<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I have a simple question… I was going to a 4 year university but had to withdraw due to family divorce and financial issues. I washed dishes for a living while attending my 4 year institute and as a result had terrible grades (1st semester was pretty much mostly B’s, 2nd semester was mainly C’s). I attended that school for a year.</p>
<p>Then I took a year off to work, and now I attend SMC. I’m trying to transfer to UCLA since it will be the closest school to my home (USC is close as well, but I will never be able to afford that).</p>
<p>I need to take English 2, but I was wondering if I should take additional English classes to make my application more appealing as I had obtained a C in English 1 at my other school. Will it actually help or should I solely focus on major requirements and IGETC?</p>
<p>===========</p>
<p>Also, here are my grades so far at SMC:</p>
<p>Chinese 1: A
Chinese 2: B
Music 32: A
Biology 22: A
Biology 23: W then A
Chemistry 21: A
Chemistry 22: A
Physics 21: A
Physics 22: A
Microbiology 1 [Not required… “for fun” class]: A</p>
<p>Classes I plan to take:</p>
<p>Biology 21
Chemistry 24
Chemistry 31
Physics 23
Physics 24</p>
<p>Spanish 1 and 2 [Interested in the language]
Statistics [Another personal interest]
Speech [Another personal interest]</p>
<p>When is microbio ever a “fun” class…</p>
<p>Microbiology is fun! I forgot to mention that at my first year in my previous private university, I took these classes and got these grades:</p>
<p>Multivariable Calculus: A-
English 1: B+
Gen Chem 1: B+
Archaeology 1: B-</p>
<p>Graduate Level Linear Algebra: C-
Gen Chem 2: B+
Introductory Biology: C
Differential Equations: C+
English 2: C+</p>
<p>I’m retaking English 2 because SMC said that only English 1 from my previous university transfers. Will my grade trend and difficulties help me get into UCLA? I cannot attend any other school aside from CSULA or UCLA due to financial reasons.</p>
<p>Focus on your science classes. Grades from those classes carry much more weight than if you try to go back and retake a class you got a C in.</p>
<p>By the way, what’s your GPA? It looks like you have a lot of A’s, and if you get into USC, and they give you a scholarship that beats what you would get by going to UCLA, you would be doing really well.</p>
<p>I also have a special situation… I’m an AB540 student… Pretty much I can get in-state tuition only at California public universities, but no financial aid from any school in the US (unless they’re private scholarships).</p>
<p>Also, wouldn’t my bad grades from my previous 4-year institutions make my application look bad? Would my upward trend help a lot?</p>
<p>Lastly, I was wondering if it is wise to take some major requirements during the Spring after submitting my application.</p>