<p>This is my fourth semester attending my university. The first semester I gained 12 credits and had a 2.5 GPA. The second semester I was hating the school and flunked everything. The school had me sit out a semester. I returned, got a B- and a C+ in two classes and an F in the other. I then attended summer school and got 1 F and a B+ and a C+. This semester it looks like I am going to flunk everything. I am dissatisfied with my school, feel out of place and such and it really took a toll on my attendance. Now, I am not trying to use my dissatisfaction with the school as an excuse for the poor grades. It was more a situation where I reacted in a "fight or flight" manner. </p>
<p>Now, I don't want to return to the school so I am planning on attending community college in the spring and fall '14. If I am able to succeed at community college for a year, do you think I will be able to transfer to another school in the subsequent Spring? I will hopefully have good marks from the community college, with a handful of B-'s and C+'s , and a handful of F's from the previous college. More B-'s and C+'s than F's though. </p>
<p>What do you think? I have hit rock bottom and desperately need advice.</p>
<p>I don’t think so. To apply for a spring transfer, you will need your applications submitted in the fall/early winter, so schools will see your 4 sem of poor grades and 1 sem of good grades at a CC, and perhaps a fall mid-sem grade report.</p>
<p>Rather than planning on getting out of the CC as soon as possible, concentrate on redoing the courses you failed. When you’ve had problems in the past, projecting ahead isn’t useful, take it one sem at a time and prove yourself mature enough to handle college this time around.</p>
<p>Honestly it looks pretty bad. I can understand 1 or 2 semesters with Fs but having semesters with mixed grades (B, F, C) is the worst. You need to look into academic renewal to get rid of those Fs. I don’t think 1 yr of CC will do much to outweigh 2 years of University. Especially since you received those grades so recently.</p>
<p>What is it about your school that you don’t like? I agree with Entomom. To transfer in Spring, most colleges have you apply during the prior spring semester. So you may not have any grades from a cc, or only one semester’s worth on your transcripts when you apply.</p>
<p>Are you saying you will have “good marks” of B’s and C’s from the cc? You will need to get mostly A’s and B’s in order to boost your GPA enough to be competitive as a transfer student. I think a university will look at your sub-par grades from your previous university and your mediocre grades from a cc and think you are a poor student. You are better off remaining at your current college, at least until you can retake your courses for better grades.</p>
<p>Being dissatisfied with your school or college experience isn’t an excuse for poor grades. I would have a different opinion if you had extenuating circumstances or got in over your head at a highly competitive university that was too academically strenuous for you. What happens if you don’t like the cc you attend? Or the next uni you transfer to? You have to face the things in life you don’t like, it is called being an adult. Please excuse my harshness, but it is time for a reality check. This is not a “fight or flight” situation. The simple truth is that you avoided doing something because you didn’t like it. It’s time to take responsibility for yourself and your actions and stop letting your dislike for your college dictate them. Your college isn’t responsible for your grades, you are. People survive classes, semesters, colleges, and professors they dislike every year. You can, too.</p>
<p>Well the school I go to is a top 25 university. The schools that I am thinking about applying to do have the option to transfer into the Spring semester with a Fall deadline. As far as extenuating circumstances go, I do have insomnia and have felt depressed at my school. I don’t have any medical documentation for this but I guess it is something I should think about getting.</p>
<p>I really excelled in high school and I truly feel that I can build myself the similar work ethic and motivation I had back then. So my plan is to take around 15 credits in the spring at the cc, including some of the classes that I did poorly in and do the same thing in the Fall and then apply to a new school in the Fall.</p>
<p>Aside from staying out of school for over a year, are there any other ways I can prove to a four-year university that I am ready to perform at an adequate level?</p>
<p>You think 15 credits from a CC will do much to outweigh a 2.5 GPA at a top 25 university? Even with all As I doubt it will even raise your gpa above 3.0. Without academic renewal and those D and Fs gone I’d say you would have a hard time getting into any university.</p>
<p>Okay, so are you saying that I should just take another semester off and just return to my school? Is that my best option? Because you are making it sound like I will never be able to get into a college again.</p>
<p>What kind of college do you want to do get into? You got a 2.5 GPA right now. Even getting into a CSU will be a reach (speaking in terms of CA colleges). With a semester at CC, would even hit a 3.0? Maybe if you could full off a solid year (winter, spring, summer, fall) with 50 units and all As (hard to do with the bad priority new students receive) you could raise your gpa above 3.2 and be eligible for mid-tier UCs like UCSB; it’d still be a crapshoot and not guaranteed. If you are miserable where you are right now, do you think you’ll be happy at CC? Or a lower tier school? Cuz getting into another top university most likely won’t happen.</p>
<p>If you did academic renewal, would your future gpa be above 3.5? If not going to the CC route isn’t the best idea.</p>
<p>For the record, I have about 40 units completed right now with a 3.69 gpa. i’m taking 19 units right now and if I get all As, it should raise my gpa to a 3.79. After that I am planning on taking 6 units in winter and if I ace them, it’ll give me a 3.81 transfer gpa. Basically it’s incredibly hard for me to get above a 3.8 because I already have 2 Bs and 1 C. With your Ds and Fs your “peak” gpa so to speak will be a lot lower than mine.</p>
