I’m thinking about applying for transfer this fall. I am an art major currently with a 2.89 GPA. I am well-aware that my GPA standing is extremely low for UCLA, but I had decided to look into it anyway.
According to the UC Transfer fall admissions summary, out of all UCLA Fall 2019 admits from a CA community college, 50 of them had GPAs ranging 2.8-3.19. Even though that is 1% of the CA cc admits, I still see it as a tiny tiny tiny possibility and I am willing to try. Now, getting more specific to the pool I may be grouped in, there were 259 art transfer applicants for Fall 2019. Seventeen (17) students were admitted with the GPA range of 3.02-3.8 (noted that this range represents the 25th to 75th percentile of admits)
With this data, I figured I could submit an app despite my 2.89. Besides, the UC Admissions site states a requirement of at least a 2.4 in transferable courses. BUT when I looked at the UCLA Art Transfer Admission site, it had stated that “all students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA at the time of application (November 30)”
Now I’m guessing that the recorded GPAs of admits are maybe not GPAs from the time of application. If I were to submit an application with my current GPA, would I automatically be denied consideration for admission? I suppose this is the biggest question in this post.
If I am still able to apply, cool awesome great.
How would I fare against other CA community college applicants? To go into some detail about me, my high school GPA is honestly mediocre but I was very active in my community. I was a board member for three prominent clubs at my high school and I have a good deal of volunteer experience. My art is my greatest skill, and I have won four awards from competitions. This may be handy for me, as the supplemental application (art portfolio) is the most important admission criteria for art majors. I come from a low-income household and experienced a lot of bad that had greatly hindered me in my academics but ultimately made me a better person and someone I am rather proud of (caring for my dying father, at one point being the only person in the family making money and helped cover groceries and bills, assuming other responsibilities as I became leader of the household). I believe I have plenty of subjects to pick from and address in my essays, my portfolio can only do so much since art is rather subjective, but my GPA is my greatest concern.
I know that there are plenty of students who have faced terrible hardships and performed well in school despite circumstances. I know that I am not one of those students.
I may sound like I am out of my mind applying here, but I don’t believe that things can be totally impossible. Given the data, I don’t think this is an absolutely ridiculous choice for me to consider. If anything, it’s nerve-racking and a fat stretch.