<p>I'm a little different than most of the "chance me" applicants on this site. I graduated high school in 2000 (I'm 29) and didn't take the SAT or ACT. I was near the bottom of my high school class and had absolutely zero drive to do anything. It's not that I was incompetent, I just found a way to work the system. I would make straight A's 1st and 2nd semesters, then just not show up the next two semesters (obviously getting F's,) take a final and end up with a C average for the class based on grades. I saw that as doing half the work with 1/10 the effort and making the same grades as people who were there the entire year. It was a cocky skewed way of doing things, but the bottom line was I still passed and at the time, that's all that mattered.</p>
<p>Lets just say growing up opened my eyes a bit. I've done things (owned and sold my own company at the age of 24 and WSOP televised dealer in 2008 to name a few,) so I have quite a bit of experiences to add if I ever get to an interview process. But I'm unsure if my severely lackluster high school grades will destroy any chances I have, even if the college grades are what's important as a transfer student. I actually didn't even send high school transcripts to anybody.</p>
<p>I've applied to the 3 aforementioned schools early. All of my applications were completed by the middle of January so they were likely of the first submitted if that matters. Anyhow, here's the lowdown on my academic (college) history. Anybody able to chance me? Obviously I've googled the chances and whatnot, so it's kinda a moot question; I'm just kinda curious to see what the general consensus is on my chances. I'm a MechE major transferring as a Junior (I'm currently wrapping up as a sophomore.) so I'm not really competing with the freshman and high school kids.</p>
<p>3.7 un-weighted GPA
ALL Honors designated classes in my sciences and math as well as some English courses
Very strong letters from my Math and English professors as well as the Honors Academy director (well rounded since it's both math and english???)
Receive numerous merit and academic based scholarships
Have a strong recommendation from an industry internship
Campus Math Tutor</p>
<p>If you look at my transcript, the only reason my GPA is marred is because I chose the most rigorous professors (extremely low pass rates) as well as chose to designate them my honors classes (which means about a 20% additional course load for depth of understanding and/or non-covered topics.) I'm unsure as to whether this will help or hinder me because I do have the deeper understanding of the topics, but I'm not sure if they see past the GPA score despite my letters of recommendation even stating "my risk taking is commendable and very unusual at this level."</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Due to the pact Florida colleges have with each other, if I attain my AA I'm automatically accepted into UF. Not really a bad fallback school, I just don't care for the University of Florida.</p>
<p>Thanks for your time!</p>