I have been rejected by every school that I wanted to go to: Virginia Tech, TCU, Syracuse, and Pepperdine.
I have a 29 act superscore, 3.5 gpa, honor student, and some good ec’s.
I was wondering what I should do about next year. Should I go to a community college, apply to an in-state rolling admission college, or take a gap year?
If I really wanted to end up at any of those schools, what would be the best option?
apply to a university with rolling admission asap so you can at least have that option if you decide you want it. you can always enroll in a community college and transfer after two years, or you can take a gap year and reapply to some schools next year. it’s entirely up to you (and your parents) on what you would like to do.
@kalons Does it have to be after two years, or can it just be one semester?
@seniorinmo students typically transfer after two years because their high school record holds little to no weight at all. if you choose to transfer after one semester, your high school record will be included in your decision-making process. you also need a minimum of 30-something credits to be considered as a transfer.
This happened to me last year. I was class of 2017 and i only applied to reach schools so I was rejected from all of them. You have a few options. You could apply to schools with rolling admissions. You could do community college for 2 years then transfer over (CA has a great CC to UC program). I looked into both of these and neither one seemed to fit. I was adamant about going to a school in a certain location and I wanted to start as a freshman. So, I decided to take a gap year. If you have the money, you can travel or do a program for your gap year, there are some amazing options. I didn’t have the money so I worked in a restaurant for my gap year. And it was fun and fulfilling and I learned skills that I probabpy never would have known. As of reapplying this year, I’ve gotten into 5 schools (none of the ones I originally wanted last year, but schools I’m excited about nonetheless) out of 9. If you really wanted to go to those specific schools, then you should consider doing community college for 2 years and applying as a transfer. If you work your ass off in CC, you should be able to get into your dream school.
These schools are all in different states. Any is instate for you? Because they’ll primarily take students from their state’s cc system or transfers from 4- year schools they consider peers.
Note that transfers typically get lousy aid so that limits where you can apply or attend, too.
It’s pointless to reapply to schools that denied you unless you had a major accomplishment since Fall senior year (like you were selected for the USA national team in your sport or something like it).
Yes often you need to wait two years and at that point most students just stay where they are so choose your college carefully.
What universities did you get into?
Community college is your best option. It’s also way cheaper than taking the same classes at a university for 4 times the cost. Sure it’s not as glamorous, but it’s practical. If you apply out of state or at a private university, be sure to do a full cost analysis because the most you can take out in federal student loans is $27k.
Look into state (instate) schools for admissions. Even those that are less prestigious than the state flagship will provide you with a good education and will allow you to complete requirements for college graduation. You might transfer after two years with a clearer idea about your major. You may also find that the state school provides you with both requirements and graduation in your preferred major. Most college graduates attend andgraduate from schools that are neither elite nor fancy, but provide a good education.
Is your 3.5 GPA weighted or unweighted? What is your home state?
You mentioned in another thread that you have dual citizenship. What is the other country where you have citizenship (assuming that the US is one of them)?
If you take a gap year and reapply to the same schools then you will be mostly sending them the same information again, except that you will also have your grades for the current semester, plus whatever activity you do during your gap year. If you do one year at community college then you high school grades will still matter. As such since you have been rejected by the four schools that you wanted to go to, then you are most likely going to need to find different schools to try to get into unless you both are willing to do two years at community college and can get substantially higher grades when you are at community college.
In another thread you say “…as well as explain why my grades have been lower recently”. Whatever has caused your grades to be lower, you will need to explain why this isn’t going to carry over into university. You should expect university to be more difficult than high school.
@zannah is correct that there are a lot of universities that can provide a good education, and that you should be looking at your in-state public schools. With a 3.5 GPA depending upon what state you are in you might need to consider in-state public schools other than the in-state flagship.
“I have been rejected by every school that I wanted to go to: Virginia Tech, TCU, Syracuse, and Pepperdine.”
Are these the only places that you applied to, or are they the only ones you truly were interested in, and you have been accepted by (or are still waiting on) some other places that you like a whole lot less?
