What should i do?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
#1

<p>Hi, I applied for schools this semester and with a 2.94 GPA (65 Units) by Fall 2010, I was only accepted to UCSC and UCR. After this spring semester my GPA was 3.1 (80 Units). I appealed to UCSB saying that once I became medicated for ADHD, I have had my best educational boost (increase in GPA trend). By semester gpa this is how I improved</p>

<p>Summer 2010: GPA 3.00 (9 Units)
Fall 2010: GPA 3.45 (18 Units)
Spring 2010: GPA 3.8 (15 Units)
These semesters were my best in my CC career</p>

<p>This is what I appealed for to UCSB, telling them how adderall has helped my focus...anways I don't know what I should do, I have been at my CC for three years, should I wait another year, increase my GPA or should I just SIR to Santa Cruz and pray that UCSB will accept me. I am a Biochemistry major, I just finished my IGETC (which I forgot to mention in the appeal dammit), and I have done 50% of the major prereqs. (1 year bio, 1 year applied calc, 1 year gen chem, and 1 semester of o chem). So anyways, any thoughts would be way appreciated. My dream schools are UCSD/UCLA, if I stay and take summer/fall at a CC I could increase my GPA to 3.35-3.4, I could also take honor courses and complete TAP, but once again I don't know if its worth it!</p>

#2

<p>The thing is, even if you stayed another year and you think that the best you can get your GPA to is a 3.3 or 3.4, it's still pretty much a long shot if you're applying to UCSD or UCLA. UCSD raised their TAG requirement to a 3.5 and UCLA probably won't even consider your application unless it's at least a 3.5. Also, you're doing a Biochemistry major which is impacted for both UCs and will most likely require a competitive application. In your situation, you're probably better off trying to transfer into whichever schools you already got into now.</p>

#3

<p>I'm going to be realistic with you. No offense to your appeal, but adderall helps everyone study and the majority of people that end up using it don't have any form of ADD or ADHD. I highly doubt if you really have ADHD that you JUST realized at the age of what... 20 or 21? If I were to read your appeal, I would be like sooooo this student decided to finally jump on the bandwagon and has improved their grades (surprise surprise) by taking drugs to enhance their studying capabilities and then ADMITTED to it rather than being the kind of student that took initiative on their own to increase their GPA. </p>

<p>Additionally, taking 30 extra credits and receiving As in all of these classes will only bump your GPA up to a 3.35 which is still not a very competitive GPA without TAG (and you would need to get As in all 15 units of your honors classes). Also, if you receive even 1 B in a 4 credit class, your GPA will only be increased to a 3.3. You need to have a GPA of a 3.2 just to apply to UCLA as a transfer in the first place. You didn't finish ochem, calc 3, or your physics sequence (in which for biochem at UCLA you need to take the higher level of Physics which is traditionally a 3 semester sequence). You also haven't completed the LifeSci 3 & 4 requirements which are available in community college (usually articulated with Biochem, Molec Bio, Genetics). Understandably, you could finish some of these next year, but they are the classes that take more of a toll on your GPA as opposed to introductory Bio, GenChem & Calc 1. </p>

<p>As far as UCSD goes, you can apply for Biochem in the bio department (highly impacted - a lot of my friends with 3.7ish GPA, with TAG, all pre-reqs applied as this and were admitted as undeclared). You are most likely missing a class that is articulated with BILD 3 (ecology) since it isn't really required anywhere else, Calc 3, ochem, and physics). For the chemistry dept Biochem, it isn't as impacted but you would additionally have to take Differential Eqs but not BILD 3. Since you can't TAG UCSD, even if you were accepted, I somewhat doubt you would be accepted into your major and you could have a hard time getting classes and even graduating with 2 years.</p>

<p>I'm not trying to attack you and please don't respond with any of that "no but I really DO have ADHD" stuff. My honest opinion is that I personally wouldn't admit you based on your appeal to UCSB. Overall, I think you should SIR to UCSC and hope for the best with SB but do NOT wait an entire extra year. Keep up your grades at UCSC and do research and you can offset your past grades before you apply to grad school. Though, if you do stay an extra year at your CC, I think you could have a shot at UCSB but most likely not UCSD or UCLA. Is it worth it to wait an entire year when you could just be done with school in two years? I personally don't think so.</p>

