<p>I am a ambitious community college student, hoping to get into UCLA’s history. Right now, I am 23 years old. I spent 6 years in the Army, with a year of it in Iraq. I went to 4 different community colleges, with no real goals set and just confused in the whole college process. I was never motivated to do too well in school because I planned on become a lifer in the military. When I came back from the war two years ago, I began attending schools again but just couldn’t focus on my studies. The though of the war was constantly on my mind, and recently I was diagnosed with PTSD. I’ve managed to adapt back into civilian life a bit, but looking back on my grades, they look like they’re beyond repair. Plus, a few of my bad grades were the results of being deployed during finals week, and I was denied military withdrawal because I passed a couple other classes I was doing really well in. I have many ups and downs in my transcripts. A few As, lots of Bs and Cs, and a couple Fs. It’s been really tough trying to be a student again, but it’s too hard while tackling two jobs, still worrying about going back to Iraq, adapting back to civilian life, forming a veteran’s group, and being a youth minister at my church.</p>
<p>I explained my troubles in my essay while applying to UCLA and UCI. I’m not really a dumb person. I have dreams of becoming a history teacher or professor one day. I’ve tutored students on AP Euro and AP US, and they came out with a 4 or 5. But in the end, I got rejected from both schools. I know many people are graduating at an older age these days, but I really want to transfer and get my life started. I feel like I’m trapped in a corner with nowhere to go. I’ve had thoughts of going back to the Army as a full time lifer and just retire that way, but that’s not what I really want. I wish they could understand my situation more, but it seems like they don’t really care. A part of me feels betrayed because I joined and fought with thoughts of defending my country. I may have been against the war, but I answered the call to duty. I worked so hard to serve and returned a decorated veteran, but it seems like they overlooked everything about me and saw only my grades.</p>
<p>Is there anything I can do?</p>
<p>I hear there’s a program where I can take classes at UCLA after paying the tuition, but not officially admitted and enrolled. And that if I get satisfying grades by proving myself, I can be admitted. Is this true? If so, what is it called and where can I learn more about it?</p>
<p>You have to remember that admissions committees want to admit kids who will be successful at their school. Perhaps, in some way, they did you a favor (sorry, I don’t mean to sound condescending). What happened if you did enroll, didn’t do so well, and had to leave? That would put you back at square one.</p>
<p>My advice is to pick another school. There are plenty that would take you for your experiences alone. Granted, they may not be as prestigious as UCLA, but you have to start someone if you want to earn that Ph.D.</p>
<p>Best of luck :)</p>
<p>PS: And just for a sense of perspective, I was rejected to UT-Austin when I applied as a freshman; it was my number one choice. I got in as a transfer a few weeks ago, and will likely not attend; it is my lowest choice. Things can change.</p>
Go to a less prestigious university and just start working on that history degree
Go to yet another new community college, don’t have any credits transfer, and start taking classes for a year. Get good grades and apply to UCLA with only this community college on your record. Once you get into UCLA, try to have the credits from your past community college transfer too.</p>
<p>Option one is the better choice for most people. The downside of option two is that you might end up losing credits from your former community colleges- or you may not even do as well as you hope in your new community college.</p>
<p>I’d try to appeal to UCI, I heard that they tend to skip the essays’ unless you’re on a boarderline, they never may have read your essay in the first place. </p>
<p>I don’t want to get your hopes up but it’s worth a shot right?? Otherwise you have to wait another year.</p>
<p>I know there’s is also accademic renewal but I don’t know much about it, aska counseler at a school, because it sounds like you would qualify.</p>
<p>I hear what you are saying… I am 24 myself and finished my applications. I served 5 years attached to a special forces unit at fort bragg and been overseas for most of the 5 years. I have been shot and been down in a war zone and diagnosed with PTSD… colleges are not going to give you special treatment because you been to a warzone. Do not look at this as an excuse. The best advice I could give you is to keep trying, possibly try a new school and start a fresh. I did not even mention my military experiences in my essays, they already saw the time I was in and the time frame it had occurred…
