Hi, I am currently considering transferring between Ohlone and Deanza community colleges. Because of my high school giving college credit to AP classes I have grades on my Ohlone transcript that aren’t exactly what I want them to be. My main question is if I transfer my transcript from Ohlone to Deanza, will the grades transfer over? If they do, would retaking classes be worthwhile? Also if the grades do not transfer over, will my Ohlone transcript hurt my eventual plans to transfer to a UC, as in will those grades show up?
HI, so I was in your shoes last year in that I had bad grades from the past at a few CCs that were about 7 years old in my case. You have to disclose all transcripts and academic history on your application to the UCs, they do have access to your enrollment records and schools do submit enrollment info into a database. If you hide a transcript you will be rejected. When you transfer the units over to your new CC they will be incorporated into your overall GPA. Check on the ASSIST website to see what is transferable to the UC system. The GPA you have to report to the UCs when you apply is only for courses that can transfer to a UC. Some courses don’t transfer at all, some only to CSU, and some to both CSU and or UC. Apply for academic renewal at OCC and if you have good grades now at Deanza, and it’s been long enough since the bad grades ( could be a semester or years, that have to have passed in time, depends on OCCs policy on academic renewal ), you may be able to eliminate some Ds and Fs off your record. Most UCs will honor that, but you gotta check with your school counselor to find out the details. Classes you get a C or better in cannot be repeated for a better grade, so you might be like me where I got stuck with a ton of old Cs. I had a 4.0 GPA at my new school and at over 60 units too, but when I had to transfer over my classes my GPA dropped to a 3.1 for UCs. Now, you don’t have to transfer the units to your new CC unless you need some of those classes to graduate. I suggest going for the AAT degree because it garuntees you admission to a UC or CSU somewhere, and I also suggest you get IGETC certified so you don’t ever have to take Gen Ed classes again when you transfer, talk to your counselor about it. Remember, even if you don’t transfer the classes to your CC you still have to transfer them to your UC. Now, I’m sorry if this scares or disheartens you, I thought I had no chance after I learned this stuff, but I got into my UC of choice against the odds. You gotta make up for the academic history by what you do now, do some volunteer work for your application, like a day a week, you don’t have to report how many hours I don’t believe. Join a few easy clubs for your major, most require you to simply attend a meeting every few weeks. Get as good of grades as you can now, show improvement, and try to get academic renewal. The best thing you can do to get a grip on all this is make an appointment at your schools transfer counseling center, or at the regular academic counseling center if you don’t have a transfer center. They can hook you up with representatives from the schools you are interested in, and they can guide you to optimize your chances. No matter what, do not give up on your dreams. I almost did because I figured I was screwed, but I was wrong. Understand your situation isn’t uncommon. Just apply to lots of UCs and CSUs so you have some backup plans and get your personal statements started, and get them reviewed by a tutor or counselor as early as possible so when they are ready to be pasted into your application… they are mint. Best of luck, I’m rooting for you, and I believe in you and that you can do this.
Sorry for the slow response. Thanks for the advice. It is a bit defeating knowing that the mistakes in my past will somewhat inform my future, but I guess I’ll just have to work harder this time to make up for it. I’m going to see a counselor in about a weeks time, and I’ll take into consideration all of your advice. It is actually quite motivational to know that other people, faced with similar circumstances, managed to make it through, so again thank you for your response. It has been of much help these last few days as I’ve planned my next few years.