So by the end of my junior year I’m desperately trying to get a 3.1 GPA average . I got a 3.0 GPA my first nine weeks ,2.333 my second and aiming for a 3.6 this nine weeks . I have a problem with attendance as my grades in the second nine weeks reflects . My ninth grade year I had a 3.6 GPA and for my tenth grade year I had a terrible 2.4 . In my tenth grade year my mom died and my father almost did too that triggered depression and multiple suicide attempts .i am Looking at UCB as a high reach , Carlow Duquesne and Chatham universities for my matches and Texas A and M San Antonio as my safety . I’m a Pittsburgh Pennsylvania resident . I haven’t taken my ACT yet but in April I will and in May the SAT .I did NJROTC for two years , orchestra for four years (2 high school 2 middle school) …I’m currently doing Habitat for humanity along with western Pennsylvania humane society volunteering . My practice SAT is 950 not the PSAT but a practice SAT .my senior year I’m planning to take AP biology , psychology and literature along with regular stats and financial math . My class rank is 85 out of 368 in one of the worst high schools in allegheny county .(penn hills senior high school).Im looking at any university accredited by the APA since I want to major in psychology .
I am really sorry to hear about your loss.
To be honest, you would probably want to look at better safeties too. If you are looking at UCB, it’s very unlikely even with a 3.5. You’ll need an SAT of 2050+ or a ACT of 31-32.
You’d probably have to increase your stats a lot.
I would suggest you look at Trinity, Bates, Colorado, Bucknell, Barnard, F&M, Union, Oberlin.
@Komz1304 should I just give up and go to community college and forget about Carlow Duquense and Chatham ? Cause some of my teachers say I can’t handle AP psychology literature and biology except for those teachers that teach it . I’m sorry but some of my teachers are talking negatively behind my back .
No! Don’t. You have a pretty okay score and there are many institutions that will offer you a place at your scores too. Try DePauw, Earlham, Beloit, Albion, BSC, Millsaps, University Of Redlands, University Of Oregon. They are all pretty good schools and not that hard to get into!
Hi! I’m so sorry to hear about your losses. Maybe you shouldn’t look as much into California schools like UCB because they don’t factor in Freshman year and thats your best year. Anyway, I think you do stand a chance at schools, because you can express some of whats happened in your essays. The junior year is just half way done, so if you try to push your grades up (which I think you can!) you can demonstrate to colleges that you’re a smart kid who just had to deal with alot for sophomore and junior year. Also, senior year try to start with high grades and hold them there to show colleges that youd be a great addition to their school.
“I’m looking at any university accredited by the APA since I want to major in psychology .”
APA accreditation is not relevant for undergrad education, only for Ph.Ds and only for those that are applied such as I/O, clinical and counseling. And you are likely to do better in psych at a small school where you are more likely to have the chance to work closely with a professor on research and get help obtaining an interesting internship. Grad school in psych is very competitive so you will need both of those. Offhand, I’m thinking that you might want to look at the small PSU campuses in your area such as Greater Allegheny or Beaver or the CTCL or CTCL-like schools like Earlham, Moravian, and Allegheny College (if your grades improve), all of which are residential campuses with good psych programs. And please ask your guidance counselor (your best friend in this process, ideally) to include info about your family stressors in his/her letter of recommendation. Good luck! You can do it!
Despite what @Komz1304 said, the colleges this person mentioned initially (Trinity, Bates, Colorado, Bucknell, Barnard, F&M, Union, Oberlin) are beyond your GPA, class rank, and current SAT score. I don’t see how you could get into any of those schools. @Komz1304 did better the second time with the colleges mentioned in that post.
Sorry that you’ve had such a hard time. Keep your eye on the prize and apply to schools that really might take you – and there are a lot.
Good luck!
@stepay I haven’t taken the SAT yet
Berkeley, and all the UCs, are very focused on GPA. If you are from out-of-state, you would not be eligible for consideration at ANY UC campus (much less Berkeley or UCLA) without a 3.4 GPA for 10th-11th grades. Period.
@stepay Thank you. I actually did say that you will have to increase your stats a for these looks. I guess my point was to reach for high but not UCB high schools with those scores because there can be time for improvement. I wasn’t trying to make it look like the person has a shot or doesn’t at those schools. Sorry it came across that way!