p>But to add some information, be sure you stay on top of the school when you do academic renewal. There are some odd little loopholes in some school systems that can either hurt or help you. For example, Diablo Valley College, Los Medanos College, and Contra Costa College (I think that’s the right name) are all in the same district and have one form for academic renewal. You can only submit the form once. However, each college does not want to take renewal information for the other thus the problem.</p>

<p>Essentially my advice is do all your research and meet with a counselor at your old school. Even if they tell you it’s possible for it to be a drop-in, the counselor will possibly not see it as such and may require/prefer a longer session with you to make sure you understand what you are doing as you can only do it once.</p>

10

<p>I have more than 44 units combined with my old school and current school. If I’m trying to get academic renewal from my old school though I need to have at least 30 from my current one.</p>

11

<p>I’m going to try to meet with a counselor at El Camino tomorrow and will get back to everyone!</p>

<p>Thanks again to everyone for the replies!</p>