- Does anyone know how much admissions takes into account upward grade trends?
Depends, in California I can tell you exactly what the story is with most UCs and CSUs. UCs have a holistic review of an applicant and you also submit a few essays to describe your situation, lessons learned, and efforts to change the old trend by being a bad ass student today. CSUs from what I have heard really only will look at your GPA. Private schools and out of state schools I don’t know much about, but I’ve heard of plenty of private schools that will use a holistic approach. The fact that you are an A student now is very important, don’t be discouraged and don’t think that you wont get in somewhere just because a school as a certain stigma. You should apply to the schools you want to apply to, even the ones you think you wont have a chance at. If you look at some of the stats for various schools you will see that sure most students admitted for transfer are above say a 3.5, but there are a fair amount above and below as well.
- Does me having to work full time and not develop any extra EC's (joining a finance club, starting a business, volunteering) worsen my position? I can maybe scale back when I get financial aid next semester, but my situation doesn't allow for it right now.
I know that working full time is actually respected quite a bit, especially if it is related to your field of study in some way or you can make it SOUND LIKE it relates to your field of study in your application. Volunteering can be as simple as 1 day a week for a few hours, you can record that you volunteer at XYZ facility weekly for however long. I know that at least with UCs they aren’t going to ask you to send in proof of anything like that or hours. As for joining a club, some clubs don’t require you to actually go to meetings like Phi Theta Kappa, which is an honors club, others have minimal requirements and may require you to attend one or two events per month.
- Are there any other competitive programs that I might have a realistic shot of getting into? Don't know
- Is there something I haven't touched upon that I should take into consideration/start focusing on? Don't know
- Does anyone have any experience with Academic Renewal outside of CA? If so, could you tell me a bit about your experience?
No, but I had like years of bad grades from CCs in the past and used ARs to fix up as much as I could, some accept it and some don’t it’s worth doing and shows that you are at least making every effort to correct the past.
- How do you view my situation as it stands right now? Is there a chance, or should I focus on more realistic pursuits?
I commend you on returning to school, I am also someone who went back and had to work hard to get to a point where I am now. I was full of doubt and didn’t know what I was up against, didn’t want to waste time. I suggest you go straight to your transfer center on campus and make an appointment and start working with them on evaluating schools you wish to attend, build an academic plan for each. Earn your Associates of Arts for Transfer so that you have maximum chance of getting into at least a UC or CSU school. Use the TAG program. Back to the transfer center, you can set up appointments to meet with representatives from the schools you are interested in attending and you can talk one on one in many cases with them. It’s not an interview, it’s a chance to get a very good idea of where you stand and what you can do to improve your odds for that school. Be aware, campus counselors will sometimes have bad info that they are sure is legit, they will even contradict each other if you see more than one and ask the same question, so beware. Use ASSIST (website) to check the transfer-ability of your CC courses. Plenty of your old CC classes may not count against you at the UCs, since some classes aren’t at that level, and this impacts your GPA.
Lastly, you can do this and you can achieve what you are setting out to achieve. Be ok with things changing a little bit as you move forward and adjust to new information, be flexible, but keep your aspirations high and maintain your pace. I got through my CC with all As, you can too just keep it a priority and do the best you can, use the library, use tutors, have people review your papers before you turn them in, do the best you can. Also, be wise about what professor you choose to take a class with, use the ratemyprofessors website and at least get a feel of what different professors are like, avoid the ones who are total nightmares and burnt out on teaching. I’m sure most of the stuff I wrote here is already known to you and within your values as a student, but I know it worked for me so I’m sure it will for you too. Have a little faith, and good luck ! 