On that note I applied to every UC except Mercend and Riverside and did not get denied to any. Keep your grades decent (doesnt have to be perfect) Show that you have interest in your subject and hope for the best.</p>
<p>While I don’t have PTSD I have served 6 years in the reserves with a lot of CONUS training and OCONUS deployment time. I’m 24, originally from Los Angeles, and just started the transfer application process a few months ago. So far I’ve been accepted into George Washington University and I’m waiting on Georgetown, American University’s, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s decisions. I would have applied at some UC’s but I started the process too late. </p>
<p>What I’ve learned through the college application process is that state schools don’t really care about the person as much as they care about that person’s stats. Your best bet would be to apply to a private university becuse they tend to look at the whole package instead of just one or two parts. </p>
<p>UCLA is a fantastic school but you can’t put ALL your eggs in one basket. You can be happy elsewhere. Are you a California resident? I like option 2 from foxdie - I would move to California (if you aren’t already there) and go to a Cali CC - earn residency and UCLA will look at you with a little more favor than some other out of state person. </p>
<p>The entire UC system is great and you should also look at other UC’s - like Davis, Irvine, Riverside, Santa Cruz, etc. They have varying degrees of difficulty and I’m sure if you just take the time to look you can find a great fit. </p>
<p>Being a veteran is not a free ticket. It can definitely help but you have to really develop and show other parts of your personality on your application in order to really shine.</p>
<p>Aw, I wish I could give you a hug! Anyway, are you thinking of UCLA Extension? (<a href=“http://www.uclaextension.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://www.uclaextension.edu</a>) I agree with the others who are suggesting that you consider other schools. If you want to become a professor, you’ll have to go to grad school eventually, and you could try UCLA again when that time comes.</p>
<p>Good points everyone. Defying Gravity, yes I’d like a hug… if you’re a girl =)
But the extension program isn’t what I heard or was thinking about. I think it’s called concurrent enrollment? I’m going to be talking to my counselor on Monday and try to get things straight. I’m going to try academic renewals at my older schools to help raise my GPA. They have to give me it because it’s not something I could have prevented! If not, my counselor suggested me to write to my Congressman about that haha.</p>
<p>I’m still hellbent on going to UCLA. I don’t give up, and I’m going to get it one way or another.</p>
<p>Anyone know anything about the appealing process?</p>
<p>I flunked out my first semester at CC, but ever since then I never got lower than a B. You need to have an upward trend in grades if you want to even be considered. I know you had a lot going on and that is what led to your poor grades, but if you really want this you are going to need to make some sacrafices and do what you got to do.</p>
<p>If I was you I’d start looking to state schools. And to be honest, don’t waste time in appealing UCLA’s decision. </p>
<p>Do TAP and apply again, it will highly boost your chances. </p>
<p>The admission rate for your major is 70%. However at the same time a lot more people apply then they have space for, so this increases the chances of the best applicants being accepted and people having higher GPAs and more preqs being done.</p>
<p>Apply again for next fall after completing TAP.</p>
<p>Definitely appeal. You’ll need to win their hearts with a story like that to succesfully appeal. Do you have anything that you can present to them that you didn’t present in the original application?</p>
<p>Appealing to UCI will give you better chances of attending a UC next fall. UCI is a lot more appeal-friendly.</p>
<p>“I’ve had thoughts of going back to the Army as a full time lifer and just retire that way, but that’s not what I really want. I wish they could understand my situation more, but it seems like they don’t really care. A part of me feels betrayed because I joined and fought with thoughts of defending my country. I may have been against the war, but I answered the call to duty. I worked so hard to serve and returned a decorated veteran, but it seems like they overlooked everything about me and saw only my grades.”</p>
<p>My Grandpa was a POW in WWII for six months. They didn’t even “have” PTSD then. He was NEVER given a chance to prove himself… He worked his whole life at GM. </p>
<p>I’m sorry that someone tricked you into believing that the world is fair.</p>
<p>“When I came back from the war two years ago, I began attending schools again but just couldn’t focus on my studies.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you are not ready for UCLA.</p>
<p>“I’m not really a dumb person.”
