<p>I attended lower and middle school at a Catholic institution which I left after 7th grade because I felt overburdened by the strong devotion to Catholicism. I then transferred to an Episcopal school which was much more accepting of its secular students. I failed out of that school during my 9th grade year and transferred to one with no religious affiliation, where I finally passed freshman year and am currently enrolled as a junior. I recently took the SAT and scored 800 on CR, 720 on math, and 750 on writing. I receive 90-100% scores on tests almost exclusively and my lowest grade at the moment is a 92, however, my school has a different grading scale and my GPA is approximately 3.0-3.3. My school does not offer weighted classes or foreign language either, leaving me at a disadvantage. I read avidly, just recently finishing Joyce's Ulysses, and write almost everyday for a minimum of one hour. I work during the summer, shifting jobs each year. In the school year I work at my father's rare coin store on my own whim. Having said that, these are about the extent of my extracurricular activities. The reason I have done poorly in school is because I do not feel especially challenged, causing a very strong disdain for homework, as it is not necessary for me to understand material. I know that I would succeed in college as I would be studying subjects that I am interested in and that would require me to do work outside of the classroom in order to understand the material. I fear I have realized too late that the completion of homework is the spoiled factor of my GPA and, as a result, I will not gain acceptance into any of my choice colleges. My top colleges are as follows, in descending order of desire: Harvard (I understand that I stand virtually no chance of acceptance here), Emory, NYU (slight chance?), Hamilton, and the University of Michigan. Other less prestigious colleges I am considering are the University of Iowa (I believe I will be accepted here), the University of Texas - Austin, and Florida State University. I plan to major in English and either double-major or minor in creative writing. What are my chances? What can I do to improve my chances (apart from the obvious)? Should I send colleges a sample of my writing? Some of my work has been lauded by teachers, family, and peers as publishable, but I never pursued that route. Would a killer essay send me into the range of consideration for more prestigious colleges or is my head in the clouds? The reason I listed the very prestigious schools like Harvard, Emory, Hamilton, and UoM are because these are my potential transfer schools. If I do not get into a great college, how likely is it that I might transfer to one of these schools after my freshman or sophomore year provided my GPA is about 3.5-4.0?</p>
<p>Also, suggestions of schools with good English/writing programs that are more my speed are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>How is your GPA only 3.0-3.3 if your lowest grade is a 92? If your GPA is only 3.0-3.3, it will be almost impossible to get into any of the top colleges you listed (despite the fact that you have a very competitive SAT score at any school). It will come off to the admissions committee (not saying this is necessarily true, however), that you were lazy, but smart. Also, what state are you from? In state, you could definitely get into Florida State University and University of Iowa, but out of state might be a closer call. If I were you, I would check out some LACs (probably in the Northeast). Many small LACs care a lot about demonstrated interest, essays, and extracurriculars more than your grades. In addition, they often have very strong English programs. Some schools I would recommend looking at are Muhlenberg, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg College, or Bard College. If LACs aren’t your thing, I would check out some state flagships like University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, or University of Arizona. University of Texas-Austin is a very high reach, only because of your GPA. I wish you the best of luck with your applications :)</p>
<p>EDIT: Also, regarding your ability to transfer: if you keep up high grades in college with a rigorous course selection, you could easily transfer to a more prestigious school like NYU. Anecdotally, my cousin transferred from a LAC barely ranked in the top 100 to University of Pennsylvania, so it’s definitely not impossible.</p>