<p>Just a middle tier private or public school, my current one is private. By the way I have a 2.6 in the classes that I have PASSED which is 9. I failed 4 classes. </p>
<p>The issue I have with going to CC for too long is accumulating useless credits that won’t count towards what I want to major in (CS). All the college credit I do have is for divisional and core requirements. I looked up the schools that I was thinking of applying to and saw that maybe only 4 or 5 classes transfer for that major. In addition, the classes that I did poorly in were not divisionals and were misguided attempts at “trying” to be a doctor. Waste of time and money. I’m just not ready to do that again…If I do go to a CC I just want to take the classes I need and get out.</p>
<p>Here is a quick background on me to give you an idea of what you are up against: My first year in college I earned a 3.3 and my second year in college I earned a 2.2. I took a long break from school (5 years) and when I tried to return, I failed miserably. I got one C and the rest of my grades were D’s and F’s. I finally ended up withdrawing from all of my classes my 3rd semester back so I received 5 W’s. By the time I came back to school in the fall of last year, my GPA was a very low 2.something. It took three semesters of achieving above a 3.7 to get my GPA up to a 3.1 UC GPA and 3.04 Cal State. If I get a 4.0 this semester (I am taking 17 units), it will only bring my GPA up to a 3.24 (UC). I am very, very worried that I will not get into the school I want to go to for Fall of 2014. </p>
<p>You said that you are not succeeding at school because you don’t like the school you attend. It sounds like you are an intelligent person and were previously a good student, but you need to get your act together. Insomnia and depression are not considered extenuating circumstances if they are not documented by a medical professional or if you haven’t talked to anyone at your college about them. They cannot help you if they do not know you have a problem. And most colleges will want to see how you have persevered in spite of your extenuating circumstances. A good example would be someone who battled depression their first two years of college, but overcame it and worked hard to improve their grades. </p>
<p>I had (and still have) extreme extenuating circumstances that caused me to do poorly. So I took a break from school, regrouped, and came back to school ready to work my butt off. Although my GPA isn’t anywhere near where I would like it to be, I have 3 semesters worth of excellent grades that show that I am a good student and have the potential to be successful at the university level. </p>
<p>If you plan to go to a CC, you need to get EXCELLENT grades. Mostly A’s with only the occasional B. It is the only way to get your GPA up and prove you are a serious student. If you are not ready to do so, then yes, you need to take a break from school. Continuing down this path any longer will only make it harder to reverse the damage done.</p>
<p>So your combined gpa with the Fs is around a 1.7? If so even after 40 units of straight As (4.0) your total gpa would be 2.87. </p>
<p>I was assuming your current GPA is 2.5 and 40 units of straight As would raise it to 3.3-3.5 level or higher with academic renewal. </p>
<p>On a side-note, have you taken any CS classes before or know anything about doing CS? You realize CS is a more demanding major than doctor/science?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, if you go the CC route you will need to do a lot more than just take the classes you need. You will have to take some “useless” credits to raise your GPA. 2.6 is not your GPA, I would guess that your true GPA is well below a 2.0 with your failing classes. Sorry, even at your current college you are going to have to take some “useless” classes, either the ones you failed or others, to get your GPA up high enough to even graduate. It is what it is. Time to buckle down and get to work.</p>
<p>At my CC (and it is a good CC), the only CS classes that even transfer for UCB CS program are Intro to C++ 2 and Data Structures. If you wanted to take more CS classes, you only have like 3 or 4 other classes to choose. The other classes that transfer are the entire math sequence. Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra and differential equation. The other classes that would be advised would be intro to discrete math and symbolic logic. Besides that most other school want the typical engineering sequence. Calc based physics 1-3 and General chemistry 1 and 2 and maybe organic chemistry or some bio classes. So it’ll take you a while to get all the classes you need and most of them won’t be CS / won’t be different from what doctors take.</p>
<p>I think you should talk to a few admissions reps from the colleges you are thinking about ultimately transferring to and graduating from. You did get accepted to and passed a bunch of courses in a top 25 school. It shows you clearly have the ability. A not so competitive school( one that admits 40 to 50 percent ) might be willing to take a chance on you and give you a second chance. Don’t worry about your GPA …it might be that a new school will not include your previous grades in computing a GPA. I would forget about the CC until I explored whether you can gain admission to your four year school directly. Your task is to make a good case why you are ready this time and be confident you deserve a second chance.</p>
<p>^Ability is not the question, it takes more than innate ability to be successful in college. You also have to have the willingness and maturity to work, and the mental state of mind to make that possible. The OP needs to first work on their insomnia and depression, that is the first concern. College will always be there, and continuing on without fixing these issues will only mean digging a deeper hole.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>See a mental health specialist.</p></li>
<li><p>Start back at a CC and work steadily at improving your academic record.</p></li>
<li><p>Then apply to 4 yr colleges. But stop anticipating what will happen, take care of yourself and do the work first, the rest will come.</p></li>
</ol>