Transfer student needing help

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I am currently at a CC after spending a year at a foreign university outside the US. Long story short, the school was a terrible fit for me and I had a 2.4 GPA after 2 semesters. Right now I have a 3.6-3.7 GPA in CC, which is significantly better, but I'm afraid that I no longer have a chance at transferring anywhere decent due to my record at my first school. My high school records were very strong (99th percentile SAT and 3.8/4.0 non-weighted GPA with many APs and Honors classes), but I doubt they will count for much anymore. </p>

<p>I've been through a lot emotionally over the past 2-3 years. Right now I'm just desperate to go anywhere that will take me. For what it's worth, I am still in satisfactory standing at my first school and could technically go back there anytime, but I would really prefer not to. Any and all advice is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>What is your home state, how many credits do you have and what can your parents afford? </p>

3

<p>Thanks for your reply. I live in California and currently have 34 credits from my CC, and 26 more from the university (although some classes are repeats). Money won’t be an issue. </p>

4

<p>Cum GPA?</p>

5

<p>I’ve tried using the GPA calculator for UCs, and with everything added in I end up with slightly above a 3.4. The thing is, the UCs will allow me to replace certain classes I got D’s in with the grades I got on the retake (at the CC), but I’m not sure that will be the case everywhere else. </p>

6

<p>I’m not sure what you mean by using the UC GPA calculator. What is your UW GPA without replacement and then with?</p>

7

<p>I used the automated calculation from the University of California Transfer Admission Planner here: <a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/transfer-admission-planner/”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/transfer-admission-planner/&lt;/a&gt; With the D’s from my original school replaced, I have a 3.42, but without anything I have a mere 3.1, which understandably makes me a tough sell. </p>

8

<p>You might actually have better standing for admission than you believe. A strong upward trend in achievement at community colleges may convince a 4-year university that you suffered just a misstep at your initial school and, given the circumstances (much better grades now), you deserve an admissions slot. Also if you have less than 30 semester credits, many U.S. universities will want to see your high school record. From what you’ve said, your high school record will be viewed as advantageous.</p>

<p>What majors interest you?</p>

9

<p>Sadly I have more than 30 semester units, which is why I said at the beginning that my high school records may not count for much anymore even though they were strong. I’m interested in computer/electrical engineering, which is another issue because that major tends to be very competitive. </p>

10

<p>Do you have engineering classes? What grades there?</p>

11

<p>I don’t think you should assume that it’s your overall GPA that will be determinative. Your more recent grades, especially since they are from the US and the others are not, may carry additional weight. The UCs may be bound by their GPA formulas, but private schools will not be.</p>

12

<p>If money is no object, you will still have lots of engineering transfer options with your gpa. Midwest/west schools with very good engineering programs that are pretty easy to transfer into (2.0-3.0 gpa required)…</p>

<p>Iowa State
Iowa
Kansas
Kansas State
Montana State
Nebraska</p>

13

<p>Thanks for all the replies so far. </p>

<p>I took mostly math and science classes at my first school, but due to the generally low quality of teaching, as well as illness and personal issues getting in the way, I ended up with mostly B’s, with a C and 2 D’s thrown in. I’ve since retaken most of those subjects at my CC and have learned so much more. My grades show it, too - I have A’s in all math classes except for a B in Linear Algebra, and an A and a B in 2 physics courses out of the 3-course sequence (taking the 3rd in the fall). But I know my choices are much more limited than they could have been because of that terrible first year. </p>

<p>Unfortunately my first school doesn’t do anything like Academic Renewal and doesn’t have any grade replacement policy for unsatisfactory grades, so I don’t have any way of getting rid of them. </p>

14

<p>What is your home state and what can your family afford?</p>

15

<p>"Right now I’m just desperate to go anywhere that will take me. "</p>

<p>I’m sure there are colleges that would take you but first you need to decide where you are interested in going. Do you want to stay in California? what size? U in a city or college town? </p>

16

<p>Erin’s Dad: As stated above, I live in California and money isn’t a problem. </p>

<p>MichiganGeorgia: I would like to stay in California if possible, but I know my transfer options are much more limited now. I would be open to moving to the Northeast, Texas, the Pacific Northwest, or certain places in the Midwest (Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, etc.).</p>

<p>Another thing - I know UCLA is a major reach for me, but I am interested in their Linguistics & Computer Science major (which is considerably less competitive than any of their engineering majors since it’s in a different school). I was accepted there as a freshman too, though I doubt this makes any difference now.</p>

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<p>I do know that the U of Wisconsin (Madison) requires a college gpa of 3.0 or better for transfer students. Your more recent US gpa is significantly higher. Those 30 credits sound like an average single year of college. UW has both Linguistics and Computer Science majors for undergrads. Look at their transfer website. You may feel better about yourself and your chances at a major university. UW uses a more holistic admissions so it is not just stats driven. Look at the transfer student sites for various colleges on your radar, you may be pleasantly surprised. Remember that you can email admissions offices with your questions. The first I would check on is the ability to overlook your out of country college experience.</p>

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<p>“I know my transfer options are much more limited now.”</p>

<p>Well, who knows? At a minimum, you should be competitive at some good Cal States and probably some UCs.</p>

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<p>If you want to get out of CA then you can look at Arizona or ASU. AU requires a 2.0 for transfer.<a href=“http://admissions.arizona.edu/transfer/out-state-resident-attended-out-state-school”>http://admissions.arizona.edu/transfer/out-state-resident-attended-out-state-school&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>You might also have a chance under Washington’s comprehensive review for transfers.
<a href=“https://admit.washington.edu/Admission/Transfer/CompReview”>https://admit.washington.edu/Admission/Transfer/CompReview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

20

Just an update to this thread - in spite of my rocky start at college, I was accepted to UC Irvine as a transfer student for electrical engineering (I believe largely due to my significantly improved grades at CCC), and will be attending in the fall! I couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out. Thank you to all those who offered me advice and support :slight_smile: