Throughout high school, I never fully applied myself and slacked, and am now facing the consequences of that mistake. As you’ve read, I have an 1190 SAT, a 24 ACT but a 2.4 GPA. I don’t know what to do. I want to go to college and major in computer science but I really don’t know if I can.
I’m looking at ASU which is very good for computer science, they guarantee admission if you meet certain “benchmarks” I meet (and in some exceed) in all of them except the English benchmark.
English isn’t my first language, I came to the US when I was 12, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. On the bright side, I have pretty good math scores which is a plus point considering I’m applying for an engineering degree. To make it even worse, I had to leave the country for a while in my sophmore year which led to me missing a lot of the material, which then led to me failing 1 credit of my class.
I have a letter of recommendation from two of my teachers and my counselor to help me but I don’t how much that will help. I’ve also taken 4 AP classes this year (Computer Science Principles, Stats, Macro, Micro) to show the colleges that I’m someone who’s willing to take a challenge and do good. Another good thing is that my grade overall do show a positive incline where my grades have gone from Cs/Ds to As/Bs.
Be brutal and please help me. I don’t care how harsh the truth. I feel like my life has fallen apart and I want to piece it back together. I want to succeed in life and be given another chance to prove myself.
An option I have is to go to community college and trasfer to my in state university (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities) but due to asian mentality my parents would not approve of that at all. I don’t know what to do.
What about Minnesota State U in Mankato? My son took a social justice class online there over the summer and I was really impressed! I bet you will do well no matter where you end up.
maybe you need to really apply yourself and prove yourself at a community college for a year or two, then consider transfer to a school more specialized in your interests?
It’s great to know that your GPA has improved, and four year colleges do look favorably on that. The question is, will they be willing to let you in based on your GPA? Frankly, the plan you posted is a good idea. Go to CC, get great grades, and prove yourself. You are looking for alternatives, of course.
Your parents might not like the idea of CC, but they have no say in the matter of you being accepted somewhere else. Your GPA is quite low, and colleges will be concerned about your ability to do college level work. There might be a couple of options though.
The CSU and UC systems in California don’t consider freshman year grades. The same is true of Canadian universities, I believe. So if your grades improved in your soph and junior years, your GPA may be higher than you think. And the tuition is more affordable than in the US.
Try out of state colleges with low average GPAs. They will be happy to take your OOS tuition fees. Minnesota seems to be thin on the ground for that. If you google The Best Colleges With Low GPA requirements on Prep Scholar, there’s a good list. I can’t link it.
You could look at schools like Bard or Goucher, which have alternative application processes. Bard has an exam in which you provide writing samples. It’s a good college. Your writing seems pretty solid. Goucher lets you submit a video. I think Hampshire College has an alternative application process, but I believe they are in a bit of financial turmoil right now, so I am not sure.
One other issue is that CS is a very competitive major at a lot of colleges, even when there is a low average accepted GPA. Yet another reason why the CC to four year route might be best for you.
Would your family prefer that you not go to college at all? Although there are some 4-year colleges that would accept you, they are most likely not schools that your parents would think are good schools. Surely your parents know that a 2.4 GPA and 1190 SAT/24 ACT is far below the level expected at higher ranked schools, especially for computer science. If they do want you to go to college, they are going to have to accept that you start at either a community college or a lower ranked 4-year school.
All of them offer computer science, but their departments are relatively small, so they have fewer course offerings than at colleges with larger computer science departments. Hampshire also has non-traditional courses and curricula.
However, your parents need to realize that a 2.4 HS GPA is not going to get you into a college with the prestige they seem to want. If your local community colleges offer good transfer-prep courses for UMN (you can try looking them up from https://onestop.umn.edu/academics/transfer-credit ), then that may be the best way to start college.
It seems like your parents need to make their own accounts here so they can hear the harsh (to them) truth themselves.
Mankato State has guaranteed admission for the following:
“You will be admitted to Minnesota State University, Mankato if:
You rank in the Top 50% of your high school class OR
You have a GPA of at least a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) OR
You achieve a 21 or higher composite score on the ACT exam (with satisfactory GPA)”
The question is what is a satisfactory GPA to go with a 24. On Niche, the scattergram shows someone admitted with slightly lower GPA and ACT than you. The ACT range there is 19-24. It was on my DD’s list for a while.
Winona State should be about the same chances for you. My DD was really interested in this one.
Maybe University of South Dakota.
Niche says Wayne State College in Nebraska has 100% acceptance rate.
I don’t know if these will meet your parents approval just because they are 4 years?
Maybe search Niche for some more colleges in the surrounding area and see how your stats look on their graphs.
Otherwise, if you can convince them, CC is a great place to start. Maybe tell them if you do really well there, you can get your final degree from a better ranked college than the ones that would let you start with your current stats.
Not the end of the world. Apply to many match colleges and if you do not get in to any, go the community college route and transfer. This way your parents can’t complain if community college turns out to be your best (and only) option.
To be honest, many students don’t take academics seriously until they get out of high school (secret, I was one of those kids, barely had a 3.0, went to a 2 year junior college, did well and transferred to a UC).
Secondly, I know you want to please your parents but at the end of the day it’s YOUR life and you need to do what’s best for you.
I guarantee you that if you work hard and have a good attitude that you will be “successful” in life no matter what anyone else thinks.
Have your parents told you anything about how they expect you to pay for your education? Be sure to have that conversation. The out-of-state options might not be in your budget.