<p>While in high school, I concurrently enrolled in a community college and completed the majority of my transfer requirements and an associates degree. I participated in a variety of extracurriculars (student government, etc) and finished with a GPA of about 3.5.</p>
<p>Afterwards, I made a decision to fore go attending a university and traveled to a developing country to become a community development volunteer. While there I figured I'd also finish my higher education and experience what education is like in a foreign country (believing in the young idealism that all education was created equal). However, after studying in that school for two years I came to realize that not all education systems are created equal. My grades started out good but towards the end I couldn't continue going to class because much of the information (geared toward the wealthy kids who went to the school) conflicted with the practical information I was learning while working in the poor communities. As a result, my grades suffered and I stopped going to school. Regardless of the plummeting grades, I worked within the school system to improve the conditions of students in a similar predicament as mine (forming an organization for these disenfranchised groups, etc) before eventually forsaking the entire school. I continued with my volunteer projects and also got a side job teaching English.</p>
<p>I am now 22 and returned to California to finish my education. I have a very clear idea on precisely what tract in life I want to pursue (education and social science), something which I certainly wasn't aware of before I became a volunteer. I also would never have decided to pursue this tract if it weren't for my negative experience within that school. It provided more education than many of my classes did about the nature and importance of schooling.</p>
<p>I'm aware, however, that I'm required to submit the transcripts from the foreign university but I'm terrified that the poor grades I received towards the end of my education (which I feel were justified based on the conditions I was exposed to) will jeopardize my chances of getting accepted.</p>
<p>Am I completely screwed?</p>
<p>EDIT: I'm positive that NOTHING is transferable from the institution. It's merely the GPA that concerns me, not the extracurriculars or anything else.</p>
<p>id be really really really tempted to leave it out if i were you–im saying none to no f’in way chance of them discovering your having attended school in whatever country you were in. how would they ever be able to find out? theres no worldwide database lol… just talk about your volunteer work as an explanation for the gap in time between your finishing HS and college.</p>
<p>jesus ESPECIALLY since it was in some developing country… did you ever take out any student loans of any kind to pay for that time? thats the only possible way i could ever think of anyone being the wiser.</p>
<p>^Yeah, I was thinking that also but I’m concerned that should a prospective university decide to verify my volunteer experience (by contacting a representative of the organization) that representative may slip that I was a student at a local university. Or perhaps it may be mentioned in one of my reference letters.</p>
<p>And if I leave out the volunteer experience, well, there’s really no excuse for my time spent for the last four years.</p>
<p>^lol dude they wont call to verify that they are so ****ing inundated with apps they can barely think…its not like you are making any insane claims. as for reference letters you arent going to need those for UC undergrad transfer apps.</p>
<p>While I was reading your post I actually thought to myself that with some tweaking, the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs were sounding like a pretty good personal statement. That would mean you would probably have to submit the transcripts, but I think it’s a good experience to write about. </p>
<p>Last year’s prompt:</p>
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<p>What you told us definitely sounds like an experience/accomplishment that relates to the person you are. You said yourself that because of it you now know what you want to do, etc. </p>
<p>I agree with Edward, Personal Statements serve the beautiful purpose of exposing the “person behind the GPA.” They allow you to explain why your numbers look the way they do. I didn’t do as well as I could have my first semester in college but I explained it in my personal statement and I think it made all the difference. </p>
<p>While you may easily be able to get away without reporting those grades, I think it would be dishonest do so. In my opinion, when it comes to educational institutions, you should always be as honest as possible because you don’t want to jeopardize something that has a tremendous impact on your future.</p>
<p>With the experiences you mentioned, I could see you putting together an impressive and unique personal statement describing your situation. & we all know that standing out is key with top-tier UCs because there are just so many darn applicants. By the way, what country did you go to?</p>
<p>Additionally, if the completion of your sixty transferable units are to be completed at a CC in the US, then I don’t see why the UC admissions panel would place more emphasis on coursework from another foreign country as opposed to coursework completed in the US which is articulated by the University of California.</p>
<p>^^^ they wouldn’t unless they are simply looking for any excuse to count people out-- i still say don’t mention it. or send an “anonymous” email to admissions describing your situation and see what they say about reporting those out of country courses. this way you can try and feel things out a bit.</p>
<p>Thanks to fashionkit and edward for your input, it’s certainly something I was thinking about–and in that case I could include the various extracurriculars I was involved in at that institution also! One of my other concerns is that should I get rejected from all the UCs that I apply for and I’m forced to apply to a CSU then I’ll be asked to provide transcripts from the foreign institution but, since CSU doesn’t require personal statements, I will not be able to provide an excuse for the poor grades (or the reason why I left that institution in the first place). Essentially, I guess it feels like a stalemate situation for me. I think I have a very unique situation which may serve as an advantage for some UC campuses but, should it prove not to be an advantage, it would screw me when it comes to applying at a CSU.</p>
<p>Edward, I still have a few remaining transfer courses to wrap up before I can officially apply for transfer but I think I’ll give UCB, UCLA, UCI, UCR a chance. I’m choosing those, except for UCB, are because of my location (Los Angeles county) but if I can get into UCB (probably doubtful, based on my GPA, but the worst they can do it reject me) I will do what I can to make it work.</p>
<p>The intended major for all of them is History, I understand most of them have a credential program for teachers which I can take advantage of while I’m studying.</p>
<p>Sounds good. I’m a history major myself (from LA County as well) and will be attending UCB in the fall. Your GPA is still strong and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you hear where you’ve been accepted to next spring.</p>