<p>The reason I feel confident saying all this is because I worked in the transfer/admissions dept at CC and I've encountered so many students that are in your situation. Trust me, you could end up hurting your chances more if you take on too much next year at your CC. I sincerely recommend accepting your admission to UCSC and if your appeal works for UCSB, congrats :)</p>

#4

<p>Personally, I'd do TAP and go for UCLA next fall. If that really is your dream school, you should give it another shot! If your GPA remains
at around 3.3, you'll at least have a good shot at getting into UCSB next year.</p>

#5

<p>@ Deanza</p>

<p>The OP has already been at their CC for 3 years. Waiting another year is just delaying their education when they most likely (no offense) won't get into UCLA or UCSD (especially with an impacted science major). I think that they've shown that they are trying now but unfortunately that doesn't cut it with schools that primarily rely on GPA as a defining factor for admission, especially when they're not in a place where they can easily raise their GPA (through IGETC gen-eds or easier introductory classes). The OP said in another post that their GPA is actually a 3.07 which means that even with 2 full semesters of As, they can only raise it to a 3.32 and with even one B it will only be a 3.29. Especially from here on out, classes for Biochem majors only get harder. Though they do have a chance at UCSB next year, it's really not that much different of a school than UCSC especially in terms of Biochem. At this point they need to raise their GPA since in one post they expressed that they would like to go to grad/medical school in the future. I still think it's not in their best interest to wait an extra year.</p>

#6

<p>^agreed. Just get on with your education already dashtiani. I feel like I see a desperate "HELP" post from you every few months hahahahaa</p>

<p>but really, UCSC is a chill school, and you can continue to raise your grades there. NO point in sticking around for an unlikely (no offense!) acceptance from UCLA.</p>

#7

<p>Killmyentourage, I know that a lot of people like to abuse amphetamines, but I think it's unfair to assume that the poster doesn't have ADHD just because they started getting treatment as an adult. A lot of people don't realize they've had ADD until they are older. I went to elementary school with one of my cousins who has the most stereotypical case of ADHD one can imagine but he didn't do anything about it until he was in college. His parents knew nothing about ADHD. Most people are ignorant when it comes to mental health... </p>

<p>Anyway, I don't know much to give you any good advice, but best of luck to you.</p>

#8

<p>I don't think it's unfair of me to say that. I specifically said that in my opinion, if I were on an appeal committee that I wouldn't think that was grounds for appeal in this situation seeing as how you're supposed to present NEW information regarding your application and the OP has had an increase in GPA for the last year and a half (which was already clear on their application). Admissions already saw the grade increase and denied them anyway (probably due to the impaction of most bio programs and the GPA cutoff). I don't know when they began taking medication but if it was a year and a half ago, they've had a slow increase in GPA and not drastic so who says it was even because of medication... Or if they just started taking it this semester, how do they account for the GPA increase last year? Seems like they just needed to try harder which they have obviously been doing and I'm sure adderall has helped with motivation. I'm not doubting the validity of their GPA increase or the fact that they probably deserve to get into UCSB, I'm just saying that the adderall appeal seems more like a plea for admissions to take a chance on them, not a presentation of new information (since realistically the only new info they're providing is the reason for their grade increase which has been clearly increasing for 3 semesters anyway). My apologies for the poorly constructed sentences.</p>

<p>If they do get in, that's awesome. But that's just my take on it.</p>

#9

<p>I guess I will be attending UCSC as suggested by the majority, but....</p>

<p>-1st let me clarify that biochemistry is not a impacted major. I can apply for a different major with even lower GPA requirements and then switch to biochemistry because it is not impacted.</p>

<p>-2nd, my GPA is a 3.10 not a 3.07, if I said that in a previous post it was because I though I was getting a B in some other psych class I was taking. </p>

