What the Freshman Provisional Contract actually means

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p>I am making this thread to hopefully clarify some questions/concerns regarding the freshman provisional contract.</p>

<p>Let me start with my background: I'm currently a senior at Granada High School in Livermore. I got accepted into UCLA for the fall 2007 term, and I had some issues with my GPA, dropping classes, and getting Cs. I am fairly positive that the next few points I will make are truth, for I have emailed and called UCLA about them.</p>

<p>Now, the most important portion of the contract:</p>

<p>Maintain Academic Performance
*Complete your senior year program with the same high standards you have demonstrated thus far. You must complete the senior year classes listed on your application with at least a minimum overall unweighted B average and no grade lower than a C. If your grades drop significantly, you receive any D or F grades, or your class schedule changes, notify our office immediately. *</p>

<p>The first sentence doesn't really mean anything specific. The second sentence is the most confusing sentence in the contract. </p>

<p>-Breaking it down, maintaining an overall unweighted B average means your total GPA must be 3.0 or higher. This part confused me at first (3.0 each semester or 3.0 as the average of 2 semesters?). Thankfully, it's the combined version. After all, overall does mean overall. For example, if a student got a 3.5 in the first semester and a 2.5 the second, he is not doomed. [(3.5+2.5)/2] = 3.0, which maintains the 3.0. This part of the contract is similar to UCSD's version except that UCSD will take your weighted GPA. This part is different from CAL's version because they require an unweighted 3.0 each semester.</p>

<p>-No grade lower than a C. They are strict on this; getting a D will jeopardize your offer of admission. You must also not get more than 2 C's per semester, and no more than 3 C's for the total year.
<a href="https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/ppf_fr/ppf_fr_login.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://www.admissions.ucla.edu/ppf_fr/ppf_fr_login.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>-Changing courses? Don't drop AP Calculus for digital photography. UCLA admitted you to their university because they decided your standards matched theirs, and dropping a hard class may make them think otherwise. Gut it out. I made the mistake of taking AP Calculus II this year, and at first I thought I would drop the class, but then I learned it would possibly put my application at risk, so I stuck with it. You don't want to make one silly mistake and throw the long years of hard work you did out the door.</p>

<p>Hope it helps a bit. Tell me if anything is wrong.</p>

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<p>Thanks for this!</p>

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<p>First, thanks to simple for providing such a concise and informational post =]
However, I have a few other questions and hopefully simple or any others with experience can respond.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>In 1st semester when I applied, I already planned to drop one of my electives, Digital Imaging, and so on the app, I put Digital Imaging down for the 1st semester but for the 2nd semester I put down "No Course", as I already planned to drop it at that time, and in fact did so during the second semester. Will this violate the "change of schedule" and should I report this? (Note: the class is not one of the requirements for my visual arts, I have other classes that fulfilled this already)</p></li>
<li><p>I am not taking a math class this year, however I had planned to take Statistics at a community college, and so on the app I put Statistics "planned" for the second semester only. However, all Stats classes at my local CC was full and as a result, I could not take the class. Should I report this and would it affect my admission? Because technically, I put down the class as "planned", and technically that doesn't mean that I am 100% for sure taking it, and therefore I wasn't lying on the app. What should I do about this situation? Should I report it? (So far I have not.)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Any advice/experience/help wanted. Thanks alot! =]</p>

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<p>You should've told them this a long time ago. The first one <em>probably</em> won't affect you that much since that's what was written on your application, although, of course, go and ask. The second, though, might seriously impact it since it's so late in the year. The sooner you tell them, the less of a chance you'll have of having it rescinded. What WILL cause it to be rescinded 100% is if you don't tell them at all, although if it helps, the people that asked about dropping a senior class (for no reason) seemed to have gotten off scotch free, but they asked early on. Maybe you having a reason would help you, but if not, you can tell them that you plan on taking stats over the summer.</p>

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<p>Thanks Peppers for your advice, however this is from the reporting changes website:</p>

