Advice for underachieving student

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a really tough situation. My college prospects seem pretty bleak, barring a few rays of hope. My GPA is around 2.3-2.5 (last report card hasn't come yet), my May SATs were at 1490. My Literature SAT II's, AP Literature, and June ACT results aren't back yet. I'm a black kid living in NYC.</p>

<p>My first two years of HS were horrible, and my grades this (junior) year were a step up (I'm talking 65-70's to 85-90's). We did a ton of college prep with our guidance counselor and I have a strong personal statement and recommendations. My major is Software Engineering/Computer Science and preferably a minor in Game development.</p>

<p>Another thing I do have going for me is my programming experience. I have a few games under my belt, and I'll be starting an interactive fiction club for underclassmen next school year. Over the summer, I'll be working on a personal project. I'll also be working on a portfolio/blog website over the break, also.</p>

<p>Here's my choices, ordered my level of interest:</p>

<ol>
<li>Rochester Institute of Technology</li>
<li>NYU-Poly</li>
<li>Univ. of Illlinois - Urbana-Champaign</li>
<li>Univ. of Utah</li>
<li>Univ. of Central Florida</li>
<li>Rutgers - New Brunswick</li>
<li>New Jersey Institute of Technology</li>
<li>DigiPen Institute of Technology</li>
</ol>

<p>I know a bunch of those are proably well out of my reach, but my counselor has adviced me to also apply to six CUNY (Queens College, Baruch, to name a few) schools and two SUNYs (Oswego and Suny IT) as supplements. I'm just looking to get some perspective on my chances holistically at these places. </p>

<p>Just to make sure everyone understands, I feel like I'm college ready. eriously, school is very easy (Especially in the NYC Public school system). It may be weird to hear me say that, but every class I've taken hasn't been academically challenging. My problem was not doing homework or important projects yet still acing exams. My workload was all AP and Honors classes, if I wanted to do well without any amount of work, I'd have stuck with the normal classes (which I should have in retrospect).</p>

<p>I'm just as ready as any person in my graduating class, even those with 3.5+ GPAs (I'm tutored a few of them this year). Make no mistake my grades are the result of serious circumstances, not just being a complete idiot.</p>

<p>I have zero intention to mess around like so in college, I said that to make sure you knew that I wasn't struggling academically, rather going through the motion due to some misguided ideas. </p>

<p>Junior year as been a transformation academically, and I've been performing like the college-ready student I am. I've done 3 College Now classes(college prep classes w/ college credit) and have 4 on all AP exams. The ability to do well and focus in college is not an issue for me, my issue is getting there and trying to get the college themselves to understand I'm ready.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>P.S: If anyone would like to read my essay and give feedback, I'd appreciate it, btw. I'll also go post over in the College Essays section</p>

2

<p>If you head over to the transfer subforum you’ll see a lot of students who were slackers in high school, and opted (maybe after working for a few years) to go to the community college. There many of them experienced a complete turn around and were able to transfer into universities that they would not have been admitted to had they applied as a freshman. </p>

<p>You should give serious thought to that path, particularly if you think your grades don’t reflect your ability. A community college will give you the chance to start over, and after two plus years allow you to try for schools that might have been out of reach as a high school senior.</p>

3

<p>I understand this option, and it’s not a bad one at all. I just want to be somewhere where I’m not going through the motions and doing work to get to another level AGAIN. It’d feel like Grade 13 and 14. </p>

<p>I know I may end up in this situation, and I would make the best of it, but I will avoid it anyway I can (besides racking up huge amounts of debt).</p>

4

<p>First off congratulations on your improvement and change of attitude during your Junior Year. As you already know, grade wise there is not much you can do to improve your GPA but strive for a 4.0 in the first marking period/semester of senior year to send out to the colleges you are interested in.</p>

<p>How much are you parents able/willing to afford? Since most of these are out of state publics and privates the cost will be quite expensive and you do not have the stats for competitive scholarships at these institutions. The more you can afford. the most options you will have for college.</p>

<p>It is also important to note that computer science/engineering departments at universities are often one of the more selective departments to gain admission to as a freshman. You may find yourself having to start off undecided and apply to these programs later on during undergraduate contingent on your college grades.</p>

<p>Location: Are you looking to primarily stay in the northeast for college? Where is the farthest you would travel to attend college?</p>

<p>Community College seems to be an extremely helpful path for a lot of students out of high school(weather it be due to cost constraints or under performed in HS). Lot of public flagships have transfer agreements with the state community colleges. A lot of students use this path to save money and get into a much much better university after two years.</p>

