<p>I'm currently enrolled in my first semester at a community college in Ohio. My GPA is probably going to end up a 3.75, maaaybe 4.0 (this school has no +/- system). My ACT from high school was a 33. I graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA and obviously my options were limited. I took a year off after high school, got some therapy and threw myself back into school. I'm only taking 12 credit hours right now, but I'm signed up for 17 next semester. I took two AP tests, Calc AB (5) and English Lit (3). I don't really have any extracurriculars to speak of (I spend too much time at the library), but I do work 30 hours a week. I got a National Merit Scholarship Commendation in high school.</p>
<p>I just have no idea what my options are at this point. In an ideal world, I'd like to go to the University of Chicago or Berkeley, but I don't hold any hope of that happening at this point. I'd like to get out of Ohio, but I don't think I'd mind, say, Ohio State or Oberlin. Are Michigan or Northwestern options? I'd just like to know what I should be aiming for, realistically.</p>
<p>Well, I was going to come on this thread and tell you that you are not hopeless... no matter what you said in your post. Because no one is ever hopeless </p>
<p>However, after reading your post I have to go further. You have accomplished a LOT. </p>
<p>You do have great college GPA going. Your ACT is stellar. Your year off from college will work in your favor .... not only because you got the therapy and did the work, but because it will show the colleges you now apply to that you have had the time to turn yourself around and have done so. </p>
<p>A 30 hour/week job IS an EC and the admissions committees will see it that way.</p>
<p>I don't know your chances at UChicago or UCB, as they are both tough schools for admission. (In some previous years, though, Chicago has taken a decent number of transfers). But I certainly think you should give them a try. </p>
<p>I think that Michigan admits a lot "on the numbers" compared to some of the others, but I don't know how heavily they weight hs. Still, the upward trajectory of your academics will show through.</p>
<p>My advice: Read the Transfer Admissions 101 sticky thread, if you have not already. Follow all the advice there; primarily at this point making sure you get to know profs well enough to get good recs. Equally important, develop a balanced list of schools to apply to - the reaches you've listed here, some matches and some safeties. I'm sure you will have good success.</p>
<p>Are you planning to complete 2 years at the cc before trying to transfer? If so, your hs record will matter less and less. If not, it's still fine to give any school you want a try; just give yourself choices by having a balanced list.</p>
<p>You're not hopeless. I had a 2.0 unweighted out of hs, due to working a lot. I had a 3.4 at ASU my freshman year, did a few EC. And I got into 5 out of 6 of the schools I applied to transfer to, after being rejected from over 10 colleges during senior year. Just make sure you give good reason for your year off and what you accomplished, and try to complete as many pre-req for the school. I completeled almost of my pre-reqs prior to transfer and likely helped a lot with getting me into USC.</p>
<p>At Cal, h/s GPA doesn't matter for junior transfers. Cal looks at your college GPA. And as to 3.75 or 4.0, I would say - don't count your chickens before they hatch.</p>