<p>You should report any of the following situations:</p>

<pre><code>* If you dropped any courses which were listed on your application.
* If you changed any courses which were listed on your application.
* If you received any D or F grades, or if your senior year unweighted GPA will fall below 3.00.
* If you fail to meet the provisions of your admission contract.
</code></pre>

<p>My stats does not meet any of these conditions. I did not "drop" my stats, it was never in my schedule in the first place, and it was simply "planned" on my app. It was never "changed" either. So I'm quite confused as to whether I should report it or not. Are you sure that I will 100% be rescinded if I don't tell them?!?!?</p>

<p>I'm really worried about this, please anyone advise!</p>

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<p>If you listed the course on your application, the school is under the assumption that you will take it. It should be similar to how you report your second semester classes as "planned", even though you will be taking the second half of Calculus/Government etc. They probably won't do anything if you tell them, especially if you explain your situation, but do know that they can and most likely will rescind you if you show them your transcript without that class.</p>

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<p>i decided to drop a planned class and take another...a few days after decisions came out i told them...afte rabuot a week of review they told me it was ok</p>

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<p>sorry for forcing you to reemphasize a point, but the "no more than 2 Cs" is like a 99% thing right? As in if I get 2 C's I shouldn't have to worry (both are AP classes if that helps) about my admission offer getting withdrawn</p>

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<p>Speaking from personal experience in the office, if your transcript had more than 2 C's during senior year, I think, we definitely flagged your application. If had 2 or less, I think it was fine (I've forgotten a lot). Now, I don't know how much it having 3 or more C's affected your acceptance, but I know we made note of it.</p>

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<p>You can get 2 C's in one semester, just not 3. Getting 1 C the first semester and getting 2 the second would suffice assuming you fulfill the GPA requirement.</p>

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<p>It would help if we all prodded cocoa to tell us/remember more than just conjecture...</p>

<p>And Simple, was that something you specifically asked the admissions officers about?</p>

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<p>No it wasn't. I just distinctly remember reading that somewhere. You can always contact them yourself if you want to know something specific.</p>

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<p>And just something to add: Does anyone know if the "If your grades drop significantly" portion means anything specific? Because I believe you're safe as long as you get that 3.0 overall and maintain the C policy. Not sure thought.</p>

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<p>That seems to be what UCLA told me as well. I love how they speak in code:</p>

<p>"As previously mentioned, your contract states to maintain the unweighted
B average and no grade lower than a C. Should this change, you would
need to fill out a Provisional Problem Form (PPF)."</p>

<p>I asked about how many Cs we could get and got that ^</p>

<p>And when I asked originally about it, I get the impression that having C's seems to tie in with not fulfilling the 3.0 unweighted because this is what I got:</p>

<p>"Your Freshman Provisional Admission Contract states that you must
complete the senior year classes listed on your application with at
least a minimum overall unweighted B average and no grade lower than a
C. You must maintain that minimum overall unweighted B average."</p>

<p>Both times, of course, they said that they wouldn't address hypothetical situations. Can someone PLEASE decipher that?</p>

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<p>What exactly is your situation Peppers? How many C's last semester and how many this semester?</p>

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<p>Thanks for this. I'm still worried, but this helped. =)</p>

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<p>where did you hear the no more than 2 C's from? all you need is to maintain that 3.0. 3 Cs and 3 As cancel out to a B average. just have the same amount of Cs you have As. theres no rule that you cant have more than 2 Cs. did you make that up?</p>

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<p>No I didn't make it up. Check the link in my original message.</p>

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<p>What he's asking may have something to do with the fact that the link doesn't mention maintaining a 3.0 unweighted as one of the criteria to fill it out. Apparently they assume that if you get more than 2 Cs per semester, chances are you won't be able to get a 3.0 unweighted and they want to know in advance so you have more options available.</p>

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<p>The 3.0 unweighted B average is part of the admissions contract that I think I have deciphered here:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=340790&page=2%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=340790&page=2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The "No-less-than-2-C's-per-semester" seems to be another requirement that you must fulfill as well, as it states in the link I provided.</p>