The GRE com

Hello all,

I’m a transfer student at UC Berkeley majoring in English and Legal Studies. I initially was considering Law School but have learned that it’s not for me. So I’d like to attend a graduate program in English.
My first 2 years at a community college went great except the last semester, and my first year at the UC wasn’t great either- I got mostly B’s and a couple of C’s in my major area of English.
I’d been having ongoing health issues, for which I took a fall and spring semester off. I can provide letters from my physical, gynecologist, and specialist corroborating this.
During that time, I took care of my health, spent time with my family, and did a couple of classes at community college which were prerequisites for my other major (Legal Studies).

After returning to the university, my performance was MUCH better. I got all A’s and A-’s, held an administrative position at the English Undergraduate Association, published a couple of essays in the student journal, and facilitated a small course called a "DeCal". I’ve also obtained 4 excellent letters of recommendation from English faculty.

My overall GPA is now a 3.5 and my GPA in the major is a 3.55. I’m still working on my writing sample with advisors and am starting GRE Prep courses soon.

If my writing sample is great (I’m getting a lot of support from my professors that it is) and I do well on the GRE’s, is it possible for me to get into a good graduate program in English despite my performance in that first year?
I am interested in NYU’s Master’s program in English and American Literature. It is ranked 20th in graduate English programs.

I am just wondering what you all believe my chances are into that considering my record?
Any other tips would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thank you so much.

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