<p>So there is no reason why you should know this already - many adults don’t, so here goes:</p>
<p>College admissions officers are notoriously risk-averse, especially when they are expected to put lots of money on the line to back up their decisions. While they love their “success” stories where they “took a chance”, they hate more than anything admitting a candidate whom they knew in advance was borderline, and having it not work out. It’s not only that it cost them a bunch of cash; it’s also that accepting this candidate meant they didn’t accept another one who was likely to shine. And they will remember the stories of “their” failures far more vividly than the successes.</p>
<p>There are really only two ways out of this conundrum: 1) convincing them through the normal mechanisms that you really have the stuff it takes. Sometimes it will be a radical upward trend in high school. In your case, it likely means two years of doing really, really stellar at the community college (where, by the way, you can fulfill many of your pre-med prerequisites, if you plan well), or 2) Lots of personal, in-person, contact with the school - specifically the admissions team - where you stand a chance of convincing them that you are worth their taking a chance (and $250,000) upon. It’s HARD - but I have seen it done. It will cost you to travel - and there is no alternative. If you have a target school, you can contact local alumni. Go to all events where you might meet the college rep. Then, to put it baldly, you are going to have to sell, sell, sell like mad. Are you worth a $250,000 investment from the college, so much so that they will turn down a candidate who doesn’t need a quarter as much, and has even higher GPA and test scores? Again, it can be done - but you have a lot of work, identifying your target, honing your argument, and finding the opportunities to present it.</p>
<p>From my perspective, there is acceptable risk. But, it generally works for kids who show sets of strengths the colleges know will carry them through. Eg, they have shown the ability to test themselves with rigorous courses, the ability to seek and use help, the ability to seek allied experiences that enhance the knowledge base, increase maturity, lead to earned wins, not just lucky breaks. These and more show the kid has “what it takes” to undergo the challenges at College X and come through them and move forward. That’s when, borrowing mini’s concept, we’re more inclined to take a chance with the admit and the funding. </p>
<p>OP, you seem thoughtful. But, understand that you wrote you really haven’t applied yourself, previously. You’ve been lucky to test well. In the long run (and, in the moderate run-the next four to six years,) a different skill set is needed. The ability to dig in, to go through the rings of fire, because of your vision. That’s what you need to prove, to catch the brass ring. In the concept of “show, not tell,” it means showing you have the stuff, through the actions you take and the results you start to accumulate. Comm college is a good idea. If you were only a hs soph now (or so,) our advice might be different.</p>
<p>In reviewing apps, we often see kids who plead about what they “want.” I want to go to your college, I want to be this profession, etc. We have to look beyond that to how they prepared, what they understand about the process of becoming educated and have been willing to invest themselves in. You have a chance to do this proving- but I think it will be hard to jump straight to your target school, just for wanting that.</p>
<p>It is not impossible. I have one d., partially homeschooled, whose test scores stats put her in the bottom 15% of all applicants at her target school. She went for a supposedly “non-evaluative” 15-minute interview. At the end of an hour, they literally offered her a job.</p>
<p>She ended up graduating in three years, magna cum laude, “senior” honor award for being best student in the department, and a scholarship to a two-year graduate school, which she finished in a year, while working virtually full-time. It can be done, but my d. is a very charismatic salesperson. :)</p>
<p>ALL colleges take risky candidates, but they have to have a really strong reason to do so that outweighs the risk.</p>