How much will my High-school GPA matter after 4 semesters of CC?

Transfer Students
1

Hey guys, I am a current economics student at a CCC pursuing my AA-T in economics. I am of traditional age but chose community college as I was not accepted into any of my choice schools. And for good reason, my High-school GPA is a promptly depressing 2.9. I hope to apply for transfer to some extremely competitive schools such as USC, UCLA, Columbia, and Stanford, so obviously, this grade point average is nowhere near their level of expectation. At my current institution, I have maintained a 4.0 GPA for my first Fall and Spring semesters. My question is if I am able to maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout my remaining two semesters, will my High-school GPA have a significant impact on my transfer chances. Before I get typical responses I would like to state that I have researched this subject to the best of my ability and that I am aware that other factors play a larger role in the transfer admissions process. Assuming that I acquire stellar letters of recommendation combined with my current SAT Scores (SAT: 1590, SAT Math 1: 800, SAT Math 2: 800), will I have a fighting chance in the applicant pool or will my high-school decisions forever haunt me?

Stats:
High-school GPA: 2.9 UW
CC GPA: 4.0 (two semesters)
SAT: 1590/1600 (taken during High-school)
SAT Math 1: 800/800 (taken during CC)
Sat Math 2: 800/800 (taken during CC)
Relevant courses @ CC: Calculus 1 (Grade A), Calculus 2 (Grade A), Calculus 3 (taking next semester), Microeconomics Honors (Grade A), Macroeconomics Honors (Grade A), Linear Algebra/Quantitative Reasoning (taking next semester). I plan on taking at least two semesters of Calculus-based Physics as an attempt to appease Stanford and MIT Transfer requests.
EC: Too many arbitrary things to list but most important include, Phi Theta Kappa, Varsity Tennis (UTR Ranking on par to play at lower ranked D1 schools, clips, and stats submitted to Cornell, Yale, and Dartmouth), Cryptocurrency club president, Business Analytics intern at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

TL;dr 4.0 CC GPA over two semesters, 2.9 High-school GPA. Will my High-school GPA substantially lower my chances at competitive transfer admission.

2

For junior-level transfers (60+ semester units) to UCs and CSUs, high school grades and test scores are not considered (although some high school courses completed with C or higher grades may be used to fulfill some base level requirements).

For other universities, some may still require high school records and consider them, but they are likely to be less important if you have a substantial college record.

Note that some of the private universities emphasize non-traditional students for transfers (Stanford, Princeton, and probably Columbia).

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major can give you an idea of how competitive various majors at UC campuses are for transfer admission.

3

UCLA requires 60 semester/90 quarter units to transfer which puts applicants at a Junior level. UCLA does not consider HS grades/test scores/EC’s etc… in their transfer admission review, only what you have accomplished at your CC.

4

Thanks for the replies! I am aware that UC schools do not consider high school transcripts during the transfer admission process. I am primarily interested in how the transcripts will affect admission to private schools that do take a look at them.

5

Most schools look at college grades for transfer purposes. Congratulations for earning a stellar college transcript!

6

Most colleges will focus more on college then HS if you are in your way to 60 credits. I had a 2.1 in HS and a 3.9 in college and got into my top choices of colleges.

7

Stanford only accepts a couple dozen transfers and they are almost all non-traditional students (military, and the like). Don’t waste your money.

Are you instate for UCLA? If OOS, then would not recommend due to the OOS fees. If instate, add Cal and a couple of other UC’s. Also, make sure that you complete any prereqs for your UC intended major.

fwiw: Cornell appears to be transfer-friendly, but many of those maybe NYS residents (don’t know).