<p>I am currently attending my community college and I just finished my first semester. I took 3 classes over the summer, repeated one of them because I got a C. So I took 6 classes in the fall and will take 2 more in the winter. I didn't do all that well in high school and am looking to transfer out ASAP.</p>
<p>I will be applying to places such as Fordham, American, GW, etc.</p>
<p>My dream school however Georgetown. </p>
<p>By the end of my winter classes my GPA will be about a 3.86.</p>
<p>My question is that does it look bad that I am in a community college and cannot achieve a 4.0? I got a B in my phil. class that I took over the summer and although I had the opportunity to re-write the papers I was focused on my other class with the heavier load, but I ended up with a B. Also in my foreign language class I got a B+ which I am hoping to somehow change to an A-. At the start of the spring semester I'll have 30 credits.</p>
<p>So now I am being paranoid about having a 3.8 gpa. I just keep on thinking that if I apply to the schools that I want to, they will look down on the fact that I was an AP student in high school, and now even in a community college my gpa isn't a 4.0</p>
<p>Please can someone shed some light and help me on this matter? Thank you.</p>
<p>And I do have a pretty damn good story for my essay about going to 4 different high schools and moving around and family problems and such.</p>
<p>Are you going to have your AA before you leave community college?
It’s easier to transfer once you complete your AA rather than transferring without an AA and less than 60 transferable credits.</p>
<p>A 3.8 GPA is still a good GPA.</p>
<p>Also a CC GPA is not looked down upon, there have been many CC students that have gone onto great universities.</p>
<p>I’m not waiting for my AA, I want to leave home asap. That’s why I’m taking extra classes so I have 30 credits by the time I apply for transfer. Some schools say if you have 30 then they won’t look at high school grades and SATs. </p>
<p>I know a lot have gone to CC and a 3.8 isn’t a bad GPA but in my mind I’m thinking like if the people at school look at transcripts and see that even at a community college my GPA couldn’t be a 4.0 then maybe I’m not cut out for them or that it looks bad. If I can’t get a 4 here then maybe I won’t do well there.</p>
<p>I don’t think you need your AA to get into a good university. I don’t plan on getting mine, simply because the IGETC requirements plus the major requirements for my two top colleges will already be about 80 units because I’m in the honors program and need to add five honors classes to my list. Getting my AA will mean I have to take about 100 credits (because my CC in weird and makes you take classes not required by any four year).
A 3.8 is a great GPA! I’ve got a friend who’s applying to schools like Cornell with a 3.8. Just remember that your GPA is not everything. You’ll need good recs, ECs, etc.</p>
<p>If you’ve only completed one year, your high school record and SAT scores will still be mort important than your college Record. Can you afford to be full pay at these schools.</p>
<p>I have only heard of Uni’s not looking at SAT or HS transcripts if you have already recieved your AA.
Also you don’t NEED an AA to transfer, it sometimes just makes things easier. Some even have agreements for those that complere their AA.
Not everyone who has transferred out of a CC to a good uni has had a perfect 4.0. Even people w/ 3.5+ and good EC’s and all that have transferred to great schools. You need more going on in your life than just earning a perfect 4.0. They like seeing students who have other activities going on as well as a high gpa.
Your GPA is great so I wouldn’t worry about it.
