28 ACT, Low income... 2.5 gpa :(

So mistakes were made during the first three years of high school and I am coming into my senior year with 2.5 gpa. Weighted, I believe. I would really like to go to a good, out-of-state college with an amazing biological science program, specifically one specializing in Genetics, Bioengineering, or Bioinformatics. I live in Alabama, and have been looking at:


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Clemson
Purdue
Samford
Tulane
I really like Tulane, especially considering their NOLA (No-Loan Assistance) program; an out-of-state school would really preferably have a program similar to this, as my family makes <$30,000 annually and has 5 dependents. I find, unfortunately, that most of the schools that have similar programs are Ivies, Little Ivies, Extremely-GPA critical, or are otherwise schools that require 6 great-grandfathers and your unborn son to have been alumni.
My test scores are as follows:
ACT: 28; Writing: 8
AP Chemistry: 3
SAT II Chemistry: 650
AP Eu History: 3
AP US History: 3
SAT II US History: 640
PLTW Test, Intro to Engineering Design: 9

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This Senior year I will be taking: AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, Pre-Calculus, English 12, French 3, and PLTW’s Principles of Engineering, and Regular Econ.

Achievements, Experiences: 4th place Regional Science Oylmpiad Finalist (Biology); Alumni of Synthetic Biology Short Course at the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology
Sports: Male Soloist at Alabama Youth Ballet Studio (2012-Present), Junior Varsity Rowing (Junior Year)

To expand on my interest as far as programs go, I would like to get Major in some biology discipline that would allow me to go on to a masters (or beyond) that I could apply to the emerging field of synthetic biology.
Is my attending an outstanding university out of reach, and, if so, what can I do that would help colleges in admitting me?

Thanks.

Maybe lighten up on senior year course load and focus doing very well in 5 courses than not as well in 7 courses. Do you really want to take Principals of Engineering and Econ?

With a very low GPA, you may be best served living at home and attending community college for two years to obtain an A.A. degree. Then finish at one of Alabama’s state schools, obtaining internship experience along the way. Focus on going out of state for your post-B.A. degree, which may be more economically feasible after working full time for a few years.

Dude, you and I are in like the exact same boat. I’m applying to Tulane too! This night just became a whole lot weirder. But I think a 2.5 (w) may hurt you. I think you should raise that GPA and especially that ACT score. I think you are academically qualified, you seem to be capable of getting a 30+ ACT score the second time around. You should try questbridge but I have felt that they are looking for a certain type of applicant; most of them usually have the same activies and qualities. Let’s keep in touch on CC. I am scared to death and I have a very similar situation. PM me and we can talk about it more. I am intrigued and want to see if you end up getting into Tulane. You can’t give up on your dreams. No shame in going to a “lesser” school and subsequently attending your dream school

I’m applying Single Choice Early Action with similar scores to you. I agree with PolyglotGal that you should reach for a 30+ ACT. If you haven’t yet, check out this blog written by an admissions counselor. It has great advice on what Tulane is looking for and how to prepare a better app. http://tuadmissionjeff.blogspot.com/

Thank you all, really! I’ll definitely look into taking the ACT again (27 1st try, 28 2nd) as well as getting the SAT done and getting at least a 3.0 cumulative. My main hiccup on ACT is taking it after finals, and am hence brain-drained and subsequently have forgotten how to math. thanks for all the advice.

Can we all take a moment to appreciate this turn of phrase?

@noble28 -If I were reading your application, I’d admit you just for this.

Ayy lmao yall. I know this thread is dead, but it’s jazz funeral isn’t over, and you’re sure to have your 6 grandfathers, unborn son, and just about half your neighborhood join in yet.
So I took the Sep. 12 ACT. I got a 31, with all 32 subsections except math… 26. I was kinda disappointed. I have finally come to terms that I will never surmount the plateau I made in seventh grade, when I got a 33 in the reading subsection (23 composite, nbd). My gpa for the first nine weeks was 3.6 UW.

You’ll want to look at schools the provide need based aid and that fit your scores/interests. Even with a very low income, colleges aren’t required to meet that need and you are limited to a small amount of loans.

You’re going to want to avoid the ‘smart slacker’ label so make sure you highlight your accomplishments showcasing your interests, write great essays, and explain any extenuating circumstances. In addition, you’ll want to apply early to increase your chances.

Best of luck in your journey.

Sorry my friend, the schools you want would need to spend a lottery ticket on you and invest heavily so you can afford to be there, As others have stated, your best path is two years at a community college, kick butt and then you will open the doors to schools that are closed to you now. Prove you can do it, and then schools will want you.

You seem like a cool person. Let your personality shine through on your application. You never know, if the admissions office likes your personality, they might let you in!

