<p>Hello College Confidential,</p>
<p>I am back. I have not extensively explored this forum so it is possible that this has been answered previously; but I could use some advice. I am a high school senior, with an absolutely terrible GPA. I'm not definitively sure what it is right now but definitely <2.5. My current SAT and ACT are very high (higher than my last post). I have worked as an intern for Google, The Local Democratic Headquarters, 1 year of martial arts instruction experience, and a letter of recommendation from the district office of my local house of representatives member (for a 4 month internship). I am an exceptionally intelligent person (or so my neurological testing seems to indicate), but have been consistently bored with high school; which has led to poor performance and engagement. However I am extremely motivated to eventually attend Harvard law for graduate school. Many of my immediate relatives have attended and I wish to follow in their footsteps. My question is, am I completely and utterly SOL? I have browsed many colleges and was enthused (to find that many attendees of CC are given the opportunity to transfer to prestigious schools), and shortly after, metaphorically crushed when I learned that many colleges (the ones I wish to attend), still require a high school transcript for transfers. Are there any paths still open to me?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, Noah</p>
<p>I think most colleges might question why your focus and dedication to your coursework would be any different in college than in high school … so your best bet, in my mind, would be to find a junior college (2-year) in your area and work your ass off to show that you truly want to go to Harvard law school. Then you can transfer from a jr college to a more highly ranked 4-yr college. Otherwise, your option would be to find some 4-yr college that accepts students with your high school GPA and then transfer again. In southern California, many of the kids I’ve talked with have better results by attending a jr college first, dramatically improving their GPA, getting their A.A., and then moving on to a 4-yr. But I don’t know what state you are in. Remember, Harvard Law is going to want to see someone who has worked their butt of in college, and then typically has worked their butt off for a year or two after college before applying to law school.</p>
<p>It’s great to have aspirations, but you need to deal with the here and now first. What college can you get into? You should look at what you can afford and what is available and make the best choice where you think you can do what it takes to succeed.</p>
<p>Hi there! </p>
<p>To start off, you worked as an intern for Google? That’s interesting…my cousin works at the HQ in NorCal and she specifically said that they didn’t consider high schoolers for internship positions. But if you somehow managed to, that’s cool. </p>
<p>Your GPA is, well, a little lacking. I’d suggest starting afresh at a local community college. Try to do well in all your courses there and then start looking at transferring options. I’m a little curious, though–if you’re MENSA-level smart, then wouldn’t you have little to no trouble finishing the schoolwork required of you? Yeah, maybe it would bore you, but that’s not really an excuse to get (I presume) C’s and below. But it is what it is, I guess. </p>
<p>I don’t think they’ll look at your HS transcripts for transferring to another undergrad institution (they’ll look at your CC grades instead) and it’s probably similar for undergrad as well. So you won’t be completely out of the running as long as you do well in community college. I would focus on improving your work ethic by a LOT before graduating though…</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>