Here is some crucial information as you look at my info. I am disabled, so by the law of equal opportunity act, I have to be looked at differently by admissions so that they can avoid any trouble with the law. Being mentally disabled at birth is not easy to come back from, especially in your first year of college. Oh yeah, I am applying as a transfer as well from a Florida CC. Without further adu…
Cumulative GPA (including the bad first year where my GPA was at one point 2.8): Approximately 3.5
Major GPA: 4.0
Major: Electrical Engineering / Computer Science
EC’s:
Math Olympics
Student Government Association
American Chemical Society
Been in those clubs for about a semester long. Made good connections with the leader of the organizations.
Community service:
200+ hours of Community Service Hours
Sports:
Martial Arts (Karate 2+ years)
For the essay questions on the application, how much weight do they carry on one’s application? I know they carry a certain percentage since it wouldn’t be on the application otherwise. However, I have not yet started on the application, but I would like to know how many essays there are on the common app and which essay will carry the most weight? The reason why this information is helpful is because it will help me plan out how much time I will have and give me a realistic idea of how much I can achieve this break before next semester, where I will be busy and most likely have no time to fill out any college applications.
I don’t know that a disability gives you an edge at a private university. Private universities can reject you for any reason they want. Public universities may be subject to their own state laws and federal laws, and thus those may treat you differently. However, are you really going to sue someone if you don’t get in? That makes no sense, just try to get into the best college you can and don’t worry about suing anyone. I would try for Florida schools too, since you are in Florida, Gainsville is very good in EECS.
I don’t know. Georgia Tech is pretty good and their acceptance rate is 45%. So it’s not like it is too hard to get into there. Also, private universities are subjected to affirmative action as well. So they can’t just reject someone mentally disabled because they do not perform to the same merit and standards as kids who are not disabled. That would be like rejecting someone because they are black. Not a private or a public university can do that. TBH, I heard that UCF is better for engineering than UF, but I really do not want to go to UCF. Plus, I really want to leave the state of Florida. I feel like the best way to go to California is to go to a university there. Hell if I win the powerball, I could easily buy my way into any university I want. xD
How will you pay for the California publics, being that you are OOS? OOS students are full fees at $55K per year. They will admit you, because they need the full fees, but they don’t have financial aid for OOS students.
USC has costs and fees of $72K.
Not true, Aunt Bea. When you get accepted, they reduce the cost, even for OOS students. I calculated the approximate amount that I will pay for tuition at USC and it will actually be closer to $15-$20K. Besides, I will be able to afford it and in worst case scenario, I will settle for either federal loans or grants or whatever other option is available. Like I said, I really want to leave the state of Florida since I do not like the weather or storms we get and a lot of the california campuses are nice and offer the best engineering programs in the country.I will worry about getting my foot into the door first, then I’ll worry about the funds.
http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/undergraduates/prospective/who-receives-FA.html
USC has private funds and they do have some need based aid but a lot of it can be in the form of loans.
@thewizekid, where did you hear that about the UCs??? As a California tax-payer and a parent with a senior at a UC, I know my fees weren’t reduced at her UC.
If your parents don’t pay California state taxes, you won’t be eligible for the largest funds from the state. Transfers get even less. The cost is not reduced since the State of California needs the money.
And, the UCs can not discriminate based on any disability, so our disabled student service offices are huge.
Note that UCS, U of Southern Cal is PRIVATE college and not a U of Cal public school. UCS has very good merit based aid, about a half ride for very high test scores etc. U of Cal, they will not reduce your OOS tuition, so thats San Diego, Berkeley , Davis etc. Be careful as some private CA schools, where you may win big merit have similar names to the public schools . So U of San Diego, is PRIVATE and offers big merit awards. U of Cal campuses its very hard , to impossible to win substantial merit based awards. I seriously doubt a Florida student can win financial aid at U of Cal but maybe. Try and see if you qualify. Your parents will be filling in the FAFSA, will they do that for you? Its a substantial burden to your parents to fill in the paperwork, and the best bet will be a private college for aid not a public one, unless you go for a Florida school, which may be free for you. Its hard to get financial aid, for even a fully emancipated student it turns out. There is not enough public money to go around and California students get most of it at public universities in CA.
You are mixing up your laws (affirmative action is different than disability protection), but in either case a private university can indeed reject a student who does not perform to the requisite academic standard. Do you really think having an intellectual disability (I don’t know what you mean by ‘mentally disabled’) means a college can’t turn you down if your GPA and test scores aren’t as good as students who don’t have an intellectual disability? It is nothing like being black: there is no correlation between skin color and intellectual ability. Colleges have different missions, but they all revolve around education, for which intellectual ability is a relevant consideration.
Well, I have already proven to be intellectually capable, collegemom. Like I said, I have a bunch of Asian friends who go to top universities, so I don’t think having a lower cumulative GPA is really going to hurt my chances.
This type of arrogance will make colleges reject you. No one likes brats. All people at your level have worked hard to get there.
It is not arrogance, but confidence. Like I said, how would it be fair if I do not go to any of these schools and then when I apply for jobs at Silicon Valley, I get rejected just because I didn’t get my degree from a top-rated school? Like I said, I have Asian friends who go to top ivy league schools such as UPenn and Berkeley and they said that I definitely belong there. That is their words and not mine. Plus, if you completely ignore my entire first year at my CC, then the last two recent years here I have gotten a 4.0 GPA and taken the toughest workload, and unlike a lot of the other top students in my classroom, I actually have parents who didn’t go to college. So my position that I am in today is from pure hard work since unlike them, I started from the bottom and worked my way to the top.