<p>-3rd, I mistyped the GPA of my last semester which was a 3.8 at Spring 2011 not Spring 2010. So they did not see this portion.</p>

<p>-4th, I really have struggled throughout my whole school career path, hence why I was in community college in the first place, when I started applying both non-medicinal and medicinal treatment is when my grades improved vastly. I do believe ADHD is a valid disorder to recognize, but obviously that will vary among who is looking at my appeal</p>

<p>-5th, I do post here always asking a lot of questions, but that is because my education has become very important to me, and all the slacking I've done before has stressed me out in my agenda to go to a good school</p>

<p>-6th, here is my appeal letter, which had documents showing how high my GPA trend came to be, and how I have a major GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of 3.58 if I only considered my coursework after I began my treatment</p>

<p>On the date of April 31st, 2011 I learned that I was denied transfer admission to UCSB for Fall 2011. I respectfully request the Transfer Appeals Committee to reevaluate my application based on the new information provided in this letter.</p>

<p>My academic progress may seem rather weak when considering my initial enrollment to #### College, but it had significantly improved after the summer of 2010. Reasons for this academic improvement are not only based on the furthering passion I have for my field of study, but also the assistance I acquired from the treatments provided to me by my psychiatrist who diagnosed me with ADHD in June 2010. Thus, this disorder was a hardship that had indeed held me back from unveiling the full capability I have as a dedicated student</p>

<p>Throughout my life the ability to focus on tasks and retain information was severely hindered by this disorder. I never succumbed to think that my inability to prioritize my tasks could be due a dysfunction in my mental abilities. However, when my younger sister was diagnosed and treated for ADHD it finally settled to me that I should seek for medical advice after I saw her improve vastly not only as a student, but an individual as well. After my diagnosis, my psychiatrist had prescribed me the drug Adderall but also applied non-medicinal treatments to better aid my disorder. After this treatment in June 2010, my GPA trend has skyrocketed upward because of the improvement I had in my study habits. For example, before my treatment I could sit alone at a library and read a book for hours only to remember little bits of information. After my treatment, I could do the same exact study method, but instead retain large proportions of what I had studied. As you may tell, the effect my ADHD had on me was detrimental in my attempts to achieve academically.</p>

<p>I had always tried to make up for my lack of academic performance in other ways to reveal my enthusiasm for the scientific field. I had volunteered for over a hundred hours at #### Hospital and I discontinued working part-time jobs just to allocate more time to my studies. Nonetheless, after my treatment I have been able to have a part-time job, volunteer, and maintain a much higher GPA than I previously had before.</p>

<p>I know UCSB discourages appeals, but please take a look at the provided documents showing my GPA trends as it may further clarify the impact my disorder has had on my academics. I have also just had my best semester at #### College receiving a 3.80 GPA. </p>

<p>When I visited the UCSB campus, I knew it was the right one for me. The surrounding beach and its many opportunities for undergrad research has inspired me tremendously to do my best academically to be a Gaucho. However, I fully understand and respect your decision to deny me admission, but I do hope you will reopen my file to consider this new information.</p>

#10

<p>I don't understand people like the OP.
Dude you didn't get in because there were more qualified students . A 2.94 is still a respectable GPA , what I think happened is you decided to push yourself that much harder to get your GPA up . Be proud of yourself . I don't even get appeals .
Mine would of went somthing like this </p>

<p>Dear UCD Admissions</p>

<p>My low GPA is due to several economic factors, I couldn't even buy the book for math last year, so I got a D. If it wasn't for this D i would of TAG-ed in. I hope you can see how unfair this is, the whole point of the public school system to bring the gap between the have and have nots . I've been though alot in my life and I think the best thing to do would be to assume I would of done much better last year in math if I had a job at that time . Please admit me to UCD. </p>

<p>Now I didn't send that one in, I got into UCR and UCSC, and 4 CSU's( the peoples college system ) . Davis offered me a waitlist spot, but its not that serious . Good luck</p>