Thanks for posting your story. Enjoy CMU!
Congrats! I am basically like you (3.2 GPA) but I didn’t apply to those schools and I scored ten points higher on the SAT than you lmao and I played a crapload of games like LoL, Hotr, MS, sc2 and now d3 which is coming out on may 15th, and have nice ECs too.
I was hoping to get into the honors college of stony brook with a nice scholarship but unfortunately no scholarship, however i did get into the honors college. mad proud of myself.
Hope we both do well in college.
~
btw if you are interested in going into business, is cmu a good school for business? I thought they were more of an engineering,science school? didn’t think it was a business school…
You are to be commended for pulling yourself out of the hole you dug for yourself. However, be weary about your motivations as you stated that seeing your friends pre-occupied with getting into college was the prime inspiration. Now that you’re likely to go to CMU you’re not going to be afforded the chance to slack off again as CMU is very rigorous. Please be sure that “getting into college,” was not the sole driving factor for all the hard work but that you plan to also work hard once you’re there and hopefully towards a legitamate goal.
CMU has a prestigous business school, the Tepper School of business.
Hey man. I was in sort of a similar situation as you were in-- I had a pretty horrendous GPA (especially due to a very bad Sophomore year where I almost got expelled for skipping school so many times) but I got my act together Junior/Senior years. I got accepted to some pretty decent schools, and I attend Vanderbilt right now. Just an FYI: it feels really good to get accepted to these schools, but you have to remember what kind of people you are competing with once you come here. Just as an example, my roommate was valedictorian and had great test scores. These people are everywhere on campus and it’s very intimidating to know you probably just inched your way into the school. I’m not trying to make you feel bad or anything, I’m just saying be prepared to change your studying habits and work ethic. I still have yet to make the proper adjustments, I feel. Good luck with your future endeavors, hope you get off the Vandy waitlist too.
Accepted into Vandy!!!
I’d like to add that I was also accepted into UNC - Chapel Hill (OOS) from the waitlist. I was the only applicant (out of 17 total) from my school to be accepted this year, and I’m definitely the weakest UNC applicant from my school stats-wise. I’m pretty certain that my essays were what got me in. I think my results really show how extremely important essays are in admissions, and that they can indeed push you into the accepted pile even if you have sub-par stats.
It was really hard deciding between UNC and Vandy, but I ended up choosing Vandy. Good luck to all future applicants 
waitlistftl- what were your essays about?
^My common app essay was about breakdancing, and my Carolina supplement essay was about my procrastination. I basically wrote about procrastination as if it were a disease and how I managed to find the “cure” for my disease during my junior year and became a better student and person in general.
I am think your SAT score was a big factor. What was your essay about?
what was your course load like through high school? a have a bit higher UW GPA (3.7) but i was highly unmotivated in the beginning of high school and did not have a rigorous course load up until now. Even still, I am not taking the max amount of AP’s (2/3) but I will be senior year (4/4). Your story has been really motivating and I am really hoping to shine through my essays next year
Awesome story. The schools that rejected you don’t know what they’re missing
Really enjoyed reading this. While it is quite a relief because my GPA is quite high, it also makes me want to push myself further to get an edge on my peers. Thanks for sharing.
I think, I can replace my name for yours including the ethnicity - except the gender. I started off as a BSMD aspirant in my freshman, while ending up as a 3.2 UW GPA by junior year. As I am gearing up for the senior year - dreams of BSMD are shattered and I don’t know where will I end up!
But as you say there is hope through detrmination and hard work - I am now determined and inspired. You should be applauded for having the courage to share your story. A couple of questions.
<ol>
<li>Was the essay something around a personal tragedy? </li>
<li>I still have junior year to finish - last few weeks and senior year. What other schools would you suggest? Any other advise?</li>
</ol>
Thanks
BSMD Aspirant???
Man, I wish I knew you in real life. You sound like such a nice person.
Thanks for sharing! What you wrote there is really inspiring. Among all the “it’s too late to fix that” and “you’re probably not gonna make it”, this is GOLD.
I hope you find yourself comfortable at Vandy. Congrats!
Thanks everyone!
@BSMD: Some good schools to consider for someone with a low GPA are CMU and NYU. At least from my experience, these two schools are more likely to be forgiving of a low GPA than most other top schools.
good luck at college
Thanks! 10char
Congrats! I am more confident now. Thank you!
Thanks, definitely not going to make the same mistake again in college =D