   Would an awesome essay help? I've got a lot of to say; in my junior year, I found out one of my girlfriends was raped, I learned about it while on a plane to my grandmother's funeral, and got death threats (pictures of guns, phone calls, her dad arrived at my house) because the family thought it was me (they caught the perp: it was her friend); she recovered from the emotional trauma and is doing great. There was, later, this amazing girl in my life that went through a demyelinating neuropathy a month into our relationship, where one day she was the prima ballerina and the next epileptic, where I had to hold her close to make sure that, in her postictic state (where she didn't recognize me, or what exactly a chair was, for that matter), she wouldn't come to harm. Fortunately the only memories she lost were small ones. The neuropathy affected her for three and a half months of our eight months, and I was by her side everyday except but the days she couldn't walk, where she would be in in bed and I would be in school, where I felt the same uselessness I had when, just months before, I was on the plane to California. Those three and a half short months left me realizing that if I, frankly, didn't work my ass off at school, I wouldn't go to college; and if I didn't go to college, then I would live knowing that I witnessed someone I loved deteriorate, and that my response was not to devote most hours of my day to help, but to sit down and give up. 

  I, understandably, chose and am choosing the former, and bootstrapped my schools biology club, became president of it, got a seat on the Inter-Club Council, maintain the best grade in AP Bio in the whole school, have an A+ in all science courses listed in the original post, in addition to taking 5 online courses (genetics, 2 on protein function, biochemistry, and immunology) on EdX with all A averages.

 So those two girls made me understand that I wanted to help people. But, the summer before school started, I realized that life can easily be ended by a few mistakes and/or common stupidity. One week, I fell toward a fire face first (fortunately I caught it with my hand, and only suffered 2nd and few 3rd degree burns, in addition to a glove of gauze that begged to draw snide remarks more or less often  containing the embarrassingly alliterative words, "Michelin, "man", and "mitten") while backpacking in Colorado; the next week, I was hiking alone, 6 miles into the woods, and stepped on a copperhead the size of a rather large toddler.

Would an essay condensing all these events and a conclusion stating what all they have taught, or rather, what they have made me, give me give me a better chance? Because these girls are outstanding; they are in the top 10% percent of their class and are presidents of clubs. They made me never want to give up, I want to do all I can with the time I’m given, and to work hard enough so that I can actually help. That, the last point, is extremely important to me. I have, from experience, come to the conclusion that there is nothing worse than not being able to help.

But aside from education, growing up in my family has taught me to be understanding, and to appreciate what I have. My mother and sister’s bipolar disorder, my adopted sister’s severe anxiety, and my brother’s autism, should not be taken as a sob story, but just a fact of my life, one that has helped me understand the issues and obstacles people face.

I’m going to add a few things:

FIRST Robotics Team and Robotics Club Member- R&D Lead (12) (8 hrs/week)
Biology Club President (12)
Green Club Member (9, 10, 11, 12)
Citizens Climate Lobby Member
3rd Place Science Olympiad Regional Medal in Biology (2014)-mentioned in the original post, was actually 3rd place
AP Scholar Award
AP+PLTW recognition
And 3 Teacher recommendations from Organic Chem, AP Bio, and Engineering teachers.
3 lead parts in my Ballet studio’s winter performance this year (21 hrs/week)

Financial Situation: ~$24,000/yr, with 5 dependents, two of them already in college.

Oh and I visited Tulane, have personally talked to counselors there, and connect with them on social media. Does that help? November 1 is the deadline for many colleges, so any help would be amazing.

Do CC’s do research?

Anyone?

@noble28 Could you explain how the hell you ended up with a 2.5 gpa? Everything else seems good although you could improve that ACT score since math is probably the easiest section to see major improvement( just practice on a lot of past tests). But please explain the story behind the 2.5 gpa? What do you mean by “mistakes” seems more like catastrophe to me?

Well, as someone with a 2.5 UW GPA, I was really hoping to give advice, for instance, UA Huntsville seems to be a good school for you. But now that I see that it’s W… Could you explain how you got to be in this situation? Hopefully with circumstances beyond “I was lazy”. If you can work that into an essay, you might bump up your chances.

You have a very interesting story. It sounds like you failed your junior year classes because of multiple issues. If you do extremely well in the Fall (and next Winter/ Spring) and bump up your ACT/SAT to very high (33+) levels, you could probably get into your better in-state schools like UA, UA-Huntsville, but Auburn is probably out of reach. The adcoms are going to look at your latest grades first especially with all of the adversity you faced recently. I don’t think Purdue or Tulane are going to care that much just because there are so many better qualified candidates.

You must have a good track record - either in senior year (maybe apply for Winter '17 admission) or at a CC to be seriously considered. Otherwise it is just another unfortunate story.