What is your financial situation? Will you need a lot of aid?
If you will need a lot of aid, your better bet is to take a gap year and try to raise your ACT score or get an SAT score that is equivalent to a higher ACT score. In that year off, you need to work up a better application list, including guaranteed admit safeties that you could be happy at, matches that you could be happy at, and some new reaches that you could be happy at. Please note that guaranteed admit safeties are first on the list. They always should be first. Build your list upwards from them.
Forget the schools that rejected you. Whatever you do next year, it should work as the start of a new path, not a second attempt to get into the same places again. If you apply to the same places again, you are likely to get the same results. (They do keep records.)
In addition to a gap year, you can try to apply to schools that are currently accepting applicaions and/or check out the NACAC space available list when it becomes available in May.
Did you apply to Hillsdale?
You have said you are Latina, so you have a bit of a hook. An 84% average is low for these schools but not crazy low. Have a guidance counselor look over your essays. May be some other issue here.
If you need FA, make sure you check these schools transfer FA policies before considering transfer options.
Most schools are not interested in transfers until they complete one year. I don’t think it is a rolling semester by semester thing with many colleges.
I think you need to expand the list of schools you would be happy to attend. Did you apply to any safety schools? (Also in another post you said you have an 83 unweighted average and have had low grades recently which could make your list of schools a reach)
As I see it you have these options:
I would definitely apply to an in-state rolling admission college if that is still an available option.
I would also also look for the list of colleges with openings in May and hope you can find one where you can get in with sufficient aid. The list is published by the NACAC and I think it is called the college openings update (or something like that). Some surprisingly good schools can appear on the list.
You can take a gap year, find something worthwhile to do, and reapply next year. Work hard to find a group of schools that appear to be affordable (run net price calculators) and that you would be happy to attend. I would not just re-apply to the same group of schools after a gap year – you would need to expand your list and include some less competitive colleges.
If options 1 and 2 don’t work out and you don’t want a gap year you can start at a CC and transfer to a 4 year college. However, if finances are an issue keep in mind that merit aid is hard to come by for transfer students.
In Nov. you said your unweighted average is an 83. If that’s on the lower end for those schools I don’t think you’ll be able to transfer there unless you’ve spent a couple of years somewhere else.
Have you applied to any schools in Missouri? Ask your parents how much they’ll pay and check the NACAC list in May for schools trying to fill seats. If they can really pay $40k/year, you should have options.
@DadTwoGirls my second citizenship is for the UK, and I’m in Missouri, and that’s my unweighed gpa
@happymomof1 I won’t need a lot of aid, and those were the school I applied to.
@austinmshauri I have just applied to schools in Kansas and Arkansas with border-state tuition.
Did you apply to Truman?
It is unfortunate that no one advised you that you should have at least one real safety on your list. Except for places that have automatic admissions for specific GPA and test scores, there always is the chance that you can get unlucky. So go have a chat with your guidance counselor and whoever else it was who was negligent this application season, and encourage them to not let future students make this kind of mistake.
Right now your options include going to CC (some do have dorms so you wouldn’t absolutely have to stay home), applying to places where applications are still open, waiting for the NACAC list to come out on May 1, or considering a gap year/semester. If you don’t need much financial aid, then planning now for transfer can make sense. However, you need to make your first two years look as much as possible as they would have at your target(s), and you need to have excellent grades and good relationships with your professors so you can get good LORs. Before you set yourself up for a transfer down the line, make sure you are ready for all of that.
You said you applied to some schools in border states that have in-state tuition - if you didn’t already apply to Washburn University, they have an interstate tuition waiver for residents of Missouri, and you should also qualify for automatic freshman scholarship aid.
University of Iowa and Clemson still accepting apps. Why not apply? There are others, too and will be more after May 1st.
@seniorinmo: apply to Truman and Mizzou.
You can try and apply to Hendrix if you like small liberal arts colleges.
What’s your budget and do you have a like in mind?