<p>So I've read up on a few of the UCLA transfer threads here, but I haven't seen a lot about how out of state works. Here's my situation:</p>
<p>Went to school in Texas back in 2002-2004; major life event occurred by way of my spouse dying and it bled into my academic performance. I did poorly, then dropped out of school for six years. Fast forward to 2010, I reinrolled in the school I did poorly in, brought my academics back up from abysmal to good standing. My overall GPA was still around a 2.5, but my GPA for 2010-2012 was a 3.4. I work full time so I'm only able take a class or two a semester, hence both my degree and my GPA repair taking so long.</p>
<p>In January of this year, my office transferred me to Los Angeles. Here I'm attending community colleges, and doing very well. I still have sophomore standing, and ultimately I'd like to transfer to UCLA. But:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I'm not sure what the best option would be. Transfer my University of Houston credits to a community college, build up an associates and apply to UCLA that way? </p></li>
<li><p>I'm not sure how my GPA stuff would work out. All of my current scores are great, but I've got some historical academic baggage. My understanding is that GPA's don't transfer, but I'm sure they factor in to the admissions process at UCLA. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Any thoughts? What, if anything, can I do improve my chances? I did well on my SAT's, have several AP exam scores that I can forward on, etc etc, though not sure if that matters for transfers either. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, or even thoughts on who to reach out to in order to help me iron out the mess that is my academic history!</p>
<p>I totally understand where you are coming from. I used to live in Chicago, was a high school drop out who encountered many bad situations, my grades in community college wasn’t the best (2.6 GPA). Just like you, I’m now living in California. I got focused and brought my GPA up. As someone who have been through a very similar situation, I can tell you IT’S TOTALLY DOABLE. I began applying to colleges last year and got into every UC I applied to.</p>
<p>It’s actually better that you’ll be going to a California community college before transferring. The credits that your California community college accepts towards IGETC reflects the California college standards, meaning UCLA will most likely take it as well.</p>
<p>To answer your questions directly.
- YES. That is the best option, I transferred my credits(or units as they’re called here ;)) from Chicago, got academic advising telling me which classes the universities will most likely accept and which class I should retake to better match California standards (I had to retake an Art History class). Your counselors will excess your previous credits and evaluate them relative to California standards.</p>
<p>2) When applying to a UC school, they factor in EVERYTHING. So yes, your GPA is important. But the good news is, because they look at everything, you have an opportunity to address why your GPA was bad and all your trials and tribulation (in your application essays). In my experience, I was only able to get into every UC because of my personal essays. They really really like students who have been through hardships and rough patches like we have, because it makes us unique as individuals and students. </p>
<p>Even better news, UCs will count your later GPAs a little more heavily. They want to know that you’re changing and trying to be a better student (and capable of the UC workload). My GPA for the past 2 years, since transferring to a California community college, is a 3.75. However, at the time I applied, my cumulative GPA was only a 3.0 (with 2.6 from Chicago and 3.5 from California)</p>
<p>My overall advice is to just work hard and try to get mostly As and write a thoughtful and honest personal statement. UCs are research schools and heavily stress writing, so write well and show them that you are unique and why your past GPAs were horrible. To have lost a wife at your age is an unbelievable hardship and anyone with a heart will understand the pain you had to go through.</p>
<p>You should definitely try to apply, but just be aware that UCLA may just be out of reach for you depending on what major you plan to transfer to. The average admitted transfer GPA for the college of letters and science at UCLA was 3.71 for the 2012 class and is even higher for competitive majors like economics, engineering, communications, political science, and many others. Some of the other UC’s may be more realistic if your cumulative GPA is in the 3.0-3.4 range. Also, if you completed more than 86 semester units at a four year university in Texas, you may already be ineligible for admission at UCLA. Many of the UC’s also have unit limitations on students where if you’ve completed over a set amount of units from both a four year and a CC (usually about 80-90 semester units) will make you ineligible to transfer. You can see each UC’s policy here on page 14:
<a href=“University of California Counselors”>University of California Counselors;
<p>The UC’s require you to submit your entire academic history from all two year and four year institutions after high school, so they will see your academic history from all institutions you’ve attended. The difficult part for out of state students from four year and two year institutions is that there are no articulation agreements between them and out of state schools, like there are for California community colleges, so there’s no way to predict what courses UCLA or any other UC will deem transferable during the admission process. Any and all classes that are deemed transferable are going to factored into the admission process and are going to be used to calculate a cumulative GPA which will include your out of state and in state coursework. It’s likely that a decent amount of your coursework from both 02-04 and 10-12 period will transfer so it’s hard to say what your GPA will be. </p>
<p>If I were you I’d get in touch with a transfer counselor at a local community college and a UCLA admission rep to get more information. To answer a few more questions you had had: your SAT scores don’t factor into the admission process as a transfer. Usually AP scores of 3 or higher can be used as credit for some of your transfer requirements; they don’t factor into your GPA. Having an associate’s degree doesn’t matter in the admission process and won’t help or hurt you. Often getting an AA/AS requires taking extra classes in addition to those required to transfer to a UC/CSU so many, probably the vast majority, of students transfer without earning their AS/AA as they expect to already get a bachelors in 2-3 years. </p>
<p>It’s hard to get you up to speed on everything involved in the UC admission process in just one post because obviously you’re just starting out. But if I were you I’d make an appoint to see a transfer counselor at a local CC to go over things with you. You also need to familiarize yourself with the UC application website as it has many of the answers to questions you’ve had and likely will have.
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html[/url]”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/transfer/index.html</a>
Also, you’ll want to be familiar with the website Assist.org to see the requirements for your major at the UC you want to transfer to and what those equivalents are at your local CC.
Also, be aware that in addition to your major requirements you need to complete GE requirements to transfer to a UC. More on that is at the UC application website linked above.<br>
[Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“Welcome to ASSIST”>Welcome to ASSIST)</p>