one-year transfer in dire need of reassurance!

<p>hey, anybody wanna help a one-year transfer out?
i'm taking 15 units this semester and let's say i get a's in all of them. good, right? but i took this 5 unit chem class the summer after my sophomore year in high school and got a c, and now it's stuck on my transcript. am i doomed regarding my chances for cal? death by gpa? is there any way i can remedy this (i.e. addressing it in my personal statement)?
also, can i include extra curriculars from high school? i have a billion music ones because i want to an art school. obviously, i don't have too many from my one year of college because i just started, but i do have a job teaching piano to groups of little kids and private lessons.
fanx for your help.</p>

<p>Yes, you can put high school ones because they will understand that you have just started college. The C will affect your chances, but it’s not total doom. Will you have 60 units by the time of transfer?</p>

<p>yes, i will have 60 units. i’m kind of worried because i’m doing most of my major prereqs next semester and it says on the site that to be competitive, i should have a high gpa with all the prereqs…they’ll understand that the c was a long time ago (so to speak) right? i mean, i skipped two grades, i don’t know if that counts as anything. i guess i’m just freaking out because i have no idea what to expect with this whole transfer thing, especially since they’ll only have a semester of my academics to look at.</p>

<p>No, they don’t give you slack because you took it two years ago. They look at the grade and the grade only. As for prereqs, you SHOULD have most of them completed by the fall. You should only be taking about one or two, three AT MOST for the spring… They look heavily on prereq GPA just to let you know.</p>

<p>Agreed w/ xcaliberse.</p>

<p>The only thing I’d add is that, assuming I’m understanding correctly, it’s a relatively common, general-ish chem course: if you take <em>precisely</em> that class again, only the new grade will be factored into your GPA. But both grades will still be visible on your transcripts, naturally… it’s just a GPA fix and nothing more.</p>

<p>thanks for your prompt responses, guys. really appreciate it.
so, would you guys recommend i just wait another year to transfer and really get my stuff together (i.e. join the honors program, tag, tap, do some ec’s, whatever else), or do you think i should challenge myself? i mean, does it make any difference to them whether i get it done in one year or two years? i’ve only done one prereq for my major by the end of fall so i’m guessing that’ll hurt me, but i’ve got the majority of my igetc done…i could try to write some killer personal statements and i really enjoy trying to beat the odds, but i know i’ll be crushed if i don’t get in.</p>