Many of the smartest applicants are rejected at UCLA every year. It’s not enough just to be not dumb.</p>
<p>“I wish they could understand my situation more, but it seems like they don’t really care. A part of me feels betrayed because I joined and fought with thoughts of defending my country.”</p>
<p>Fighting in the war, by itself, does not give you the right to expect an acceptance from a top school. There are thousands of schools out there that would be happy to accept you though.</p>
<p>“I worked so hard to serve and returned a decorated veteran, but it seems like they overlooked everything about me and saw only my grades.”</p>
<p>UCLA is first and foremost an academic institution. You should also be reminded that to think you are entitled to an elite school education based primarily on your military service is ludicrous. Also, to claim you are against the Iraq war and at the same time show pride in your being a “decorated veteran” of that war reeks of hypocrisy.</p>
<p>“Defying Gravity, yes I’d like a hug… if you’re a girl =)”</p>
<p>I don’t think that lightemup is looking for a free lunch anywhere but I’ll bet dhh’s grandpa would be ashamed that you’re trying to put down someone who had a hard time while overseas in uniform. Lots of things were different in the medical world back in WWII. Did your grandfather ever have bad dreams? Technically that could be a symptom of PTSD although he probably didn’t talk about it much. </p>
<p>'tisthetruth - What turned you into such a bitter and unsupportive person? Hopless - probably a typo. Why harp? It’s immature. Lightemup might not be ready for UCLA but he is on this forum for support and advice, not to be bashed.</p>
<p>And 'tisthetruth, how old are you? Have you ever had a job? More specifically, have you ever had a job that you didn’t particularly care for but tried to do a good job anyway because that’s the sort of person you are? Is that hypocrisy? Let me clue you in because you’re probably still living at home or in a dorm that your parents pay for - it’s not. The world isn’t always black and white - someday maybe you’ll understand that, but it probably won’t be until you realize you’re not as idyllic as you thought.</p>
<p>SmileDarling – Please re-read my post. Nowhere do I “put down” the guy. My point was that it’s very competitive everywhere, and no matter what your situation is, you need to plan accordingly.</p>
<p>To SmileDarling- Your assessment is an overreaction. I was not harping.</p>
<p>However, to accuse UCLA of betrayal for denying an applicant because of his poor academic record and in spite of his military service is not only immature but also arrogant. </p>
<p>What made you think that the misspelling of “hopeless” somehow ticked me off? I did post that correction but deleted it because I found it trivial. I’m not the type of person who’s ticked off by spelling errors. </p>
<p>“More specifically, have you ever had a job that you didn’t particularly care for but tried to do a good job anyway because that’s the sort of person you are?”
A regular job should not be equated with military service, unless it involves killing people. </p>
<p>Yes, I’ve had a job that I didn’t care for but in which I put great effort. However, the difference is that I exerted the unnecessary effort for personal satisfaction only (I could have tried less and earned the same amount of money); I did not brag about some award like military decorations and expect something I did not rightfully deserve. So no, I was not being a hypocrite.</p>
<p>“Let me clue you in because you’re probably still living at home or in a dorm that your parents pay for - it’s not.”
I consider this a personal attack. I’m paying for my own college education, btw.</p>
<p>Yes, I noticed that I typed in “hopeless” wrong. I’m a very picky person when it comes to spelling myself, but a typos a typo. No one’s perfect, we all make spelling mistakes when typing too quick.</p>
<p>dhh-
I respect many WW2 vets. My grandfather was in the Italian Campaign and before that he was in an internment camp, labeled as an enemy of the state for being a damn Jap. You don’t need to compare me to the vets of the past though. Do you really believe that I think the world is fair? I have suffered from head trauma, hearing loss, and broken bones from 3 different IED attacks, I have 3 pieces of shrapnel in me side abdomen, and I lost 2 close friends in two separate incidents. I’m sure your granpda and many of the greatest generation have and had the same symptoms I did. It may not have been called PTSD back then because it was known as Combat Stress or Shell Shock. You may have had your sweet time planning your college life back home, but I couldn’t plan accordingly when I’m suddenly called out to go half way across the world to fight a war in the middle of my studies.</p>
<p>tisthetruth-
I never expected them to accept me in the first place. I was just hoping. And I was not trying to get in by showing off my military records, but as an explaination for why my grades were so low. I couldn’t take a few of my finals and I was denied a Military Withdrawal because I managed to get a few As because the finals for those classes were a few days before I left. That is what I hoped they’d understand and see. How dare you say I’m a hypocrite? I can’t have my own opinions about this war? It is possible to be proud of serving the country and have opinions against this war, you know. I’m not proud of what war I fought, but I’m proud that I did what this country asked me to do. If that is hypocrisy, then every god damn person out there who are against the war, yet “support the troops” should shut the hell up too, don’t you think? </p>
<p>Perhaps its partially my fault for not explaining that schools have screwed me over with these Fs. Yes, first they gave me an incomplete, but make it up within a year? I was gone for 14 months. I am not running around flashing my medals and asking that everything be relaxed for my benefits. I used it as an excuse because they are the reasons why I failed my classes.</p>