Colleges don’t scoff at CC transfers and expect 4.0’s…that’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>To paraphrase papertiger, no, an AA isn’t required for admission to a top school, but it does give you some perks (HS record won’t be looked at as much, no need to send SATs at some schools, guaranteed admission into a sate school, at least where I live, etc). 3.5+ is generally a magic number for transfers, but it’s not the only thing people look at.</p>
<p>I hear a lot of people say that, “well, if I got a 1.9 at a TOP school where I took the hardest classes because I’m SO HARDCORE, adcoms will prefer that to a 4.0 at a CC”. No. An A is an A is an A. Look at the Texas system – anyone in the top x% of their class (they change it so often I’ve lost track at this point) gets automatic admission into any in-state, public school. Doesn’t matter if you’re the top student at Kinkaid or a bad public in the middle of nowhere – off to UT you go.</p>
<p>Focus on doing the best you can do no matter where you are. It’ll pay off.</p>
<p>The above is simply untrue. The source of the A is important. Everyone is looked at in context of their background and school. That doesn’t mean you can’t get into a good college from a CC, and some colleges are more open to CC transfers than others. But everything is considered.</p>
<p>FYI I got accepted into UT Austin Engineering with a 3.86 from CC with only 1 year and a 2.9 High School gpa. If you are above a 3.8 you are golden best of luck.</p>
<p>You are discussing admissions for one system of IS public colleges. The OP is asking about private, selective to very selective colleges. </p>
<p>I agree with Waverly, everything is considered, including where you attend college. Again, that doesn’t mean you can’t get into a great college, but to think that gpa is not evaluated within the context of the school would be naive and misleading.</p>
<p>The student who got a 4.0 at Vanderbilt worked hard. A 4.0 at a school of similar caliber is impressive. So is the 4.0 at a CC. In both cases, the student put in a good amount of effort to get to that position, and it would be foolish to belittle that accomplishment for the CC student. </p>
<p>Obviously, you need to be sharp, talented, and on the ball to get into a good school. But who’s to say CC students aren’t any of these things? Some can’t attend an elite school due to finances, while others aren’t into schoolwork — no need to stop them from tackling life with everything they’ve got (they can still have a good future). But, the student who got an A in the intro to Bio course at CC will be preferred to the student who got a D- in the very same class at Harvard.</p>
<p>Hopefulhoya93, petty bickering aside, put in all you’ve got into your time at your current school and everything else will fall into place. I’ll be rooting for you.</p>
<p>You really need to read what people are actually writing without inserting what you think are their thoughts. Stating the way things work is not belittling, it’s trying to give the OP a realistic view of admissions. FYI, I attended a CC for two years and then transfered, one of the best decisions I ever made.</p>
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<p>No one.</p>
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<p>You are leaving out a very important factor, the cohort of students with whom one is competing for grades, particularly in science courses which are often curved.</p>
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<p>Differences of experience or POV are not necessarily bickering, believe me, for CC, this isn’t even close to bickering ;).</p>
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<p>We’re all rooting for the OP, it’s just that some of us believe that it’s better to understand a situation rather than having unrealistic expectations.</p>
<p>There is no petty bickering, just good info and bad info. People posting here deserve true feedback. You, Smorgasbord, don’t seem to be well versed in the facts of college admission. I’m really confused about why people who don’t know the facts post with seeming authority. It’s harmful to well meaning posters coming here for the facts.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your replies. They mean a lot and I will consider everything you have all said to me. I didn’t mean for this to get so carried away.</p>
<p>For those who talked about the AA and colleges looking at HS stuff:</p>
<p>Fordham, Hopkins, George Washington, and American all say that if you have 24 or 30 credits then they do not require a transcript from HS and SAT scores. So for those schools, maybe I have a shot at them considering the 3.86 GPA and everything else from college including ECs, and letters from Professors.</p>
<p>My dream school is Georgetown and for that I will need my HS transcript and SATs. By the end of winter interim, I’ll have 30 credits. The reason I took so many classes and did all this was so I could go away asap and not have anything from the past weaken my application. This, however, still applies to GTown since they ask for all that.</p>
<p>I do understand what was being discussed with GPA being looked at with the context of what school I currently am in, and that is what is worrying me. Although my CC is rated as one of the top, if not the top CC in the country, I am just nervous about if they will just look at the GPA and see that it’s from a CC and not consider everything else. I mean if they just see it and think “Wow, this person went to a CC and still couldn’t pull off a 4 then maybe she isn’t cut out for our school.” I dont know why but that is getting to me, I am very paranoid by nature though, lol.</p>
<p>I have pretty good EC’s, I have yet to get letters from Profs but I’m sure they will be good also. I am also trying for an internship next semester in an NGO. And of course the essay is a big part.</p>