Don't know what to do...

<p>I am currently entering my junior year of high school. My freshman - which also includes to classes from eighth grade - year was pretty bad for me. My sophomore year, I had all A's, excluding one B+ and an A-. All my years of high school, and the years to come, I will be taking advanced courses, even when I did bad, I was too cocky to not be in the advanced classes. I did the math, and the best unweighted GPA that I can apply to colleges with is a 2.4, my weighted would be a 3.4. Currently, I am retaking the first semester of Algebra 2 from Freshman year (I have to get it done eventually). This will change the grade I have in their (without this I can get like a 2.28). I might retake another class, next summer, which would bump me up to a 2.5 unweighted). I took the real ACT early, because I was bored, and I got a 27 and an 11 on my essay. I am hoping, when the school makes me take it junior year, that I can get a 33 and get my essay to a 12/12. Do you guys think I will be able to get into a good university if I keep up the good grades, or am I pretty much screwed? I would like to be a professor in biology at Cambridge one day. Unfortunately, my love for learning about the world around me did not become apparent until sophomore year. Will I have to go to a community college and transfer to a higher university later on? Or could I get into Michigan State with what I have and move on from there? Also, will my high school mess up be on my back for the rest of my life, preventing me from doing certain things?</p>

<p>First of all, I think–and I may be wrong here–that your GPA is a little low for Michigan State. Perhaps with strong recs and a good essay, you could get in.
Secondly, where you get your undergrad degree honestly doesn’t matter as much as you think. Many of my friends’ parents went to community college or crappy colleges for undergrad and then went to good grad schools and now have high paying jobs as doctors, lawyers, and professors, so have no fear! I would suggest applying to as many locals schools as you can, and include some reaches. If you don’t get into your first choice, so be it; make the most of your experience and work hard. Who knows, maybe two years in you could apply to a top university! </p>

<p>You seem like a smart, focused, goal-oriented person, and I have no doubt that you’ll end up accomplishing whatever you set your mind to, even being a bio professor at Cambridge :)</p>

<p>Thank you! You have no idea how much better that makes me feel.</p>

<p>You’re very welcome. I wish you the best of luck applying to schools; try not to get caught up in the stressful hype this site tends to purvey.</p>

<p>Michigan State does focus a lot on ACT, and with a prospective 33 you may actually have a shot despite your GPA. As for your grades, colleges do like upward trends so try to keep them up (preferably above a 3.7 from here on out) participate in lots of extracurriculars and write a killer essay and you could have a good chance for state.</p>

<p>Oh and for Michigan State they don’t require letters of rec, so if you send one they won’t read it!</p>

<p>Freshman year I had no ECs. Sophomore year I did Science Olympiad, FIRST Robotics, Track & Field, Key Club, Student Government, planned the SnowComing dance, and will continue to do stuff like this next year. I also attended a seminar called Young Peoples Citizenship Seminar - I was sponsored to go through the school and it was for a few days at a university a few hours away. They said it looks good to colleges. I truly hope I can get in. If I have to, I will retake a semester of one of the classes I did bad in next summer (that will only get to me a 2.5 unweighted). Unfortunately, I did not do good freshman year, otherwise I am positive, with teacher recommendations, I could get into the University of Michigan.</p>

<p>Well I am sorry to hear that, but definitely work to keep your grades high and you may have a shot at state, also there is other options for you too. You can apply to a school like U of M Dearborn attend there then later on transfer into U of M Ann Arbor!</p>

<p>Thanks for the info! Man, the people here rock.</p>

<p>Only your most recently attended institution of education will matter in life. Once you go to college, nobody cares about how well you did in high school; and if you go to school for grad, then nobody will care where you got your undergrad. Unfortunately, the University of Michigan is going to be out of reach for you at this point. Sure you will have an excellent grade trend, its just the fact that Michigan didn’t accept anyone with an unweighted GPA less than a 2.5 last year, and less than half a percent of Michigan’s class came in with anything lower than a 3.0. Just do well in your junior year, and go to MSU. They also look at grade trend but are much more lenient in admissions. They should most likely admit you if you keep doing well. </p>

<p>If you really want to go to Michigan, go to MSU first. If you’re still interested in Michigan after your first or second year there, then you can always apply to transfer.</p>