I feel really anxious about applying to colleges next fall. I’m just finishing up my junior year with abysmal grades. I’ve messed up my past two years of high school (sophomore and junior), being lazy and procrastinating a lot, which has dropped my cumulative down to around ~2.65. Along with anxiety issues popping up here and there and my laziness I feel like a failure and keep digging myself deeper.
My ACT score was a 28 and I still have several chances to improve on that score. I have lots of good teacher references and I feel that other than my academic transcript my applications would be fairly strong.
I’m really just wondering what people think my chances of getting into a school with an act range of 19-26 and a 3.4 Average GPA would be.
I also am open to any advice pertaining to my situation. With only the first semester of my senior year to show vast improvement, how much do you think that would benefit me to say go from C’s to A’s and B’s.
Thanks
My first piece of advice is to not give up. You are not a failure because of some bad grades; that being said, you have improvement to do. Make sure that your Senior year schedule is manageable and interesting for you, this will help with motivation. Improving your grades to As and Bs will help you a lot. I will show colleges your drive and ability to better yourself. That is all that they really look for, someone who will apply themselves and improve even if the content is difficult.To battle procrastination it usually helps me to write a list of all the things that I need to get done for the week and check them off as I go along; it is simple, but this process really motivates me to stay on top of things and it feels good to see my responsibilities be taken care of and the list get smaller.
As for your ACT score, it is a great jumping off point! You have room to improve, but it is a solid score. Set a goal for what score you really want and make sure you familiarize yourself with test topics and formatting, even repeating the test once more (without studying) students’ scores usually increase due to their being familiar with the test format.
If you work hard Senior year, improve your test score, and write kick-ass essays there is no reason you won’t be able to get into the schools you want to.
Choice 1: state schools
Choice 2: Community college and transfer
Choice 3: apply to 4-year private collages that will probably be happy to have you.
Here’s a partial list–
Hendrix
Muhlenberg
Beloit
Earlham
Hollins (women’s)
Simmons (women’s)
Susquehanna
U of the Pacific
Drew University
Drake
St. Olaf
Allegheny
Hampshire (Five-college consortium)
Sarah Lawrence
Manhattanville
Manhattan
Union in NY
Wagner
Dickinson maybe
Ohio Wesleyan
DePauw
St. John’s of Annapolis or Santa Fe
Washington College
Wells College
Hobart and William Smith
Marlboro
Green Mountain (has a full scholarship competition in sustainability)
Knox
Maybe Centre
Mills (women – cross reg with Berkeley)
Goucher–video application. Also cross registration to Johns Hopkins
Bard has the Bard Exam, opens in August, and erases your grades and scores. They also take about a 3.5 average so this might be a fit for you
Southwestern University in Texas.
To check the average costs of these colleges FOR YOU go to College Navigator. Type in the name of school. Click on the “net price” tab. That will break down average costs by income level. Some are quite affordable, such as Beloit and Union. Mills recently lowered its price tag.
I mean I’m feeling optimistic as of right now. At worst case, which isn’t horrible, I go to community college for a year or two then transfer. However I’d much prefer for that to be my last resort. I know exactly what I need to do but I just always have a hard time finding motivation. Overall though I just feel like a loser, because my failure was on my accord and not something out of my control such as depression, illness, or family.