I posted on College Confidential 12 years ago asking for help with the essay and choosing universities.
I wanted to post an update now showing that just because you were absolutely an uninvolved not-top-10% high school student, you can “wipe your slate” clean and be a super competitive community college student! I got my act together there, and still got over $200,000 in scholarships and into Yale for my masters!
Despite being a CC transfer student, I was still able to base my entire college strategy on getting into the universities that offer financial aid guarantees promises for your family’s income level (“full need met schools”. As long I got in sometime before junior year of college, I could graduate with a guaranteed mostly full ride.
Because of these promises, I knew my local university (University of Texas at El Paso, $8,000 a year) was more expensive than the $54,000+ universities that offer financial aid guarantees. Crazy that the top schools that charge $50,000+ a year have money to give students full scholarships - and those scholarships can include dorm, daily meals, and study abroad – making them a better deal for me.
I was super motivated because these financial aid promises shifted my mindset. I started thinking about my grades as guarantees for scholarships money. If I landed 5 As every semester for 3 semester, I’m very likely to get in and get hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. Every A, then, was like $10,000 to me.
Based on my google searches and this college forum, I drew up a plan to establish myself as competitive student in the four semesters before you apply for top schools. Honestly, these 2-4 semesters could be your senior year + your 1st year at a community college/university, your 1st two years of community college/university, or your even last 2 years of high school. I learned later that university admissions counselors love to see growth, so seeing someone excel more during their last years is not unusual.
The strategy I used: 1. Look for power vaccums or empty leadership positions to fill in school clubs or organizations like the student senate or debate club. Aim to hold two or three leadership positions. 2. Get great grades by doing school work daily (even weekends), and using Evernote/Anki flashcards for lecture and reading notes, use text-to-speech apps to turn your reading into audiobooks, and stuff like avoiding professors who give <10% of students As and turning in essays early for feedback, etc. 3. Find unique volunteering in your community such as teaching ESL at churches, free tax preparation assistance for low-to-moderate income families, tutoring youths, or anything that uses your specific skills.
By doing this for three college semesters, I got into multiple $50,000+ schools with automatic full or nearly full scholarships.
I think others can copy this strategy too, though the financial aid guarantees only happen if their family makes under $70,000 a year, the median family income in the U.S.
Also, these top schools aren’t just the Ivy League schools. It also includes the Oberlin College, Smiths College, University of Chicago, Occidental College where Obama went, the gorgeous University of Richmond where I went, Wesleyan University, George Washington University in Washington, DC, etc. These non-Ivy League schools have acceptance rates between 15-50%, much easier than the Harvard/Yale’s 4-6%.