<p>Hello, I will be applying to the UW soon from Bellevue college. I currently have a 3.71 gpa. I am a member of phi theta kappa honor society, My current major is an open major, but I will not complete the biology sequence because I would like to take it at the UW. I have a couple quarters left and I am taking more math classes than I need to because I really enjoy math too and will possibly minor in math (should I explain this in my personal statement?). How is my gpa right now? I'm pushing to get it up even higher. I will also be applying as a non resident because I had to move here due to a family financial crisis. Will not having all of the "recommended" courses for my open major (environmental science) change anything? I just want to wait on the bio, and they recommend that too.</p>
<p>Classes I've taken -</p>
<p>Psychology - A</p>
<p>English101 - B</p>
<p>PreCalc - A-</p>
<p>spanish1 - A</p>
<p>spanish2 - A</p>
<p>preCalc2 - A</p>
<p>General biology1 - B</p>
<p>Geography - B-</p>
<p>Music107 - A</p>
<p>Technical writing - A</p>
<p>Communication studies - A</p>
<p>I still plan on taking chem1, chem2, calc 1, calc2, calc3, spanish3 and 1-2 more social sciences.</p>
<p>In addition: I swam all four years of high school, ran track, I was a member of deca, I did some freshmen connect program, but I don't remember the name of it. The only volunteer work I ever did was with my swim team, and neither of my parents have gone to college(only some college), I work full time, I took some AP and honors classes in high school, but an advisor at UW told me high school classes are not considered during the transfer review.</p>
<p>I'm mainly just worried about the personal statement, I suppose I could talk about my new maturity and how I didn't take high school seriously? As well as both my parents losing their jobs and going bankrupt? </p>
<p>Definitely take the time to clearly explain how you are preparing for your intended major. I have been told this is an integral part of the admissions decision, regardless of the competitiveness of the major. I am an autumn 2013 applicant, applying to a competitive major (psychology), and have deficiencies in the departments admission requirements. How I went about this was, “However, there are two classes that are not currently offered at my institution that are required to be admitted into the major, a biopsychology course (PSYCH 202) and a psychological research course (PSYCH 209). If admitted I will proceed to take these classes at the U.W. in the autumn of 2013 and apply for the psychology major in the following term, after I have successfully completed all the additional requirements.” Just clarify your reasons for not having the ‘recommended’ courses and give an idea of when you’ll take them.</p>
<p>Your GPA is good (+) and you have priority as a student coming from a WA community college (+). Being a non-resident student doesn’t affect your chances, unless you are coming from an out-of-state school. They will view your high school transcript, so it will have some weight in the holistic review, but not nearly as much as your college work (assuming you have no CADR deficiencies). I would focus on writing a strong personal statement. If you’re having trouble writing it, use their guide to writing a ‘stellar’ personal statement. Answer the questions and weave it into a narrative essay (this is what I did).</p>
<p>Let me know if you’d like me to look over your personal statement! Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input, psychguy! Are you sure about my high school transcript having some weight? I talked to them at a transfer thursday and asked them about high school gpa, etc, etc. And they told me that once you have 40+ college credits that all they’re looking for from your high school is that you have completed CADR’s(which I have). Thank you for offering to look over my personal statement!</p>
<p>Not a problem! The fact that they’ll see your transcript will cause bias in their decision, especially if you’re grades weren’t great, regardless of the weight they do or don’t put on the high school transcripts (they’re human). But I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I would say, more often than not, transfer students don’t have that stellar of high school grades (one of the many reasons a student chooses to go to a CC). High school was years ago, for most of us, which is why college coursework is given so much weight (i.e. because it is more recent and rigorous). If you’re college record is strong, than your high school record is pretty irrelevant.</p>
<p>Okay, thank you! Yeah, I was very immature in high school and it was hard for me to even find a ride to school, which was one reason I moved out here. I’ve definitely matured since high school and I think it shows.</p>