<p>Failure
Yes thats the one word Id use to sum up my grades throughout high school.
Ive failed five classes, and thus my GPA is a 2.5
Im a smart, though I havent shown it.
I only began caring when I decided to that I wanted to become a Biomedical Engineer BME) and that I need to go to GA Tech.
I have a mix bag of classes
CP, H, G &AP
AP US-4
AP Psych-3
Do I have good EC?
VP Young Dems
Debate all high school
Volunteer soccer coach
Pagent
*BME LAB
Debate Prez 07-08
*published bio theory
* A working progress to be completed by application deadlines
Sr yr lineup
AP Lit
AP Bio
AP Chem
Antomy
Con Isuess
Econ-what should I take H, AP, CP?
To retake SAT goal 2100
To take ACT - goal?
Im a black female-HOPING TO GOD THAT HELPS ENOUGH
What should I do?????</p>
<p>Keep trying to improve. Apply. That's what you should do!</p>
<p>Your stats are pretty low unfortunately, I highly doubt you could get in to GA Tech (regardless of your race). You should consider going to community college for a year or two and transferring.</p>
<p>I thin you have a decent shot at GA Tech :) The GPA is a bit lwo, but a nice SAT score, decent ECs, and what seems to be a much better final year of high school (I'm assuming, because you saying you recently became interested in the whole "I NEED to get into college" thing) should get you in :) Forget CC, you can do it!</p>
<p>Keep in mind that's a projected SAT, ie a future retake that hasn't happened yet.</p>
<p>Additionally, only 0.32% of incoming freshmen had a GPA in the 2.5-2.99 range according to GA tech's common data set. The 3.0-3.49 range only represented about 6.7%. Unfortunately, the odds are against you.
<a href="http://www.irp.gatech.edu/Common_Data_Set_2006/Comm_Data_Set_C.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.irp.gatech.edu/Common_Data_Set_2006/Comm_Data_Set_C.html</a></p>
<p>I know I sound pessimistic, but I really do think GA Tech is not a realistic goal, and it's worse to get your hopes up and have it come tumbling down later than it is to be realistic right from the start.</p>
<p>my advice is to </p>
<p>1) kill yourself senior year and get perfect grades (all A+)
2) retake SAT and get above 2100
-or
3) take ACT and get above 32</p>
<p>make sure your essays + recs are all absolutely amazing</p>
<p>oh man jfs, I read kill yourself without reading the rest of the sentence and was appalled, he has a good chance if he gets those grades/high test scores.</p>
<p>Even with those grades and test scores it will be tough. All A's won't pull up her GPA that much. Even with perfect 5.0's for her senior year, her GPA will only be 3.13 at the END of her senior year. Will only be lower as she is applying.</p>
<p>I think many of you may have not read the "black female" part... that should raise her chances quite a bit</p>
<p>^^^ That doesnt make up for a 2.5 GPA though. Affirmative action helps, but it doesnt work miracles.</p>
<p>An African American boy from my school who had a 3.2 and sat on his toosh all day got into Princeton last year. I am not passing judgment or anything, but I'd have to say AA helped him quite a lot.</p>
<p>After he got accepted, he freaked out, stopped coming to school, and got his acceptance rescinded. Oops?</p>
<p>You HAVE to have at LEAST a 3.0. That .something percent that didn't are athletes. If you can somehow get it up to a 3.0 then maybe, just maybe you have a shot, but otherwise look at back-ups or CC then transfer.</p>
<p>edit: I'm pretty sure it's mathematically impossible for you to raise your GPA enough. Do your best, go ahead and apply, but make sure you have some matches and safetys.</p>
<p>if you can maybe get above a 98 average in your senior year, then the college will see that you are improving and possibly take you in.</p>
<p>Make sure that you have some safety and match schools.</p>
<p>What concerns me is that even if you manage to get in (and I don't know that you will), Georgia Tech has a well deserved reputation as being a place in which students work very hard on their academics. Your carrying a 2.5 probably indicates that there's a lot about math and science you haven't yet learned, so if you go there, you may be one of the weaker members of your class, which could mean that you'd have to study extra hard there to catch up.</p>
<p>I think that you need to concentrate a great deal on getting top grades in a very academically rigorous, math/science intensive high school curriculum. Your ECs aren't important. Your grades, curriculum and scores are going to be the main determinants of whether you get into Ga. Tech and survive there.</p>
<p>Virtually all public college focus their admissions decisions on stats: grades, scores, class rank, and curriculum. ECs aren't that important. Race also may not be particularly important.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you take a senior year math class. You'll definitely have to take math in college, so you need to keep those skills up.</p>
<p>If you haven't yet taken AP physics, you should take that, not AP bio even if you want to be a biomedical engineer.</p>
<p>If you haven't taken calculus yet, you need to take that. Don't opt for the easier AP statistics. If you're planning on engineering, you need AP calculus.</p>
<p>Also take the time to call or e-mail Ga. Tech's admissions office to ask them what senior year curriculum they'd recommend for you. What I suggest is based on what S was told by colleges when he was planning to major in engineering.</p>
<p>Just to note, Ga Tech's common data set is working against you.</p>
<p>It lists GPA as the most important academic trait- actually ahead of the class rigor...
EC's are listed as "important"</p>
<p>BUT- racial/ethnic status is "not considered"</p>
<p>Mind you, that could be b.s. for all we know, but it's specifically going out against AA... not all that surprising though when seeing the guy/girl ratio.</p>
<p>To make it clear one more time, it APPEARS that GT doesn't accept anyone except athletes with a GPA under 3.0. That's based off of looking at collegeboard.com. Since you can't raise your GPA that high and you're applying into what is probably one of the hardest to get into colleges at Georgia Tech I wouldn't hold my breath. You aren't a "failure" though. Go somewhere else, work hard, and then get your masters or PHD or something from GT, if it means that much to you. Or just get a well paying engineering job. Just because you can't go to what is an excellent school doesn't mean you're a failure at all.</p>
<p>"I’m a black female-HOPING TO GOD THAT HELPS ENOUGH"</p>
<p>Just letting you know that I, too, am a black woman, and I found your statement offensive. Georgia Tech has one of the top engineering schools in the country, and understandably is very hard to gain entrance to.</p>
<p>I doubt that someone with a 2.5 average who flunked 5 high school courses will get in. I do not think that being a black female will tip a such a person into one of the best engineering schools in the country. If that does happen, I would be both surprised and disappointed.</p>
<p>Affirmative action means that if 2 equal people apply, the URM will get the tip. It doesn't mean that URMs who are far below the admissions or job standards will gain acceptances.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses</p>
<p>go to a community college and work your but off there, then transfer.</p>
<p>Emphasizing what someone else said: Just because you failed some courses doesn't mean you're a failure.</p>
<p>I think that you can find a 4-year college to go to where you can major in engineering. Due to your low gpa, however, I doubt, however, if you can get into Georgia Tech.</p>