<p>Hello all I am new to the boards so please forgive me if I am posting in the wrong forum.
I have been reading over the forums here as part of my research for transfer and was hoping for some feedback from the many knowledgeable people who seem to frequent these forums. </p>
<p>So to the point:
I am a 21 year old student currently attending Santa Monica College. My hope is to eventually go to law school, but the more immediate goal is to transfer to a university as a Political Science major. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my personal life has been plagued with one challenge after another which has reflected in my schooling. </p>
<p>1) During my 2nd semester, my grandmother whom I live with and was already taking care of had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in her leg. She was in the hospital for about a year and I was in charge of taking care of her as my mother was working full time. When my grandmother did come home she could no longer walk so taking care of her became a full time job.
2)When we finally got into a routine the economy really went to hell and my mother was out of work and we lost our home and for a time we were homeless. We finally had to move about 2 hours away and I had to leave school for a year and a half.
3)Things have finally turned around and we have moved back to Santa Monica and I am attending SMC again.</p>
<p>In any event, I know it sounds like a sob story, everyone has one and I don’t believe my situation to be the most devastating but it is my own. </p>
<p>My academic history is as such:
I did get to go to school for 1 1/2 years and in this time I did finish my IGETC before the turn of events.
On my transcript I have 4 withdrawls and one F. The withdrawls are all from the time when we lost everything and had to move and the last thing on my mind was dropping classes. The F is from the same semester. I spoke to my professor and she said that she knew I had dropped the class but when the end of the semester came I was back on her grading sheet and she HAD to give me a grade.
I currently have a GPA of 3.5.
I intend to have all of the pre reqs for Political Science finished by the time I apply.
As far as EC, I don’t have much because of my family commitments. However, in my spare time I am a volunteer at a teen center and was one of the main leaders in a fundraiser that earned more then $50,000 for the teen center. </p>
<p>There I am in a nutshell :). Sorry about the long post but I just wanted to give enough background so questions could be answered to their fullest.</p>
<p>Questions (finally right?):
Which school in southern California has the best Political Science department?
How much will my history hurt me when it comes time to apply?
For anyone who may be pre-law or just have insight :), What matters more to law schools? The school you attended? Or Your GPA/LSAT? By this I mean does it matter more if I go to UCLA but have a bit of a lower GPA because of the rigor of the courses or that I have a higher GPA from perhaps an easier school.</p>
<p>In general I would appreciate any advice to help me in my transfer process. </p>
<p>Sorry about the LONG post and thank you in advance.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I’m not sure, maybe someone else can chime in. I can tell you that the quality of the program is going to depend a lot on you. I’m sure there are cases where CSU Poli Sci majors put more work into their studies than UC Poli Sci majors, and end up being more competent with the material. Resources are only good if you take advantage of them.</p></li>
<li><p>You’ll be fine as long as you write a good essay explaining what happened, and continue to do well in your classes from now on (that means nothing lower than an A). If you can, retake the class you got an F in.</p></li>
<li><p>As far as law school, the lower your GPA the higher your LSAT has to be. If you have a high GPA, you can have a lower LSAT and still be accepted. Aim for a high GPA and LSAT! For schools, I’m sure it’s a factor but GPA and LSAT are more important. Take a look at the 2009 incoming class profile for UCLA Law: [2009</a> Incoming Class Profile | Admission Information | UCLA Law](<a href=“http://www.law.ucla.edu/home/index.asp?page=1975]2009”>http://www.law.ucla.edu/home/index.asp?page=1975)</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>Your history will help. You overcame SERIOUS hurdles and you did it successfully. I am really impressed by your story and how you still have a 3.5! That is a very big accomplishment.</li>
<li>I don’t know!</li>
</ol>
<p>I’d honestly be very surprised if you didn’t get into UCLA. Good luck!!! (P.S. You can get a very good GPA at UCLA. Don’t worry about it. If you get into UCLA, I highly recommend you should go. Your GPA won’t be lower than it will be at other schools. Don’t buy into the argument that it’s somehow impossible to get a high GPA at UCLA. You can definitely get any GPA at UCLA that you could get at a school with an easier reputation like USC!)</p>
<p>Thinkgolden: Thank you so much for your feedback! I hope to write a good essay that explains the situation without making me sound like a victim! And thank you for the link to UCLA incoming class profile.</p>
<p>Mikei: Thank you so much for the encouragement and kind words. It is great to hear that my rocky history isn’t going to kill my chances :). Thank you again <3</p>
<p>1) UCLA
2) Retake the classes and you will be fine. I had 2 F’s and multiple W’s on my transcript. I retook the classes with the F. I was worried just like you. I worried about this until the very minute I found out that I was accepted to all the universities that I applied to. It’s just stressful when you know that you can do better and that there were other circumstances that prevented you from being your best. I was honest in my personal statements and shared my horrible stories but in the end I put a postive twist on it. The personal statements were one of the hardest things I have ever had to write. I cried and stressed and had some people read over that I really trusted. I think the personal statements are pretty important in the application process. So write your a$$ off. I was in your shoes…and now I am going to Berkeley in the Spring. It can happen, if you work hard.
3) For law school: Go to UCLA. Get good grades. Get good LSAT score. I would say to know that you really want law school before you take that road. A lot of people I know say they wanted law but then found something else. Just enjoy your time as an undergrad and see where life takes you. Law school might not be what you want in the end. I thought I wanted law school but I really dont think that’s what I want…</p>
<p>Be sure to TAG into UCSD and UCI if at all possible. They both have good political science departments (some lists put UCSD above UCLA), and they’d be good fallbacks.</p>
<p>That said, if you’re interested in law school, go wherever you can get the highest GPA. Which school you go to matters little–law school admittance is all about the numbers.</p>
<p>UCLA, UCSD, UCI all have good poli sci. Cal Poly SLO also has a great department, and would be a good safety if you’re concerned.</p>
<p>like everyone said, retake what you can, the length you were in CC doesn’t matter to the colleges, you have plenty of good material for an essay.</p>
<p>Not sure about question 1. But here is my take on 2 and 3.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your history will help you a lot as long as it is explained well in the essay.</p></li>
<li><p>from what I have always heard go to a school where you can succeed. Im sure law schools don’t get caught up on the name of the school you are transferring from, they just want you to have a good GPA and LSAT.</p></li>
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<p>Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded to my post! Everyone has great advice and insight. And everything posted here is helping a great deal in my transfer process! Thank you again :)</p>
I am new to the boards so please forgive me if I am posting in the wrong forum.