transfer advice for unconventional college journey

<p>In 2003 i attended a premier liberal arts college in the northeast as a freshman out of high school. The experience was a bit of a culture shock and I crumbled at the first sign of challenge, which I had never done in high school. I played varsity baseball and pledged a fraternity and my grades that semester dug me into a deep hole. I was required to leave for a semester and apply for readmission. During my semester at home i took courses at a community college and earned a 3.9 gpa and was granted readmission. The semester of my return started well, but I quickly fell back into my cave and never went classes. I slept all day and watched tv all night. I eventually was required to withdraw. The past 3 years I have worked and supported myself and struggled on a day to day basis. I finally opened up about my feelings to my parents and became aware of a family history of clinical depression. I was quickly diagnosed and underwent treatment on a path to recovery. I now have a rejuvenated drive to succeed and have become an extremely goal oriented person. I am currently enrolled fulltime in community college and maintain a 3.95 gpa. I am also a member of phi theta kappa honor society.
My goal is to complete a bachelor's degree at a university in northern california, where I spent my childhood, but moved to the east coast at 12. I have remained very close and routinely return to with friends in the Bay Area.
I'm not sure if any share my situation but I have a few questions as to the approach i should take when applying to transfer.
How difficult is transferring into a UC or CS school from out of state?
Will previous academics really hurt my chances?
Will drastic improvement in grade trend offset past failure.
Will i have to submit transcript from my first college even though my last courses were attempted 5 years prior?
How should i explain past indiscretions in my application? Should i bring up clinical depression?</p>

<p>I think you might be in look with the CA state schools. My neice was in a similar situation and found that after several years (I believe 5) she could request they not consider her first college grades.</p>

<p>there will be many schools that will be happy to have you based on your new stats.</p>

<p>Thanks for the vote of confidence...I am also interested in pepperdine...any info on transfer rates there?</p>

<p>I don't know about the CSU's but I can tell you as a fact that the UC's consider ALL college work including that from several years ago. My transcripts had college work from over 10 years ago and they still had to be listed on the application. Please be sure to list all work even if it is from years back. If you don't and they find out, you could have an acceptance rescinded.
Although you had a rough road, a well written personal statement can really help you out. My personal statement explained in detail my past experiences but not only the rough times but also how I was able to overcome it and to really contribute. That personal statement helped me get into Berkeley and then the following year I helped my husband by editing his personal statement and he also was accepted to Berkeley. Although not all UC's base their decisions on personal statements the one's that do really put emphasis on them. </p>

<p>You can also sign transfer agreements with some of the UC's (especially UCD). With your gpa and your upward grade trend, you should be able to get into one of the UC's. Good luck to you!</p>

<p>Thanks for the input....I feel that UCSC would be a comfortable setting to accomplish my academic goals. I have notified admissions...a year in advance...about my situation and I am awaiting a response as to their recommended course of action.</p>