<p>GPA at community college:
4.0
-Honors English 101<br>
-Honors English 102<br>
-General Chemistry I<br>
-Genral Chemistry II
-General Bio I<br>
-General Bio II
-Calc I
-University Physics</p>
<p>Current Semester (Currently tracking A's across the board):
-Calc II
-University Physics II
-Geology
-Psychology 101</p>
<p>2350 SAT</p>
<p>700+ hours of volunteer work</p>
<p>Have been working full time for 4 years. Nothing special, general labor, truck driver, currently a mechanic.</p>
<p>First person in family to graduate high school, let alone college.
Hispanic, First Generation American.<br>
Son of immigrant farm workers. </p>
<p>So with all this said, what schools should I consider? Being that I made a complete 180 academically and with my decent SAT score, would I have a shot at the Ivies/Top 20 schools? Would I be wasting my time? The schools that I am considering</p>
<p>Stanford
Harvard
California Institute of Tech
UChicago
MIT
Columbia</p>
<p>I’d say if you add some interesting activities outside of the classroom you’d be a very interesting applicant. I think your story will play well, but you have to show these schools you’ll add something to the community.</p>
<p>Maybe you could start a program to academically motivate youth in your community or work hard for an existing one.</p>
<p>You’re an interesting case. I think you have a very good shot at getting in, but I would encourage you to also look at some less competitive schools if the ones you have don’t work out. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply Waverly! I do my volunteer work with ICAN, which is a non-profit serving at risk youth. I originally began my volunteer work doing maintenance/building improvement. It wasn’t long before I knew that I wanted to do more impactful work. I now work directly with the children doing things such as helping with homework and leading activities. </p>
<p>As far as adding tougher classes, please keep in mind that this is community college. Unfortunately, many of the classes that I have completed are the highest offered in the subject. The BIO and CHM classes that I took where the ‘for majors’ classes, which are supposed to be more rigorous than its ‘for non-majors’ counterparts. I will be taking Calc III this upcoming semester. The only math class higher than that would be Modern differentials, which I do intend on doing. Would you suggest adding more Honors classes?</p>
<p>You have an unusual background and have demonstrated determination to continue with and excel in your education after HS. With working and going to school full-time combined with all the volunteer hours, I don’t think you need to add a thing to your schedule. You’ll be able to convey your compelling story through the college app essays including the fact that you are taking the most rigorous courses available at the CC (and that you have just about exhausted the offerings.) </p>
<p>As you may know, depending upon the university you may be applying as a transfer student rather than a freshman. For example, at Georgetown an individual who has graduated from HS and has completed a full term at community college with 12 transferable credits would probably apply as a transfer student.</p>
<p>3kidz2college, thank you for taking the time to reply. I must admit that I found your reply to be very encouraging. The thought of going to college, let alone a prestigious school such as Harvard, remains…well, daunting. </p>
<p>Excavaliar, I will definitely keep everyone updated!</p>
<p>They have a special program for non-traditional students such as yourself.</p>
<p>I would also apply to [Columbia</a> GS | School of General Studies | Columbia University in the City of New York](<a href=“http://www.gs.columbia.edu/]Columbia”>http://www.gs.columbia.edu/) because they are also for non traditional students. They would love you there. I know. They were trying to recruit me, I was accepted but didn’t want to relocate. I was not a mechanic but I am a Hispanic and I dropped out of HS and had a job at a movie theater before going to community college and getting excellent grades, but not nearly as exemplary as yours.</p>
<p>You should probably take a look at scholarships available for transfer students, because not all colleges provide full financial aid to transfer students. Here is a link to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which has several scholarships you might qualify for (although one of them, the general college scholarship, has a deadline of Dec. 15th, so you would have to apply very quickly). </p>
<p>Just about all of the ivies (other than Brown), Stanford and the top LACs DO meet 100% need for all transfers. The exception is the non traditional programs mentioned above.</p>