<p>My younger brother is a sophomore in high school. He lives and breathes OSU, but he’s done pretty poorly in high school so far. He doesn’t think he can get into OSU (privately, I agree with him) but we keep telling him he always has a chance if he gets his grades up.</p>
<p>Here are my questions. I attend U of Illinois so I’m pretty unfamiliar with OSU’s admissions process. I know that UW Madison pretty much discards freshman year of high school, is this true at Ohio State as well?</p>
<p>His GPA after 3 semesters is 2.5. Terrible. He admits it too. No EC’s and no honors classes. If he gets his GPA up and shows an upward trend in all academic classes, is this enough grade-wise? I realize he needs to do some serious community service and join some EC’s he’s interested in, regardless of which college he applies to.</p>
<p>Do you have any other tips that could make him stand out, though his GPA will be weak? Does Ohio State have an outreach program he could attend?</p>
<p>OSU seems to be more test score driven. So, if your brother could get a decent ACT like 33 or higher (SAT I 2250 or higher), he will definitely get a good chance.</p>
<p>I really don't think EC's and community service are a big factor. I have only had one or two consistent EC's through all of high school and only one long term community service commitment and I got into OSU.</p>
<p>Gotta get those grades up!! Can he take community college courses this summer? </p>
<p>Definitely take a SAT/ACT prep class. He'll need every advantage if he wants to go in Columbus. But he might be able to get in at one of the branch campuses. Might be on probation for a semester or two to prove himself.</p>
<p>Realistically, the highest he will score on the ACT is 26. If he gets his grades up, takes some college courses in the summer, and joins a few EC's maybe he could first do community college here. Assuming he does well at the cc, maybe he could transfer to Ohio State if he gets rejected for his freshman year.</p>