That is the kind of discipline and humbleness that makes those particular colleges want me. They could care less about some rich student with intelligent parents who got to where they are because of their parents and their pro-educational environment they were in growing up.
I hope colleges see this. Then they will reject you. You may be talented and hard-working, but your personality will turn colleges away.
Just because friends got into good colleges doesn’t mean you will. Just because people say stuff doesn’t mean it’s true. Tons of my friends say that I will get into Harvard, but that is simply not true, as I am only a good student, not a great/excellent student.
Friends don’t get you into college.
@thewizkid, that is a very different position than you opened with. You started with ‘due to my [unspecified] mental disability colleges are required by law to look at me differently’. My point was that they are not “required by law” (at least, not on the info provided).
Moreover the fact that your friends think that you ‘belong’ at a given college doesn’t mean much: all of the tippy top colleges can fill their classes many times over with kids who are plenty smart enough and have the grades, scores & ECs to make the grade.
As for:
has 2 problems. First, who ever said that life was “fair”? why should things be more ‘fair’ for you than for anybody else?
More relevantly, you are mistaken if you think that you have to go to UPenn or Berkeley to get hired in Silicon Valley. Look at [url=http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-hiring-most-popular-universities-2015-7]this[/url], [url=http://www.wired.com/2014/05/alumni-network-2/]this[/url] and [url=http://www.wired.com/2014/05/alumni-network-2/]this[/url] link for lists of where Silicon Valley hires. True, Stanford and Berekely are 1 & 2 for Google- but #3 is San Jose State. San Francisco State beats Stanford for the SV hiring. And so on.
@donut1638 I don’t think colleges can track me down via a website forum unless I posted my personal information. Even then, I actually have quite a bit of a humble personality in a less hostile environment. But in an elitist environment where parents have 4+ year degrees sending their kids to top ivy leagues and looking down on the kids of laborers and blue collar workers, then you can bet that I will start losing my cool.
I come from a family where education was not a priority. My biggest priority growing up was survival. Just finding ways to survive. That was my priority back then. Obviously, I am not as bright as those who are raised in Jewish or Asian families who I admit are wickedly smart people. But should I really be punished and not gain admissions to top ranked schools just because I wasn’t born into a a pro-education family? Before you ask, yes, the way you are raised in your first few years does indeed determine your future success. That is why for you parents out there, your kids are very smart and intelligent. If you were not college educated or didn’t have any kind of pro-educational views like my parents, then your children would not be where they are today. Even through my hard work and my studious work ethic, I still cannot compensate my upbringings in my life in addition to the disability that I had due to my mother smoking and drinking during pregnancy.
I am not saying that it is impossible to make a recovery. I am well aware of the story of Dr. Ben Carson and how he was able to get into the best school in the country for neurology despite his disadvantageous childhood. I admit that mine was not as bad as his. However, not everybody can make that kind of recovery and even my recovery in life is considered a success. But according to most people on this website, I don’t deserve to get into the top schools simply because my GPA and test scores aren’t perfect and that I am not Albert Einstein. That is why I behaved the way I have behaved.
Why should colleges choose you over any other person?
Now you are beginning to piss me off.
There are talented people all across America that are on your level. All of them have worked extremely hard for years. Yes, you may have a great story, but that shouldn’t give you an advantage. You have all the resources you need to succeed by yourself.
I am sick of your attitude. Humble in real life? Yeah right. That attitude will get you no where in life, even if you receive an excellent education.
Colleges honestly can admit or turn you down for whatever reasons they want. Some colleges in California only look at your statistics, no essay, no nothing. I’m just saying, but no one is “entitled” to anything. The top schools are all reaches for everyone no matter how high or low your GPA is. Just write an essay detailing everything you just said to us online and tell it to the admission officers. If they like it, they might excuse your lower GPA. If they don’t, they can just reject you.
Additionally, affirmative action does not apply UCB or any UC for that matter. They can reject you for whatever reason they want. I have ADHD and dyslexia, but I don’t think I’m entitled to a college spot because of it. Life isn’t fair and you put up with the cards you were dealt. No one is entitled. Everyone worked hard to get where they are, and some people just fare better than others in a society. It’s simply Social Darwinism out there.
“Obviously, I am not as bright as those who are raised in Jewish or Asian families.” @thewizekid racist stereotypes are not a way to prove your point.
@Lagging Why is that racist? It is true. Asians and Jews are smart people. I never said they were inferior or anything. If anything, I am being racist towards myself.
@jasewmine I never knew that. I mean, California is quite liberal, so I would expect affirmative action to be in full effect down there than anywhere else in the country. Still, your response is more rational than the typical response here on CC. For that I appreciate it.
Stereotyping and racism isn’t just with calling people inferior, it can be with “positive” attributes. I encourage you to read up on the subject. Even just a google search of the definition brings you “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race…”. In this case you have the belief that members of some groups are inherently more intelligent than out groups. Stereotyping members of groups on intelligence is a dangerous line to walk.