<p>Hello I'm a 30 year old returning to school after an 8 year stretch since my last semester at PCC. I have enrolled at Saddleback College in Orange County, and got all 70 units from PCC transferred over. I took a lot of classes at PCC with no real intention to pass them, received a lot of Ws and Ds and Fs. Also plenty of Cs, Bs, and As. Anyways I have heard about Academic Renewal and will use that before I apply for a transferable AA from my school and before I submit any applications to university level schools. I changed my major from Television at PCC to Psychology. I want to transfer to preferably UCI and complete a BA, then get into graduate school and go for a Masters. If things go well I will probably try to keep working toward a PhD or PsyD. That is the ultimate educational goal, however for now the goal is to get excellent grades at Saddleback and get into UCI. I started off with a psych 1 class and got an A, which was great and felt good. I'm looking at actually a little over a year at Saddleback because of the change in major and also because I have some catching up to do in the math department. Last math class I took was pre algebra at PCC a long long time ago in a city far far away. So I got into Basic Algebra, I'm gonna give it all I got this semester. I need to get up to Trig to transfer with a completed AA out of Saddleback, so I assume if I study hard and really learn the math I should be able to grasp it. The bad grades at PCC were a result of the fact that I was in the middle of a serious alcohol and drug problem that lasted almost a decade, I'm sober now and intending to turn my life around. I plan to work with addicts and others as a therapist or psychologist down the road. I spent some time working at a treatment center and it brought some of the most rewarding and touching experiences I've ever had in my life. So that is a little about what got me back in school and where I'm coming from. I'm totally green, a total noob with being in school after this long, so any advise on what I should do to get into UCI would be great. What kind of GPA will I need in reality to get in ? If anyone has majored in psychology and gone a similar route to what I am starting, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks and best wishes to you all.</p>
<p>Hello @BackNSchool83,</p>
<p>Welcome back to the admissions process! I will try to chance you as best as I can as a high school student. For a competitive UCI Applications I would suggest a 3.5-3.7 GPA for a competitive UGrad transfer (: Perhaps your essays will be a big push for admission chances and I believe you certainly have a story to be told. Your upward trend (if continued) will look beneficial. Good luck! I do know though as an intern at UCLA, that Letters and Science tends to look more at Essays and your GPA than your EC’s/Work. If you would be so kind, chance me and my friend back?</p>
<p>Friend</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1673907-chance-my-friend-for-uci-and-ucsb-will-chance-back.html?new=1”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1673907-chance-my-friend-for-uci-and-ucsb-will-chance-back.html?new=1</a></p>
<p>Me:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1671689-chance-me-i-will-chance-back.html#latest”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1671689-chance-me-i-will-chance-back.html#latest</a></p>
<p>I chanced you best I could and your friend too, basically you both really impress me with your academic achievements thus far. Seems like you need a 4.5 GPA and an Einstein SAT score to get into freaking The University of Pheonix these days. Thank you for the reply and kind words. Yeah my upward trend 
my one class so far, well thanks man I will do my best to maintain that direction. I’ll crank out an epic essay when it’s getting closer to time for me to finish at CC. I hope that you find success and enjoyment in your near future, thank you again.</p>