CC to MIT, HMC, Cal Tech, etc.

<p>I am currently a High School senior and will go to community college. I will end High School with a GPA of about a 3.0 or 3.1 unweighted which are abysmally low for the schools in the title. I know that it will be hard to transfer from a community college to a ivy league school even with a 4.0 in college but would it be realistic for me transfer to one of those schools? How much do they look at your high school career. I know that it is too late but I still want to know if I should prepare or not. Thank you for your help.</p>

<p>saxman 66-What are your SAT I and SAT II scores?</p>

<p>Nothing is impossible. You’ll just have to have a kickass curriculum, a 4.0, and hardcore SAT scores. Also, you’ll probably have to show some leadership skills through community involvement, extra-curricular activities etc. Hard to manage but possible.</p>

<p>Batllo
I Haven’t taken the SAT or SAT II yet. My ACT score was about a 30 but I have been studying a lot and should get a 34 or 35. I don’t know these tests stop counting but I plan to keep taking them until I get perfect scores or until it is time to transfer. As for SAT II, I am waiting for AP season to end because I will more prepared. I will spend all summer preparing for them as well. Do you happen to know when I should stop taking the tests because they don’t count anymore? </p>

<p>xxk4ixx
You mentioned a “kickass curriculum”. I agree but I don’t know if I will be able to have one because I will be at a community college and I think the highest level of math they have is third semester calculus and their Japanese program is a joke. How would you recommend overcoming this problem in a way that would be especially noted by the admission committeeman? </p>

<p>One other thing that I was hoping for some help with is the activities that I will get to join so I can get into good schools and enjoy it as well. My local community colleges have poor opportunities at best and definitely none for research or learning application. I was hoping you could recommend some possible paths that might lead me to cool programs like robotics, higher level math, high level physics, etc. Any tips for preparing for recommendations would be helpful because I will need it, especially since it will be coming from a community college teacher, not a ivy league professor. </p>

<p>Thanks for the encouragement. I promise that I will work hard and hopefully be MIT cubed in several years so I can help kids like me on the forum.</p>

<p>Maybe you can take the higher maths at local universities as a transient student. Best of luck these next 2 years.</p>

<p>There are many other excellent schools that can get you to your goals in life, those are just 3.
Can you afford those schools?
+50K/year X 4 years= +200K
Perhaps your flagship state university is more financially practical.</p>

<p>xxk4ixx
Your suggestion seems like a great solution and I appreciate the effort. Just to clarify, when you say transient student, you mean going to community college but taking classes at a more respectable college, correct? If you happen to know the logistics of doing so, I would appreciate you mentioning them. My community college will be near the University of Washington. Do you know if they would allow me to do so and if so, wouldn’t the classes be so big that the professors wouldn’t even know my name making recommendations much harder?</p>

<p>Batllo
I can’t afford those colleges now but that is one reason that I am going to community college instead. I will be searching for many scholarships when I am there so I will be able to go to a school like MIT. As for my flagship state university, it would be the University of Washington which I applied to and will most likely be hearing from soon, though I doubt that they will accept me, primarily because of my GPA. I want to be an engineer so a community college won’t be enough for me and a basic four year university most likely won’t get me a respectable job as an engineer, more like a permanent intern.</p>

<p>So does anyone know how much they look at your high school career because I am scare because of my lack of activity in it. Most of the people that will be applying to these types of schools will not only have done amazing in their top level colleges, but were amazing in high school and just happened to not get accepted. I just want to see if there is a way to overcome this major disadvantage that I have built for myself.</p>

<p>^ I’m not familiar with Washington, but California’s public universities allow community college students to cross enroll in their classes. For UCs, it’s fairly cheap and simple, but it’s limited to one class per term. There are also other options like open enrollment summer study and extension. You can search for something similar for UW. </p>

<p>On that note, some universities have Visiting Undergraduate Student programs that you may be eligible for. I’m aware of Harvard’s and Columbia’s. It would be worth your while to seek programs like this at your perspective colleges. </p>

<p>To answer some of your original questions…

  • General rule of thumb is the more college work you have, the less HS matters.
  • If you redeem your HS performance and focus on your goal, it can certainly be realistic.</p>

<p>If I were to go to a community colleges in California and am a citizen of Washington state, would I have to pay large amounts of money since I haven’t lived in California. It would make transferring to a good college in California lot easier and I think that I would enjoy myself there a lot more too. I will check out the policy with the UW though. Thanks.</p>

<p>Sorry, I wanted to give you an idea of how CC students are able to take 4-year college courses. I didn’t mean for it to come off as a suggestion to establish California residency.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>Think of each semester you do well like driving away from a bad situation. The farther away you get with good grades, the less your high school will be looked at. I think completing about 2-4 semesters of classes with high grades in a rigorous courseload involving your interest will go a long way if you are not comfortable with your high school grades.</p>

<p>On another note, check the schools you are applying to regarding SAT’s. I know a few good schools offhand that do not require it at all. (Such as Amherst.)</p>

<p>I’d say to keep in mind the following when preparing for transfer:</p>

<p>GPA, Rigorous courseload, SAT, Extracurriculars and cultivate relationships with professors. One of them could be writing your recommendation letter someday, and it’s just good to be friendly with them regardless.</p>

<p>Hope that helps :)</p>

<p>I’m hesitant to believe that a CC only offers up to Calc 3. Most offer at least LA/DE after calc</p>