<p>From your list of schools, basically all of them are decent reaches for you aside from maybe Digipen(do not know anything about this institution). I would still recommend applying if you have interests in them, you never know what admissions officers see in your application, but make sure not to be delusional with your expectations.</p>

<p>With answers from questions I have asked above, I and others will be able to help you in your search for an affordable university with a strong comp sci/engineering program that admission will be likely for you.</p>

5

<p>My parents are willing to go at most $10,000 a year. Location isn’t a problem, I’d be willing to go anywhere with a good CS department. </p>

<p>Yeah, I’m sure CC is most likely where I’ll end up, but I’m trying to work this whole summer and next year to better my chances. I’m registered for Fall SATs, and I think I did pretty well on the ACTs. What grade on the ACTs may swing the scale for me a bit?</p>

<p>I contacted a few admissions counselors, and they love to throw around the word “holistically”. RIT is really my main aim, and I think a great SAT/ACT score, an interview, a complete portfolio, and my essays and recommendations would be a great benefit. I did the Collegeboard calculator, and it forecast the cost of attendance to be around 13k, which has me wanting to apply ED.</p>

6

<p>Well 10,000 a year is going to be tough to afford a lot of the schools on your list that are out of state publics and the privates really depend on how much aid that decide to dispense.</p>

<p>Community College is really a great option for some and would be helpful in saving you a lot of money and also improving your work ethic before you head to a 4 year university. I know it is not something you want but it may be more beneficial to your academic career.</p>

<p>Definitely retake the SAT/ACTS, to swing your low GPA, I would aim for a 27 -30 on the ACT and a 2000 on the SAT. Those scores will be more than enough for all of the schools on your list except for maybe Illinois for Comp Sci. I am hoping those would be able to offset GPA but that is not certain.</p>

<p>Most colleges not matter how big or small love to throw around the word holistic when it comes to their application evaluations for admissions. Since schools get thousands and thousands of applicants before they grade you holistically your GPA and SAT must at least meet their requirement for consideration of acceptance. I am sure a lot of statistically under qualified applications get thrown into the reject pile just from taking a glance at GPA and SAT/ACT scores.</p>

<p>I know for a fact that RIT costs around 46,000 but am unsure of how they are with financial aid and such. The college board calculator is an estimate and that is not necessarily what you should expect to get from the school. ED is supposed to be for students who that school is their top choice and they can afford it if it happened that they did not receive any financial aid or assistance. I would not jump into applying ED if you are unable to afford it if accepted without sufficient aid. Fortunately, RIT isnt super selective and I know a girl who was accepted with a slightly higher sat score but she had a much higher GPA than you.</p>

<p>The good thing is you have time to increase your ACT/SAT score but your gpa is really going to be the determining factor.</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I thought as much. When I did the calculator, I contacted RIT’s fin. aid and they said the calculator is a good indicator. I think I’d be able to push for 15-16k for RIT, and apply for eligible scholarships for a 2.5-2.6 GPA by first trimester. </p>

<p>RIT is a perfect fit for me, the other schools would be great, but aren’t really the same. DigiPen is also a great option for me, but I’m not sure if I’d want to go to a career focused school.</p>

<p>All in all, I think I’ll go for ED for RIT and hope for the best. If that doesn’t work out, then I’ll apply and hope for NJIT or DigiPen, at least.</p>

8

<p>Since I see you have University of Utah on your list, I think you should also consider University of Montana and Montana State. Both are looking for regional and racial diversity, they’re good, and decently-funded schools, and actually somewhat generous with FA even for out of state students. Montana State is actually ranked higher than University of Montana, and is stronger in the sciences/math that sort of thing. University of Montana is good in some natural sciences and in the humanities. I know a kid with GPA similar to yours (but with pretty high SATs/ACTs) who got into both with financial aid.
I think for an east coast kid (and a kid of color at that) you’d like Montana more than Utah.</p>

9

<p>

Prove it by getting a higher SAT score, at least a 1800. Then you look good for:
RIT
University of Utah
Rutgers-Newark and Camden campus
NJIT</p>

<p>RIT is pretty selective with an average SAT of 1700 and average GPA of 3.5. Your chances do not look great right now even if you apply ED.</p>

10

<p>I understand I really need a high test score to offset my GPA. Remember though, NYC public schools aren’t chock full of resources, the only prep I got was a last minute practice test. Of course, it’s my fault for not paying for my own, and it’s a problem I hope I fixed on the ACT. If not, then I’ll spend all summer going through SAT materials.</p>