<p>I need your help guys, though my circumstances are just a tad bit odd.</p>
<li>Graduated last in class.</li>
<li>GPA >1.0</li>
<li>Zero extracurriculars
a. had to work
b. i am a single child w/ disabled, bedridden mother (single parent)</li>
<li>Tested out of Geometry, Chemistry, and both Algebra I & II<br>
just to graduate.</li>
<li>Enlisted in US Army in 2001</li>
</ol>
<p>Now honorably discharged from the Army, I recently scored a 2330 on my SAT’s, and its seems no one has any ideas as to what I should do. Did I ruin my dream of attending Harvard w/ my high school performance, even though my mother’s illness took center stage in my life? If so, what are my options? Apropos, my score is no fluke, coming away with a 1510 in the 6th grade while in the G&T program. Please, please, please help!</p>
<p>If applicable be harsh, I want a real assessment. Lastly, I am a 24yo black male, and I would very much like to attend in the fall of 2007.</p>
<p>go to a community college for a cuple yrs. i read about 1 guy who had a 2.0 in high school and went to comm college, got a 3.8 GPA, and is goin to U.Va next year. your not gonna get into harvard, but you can still get into a good school. nice scores. o ya and try to get some ECs if you go to a 2-yr</p>
<p>Go to a CC. You have to show that you can get good grades in a school. Secondly, why Harvard? In your situation, you shouldn't be looking for just a name, but for the best place to educate and improve yourself. For someone looking for sympathy, your college priorities seem a bit skewed.</p>
<p>All this guy has is an SAT score and you think harvard is going to accept him?</p>
<p>Sorry, but optimism is one thing and craziness is another..</p>
<p>Anyways, a community college would probably be best for you (unless you can find a state school that would fund you, that would also be optimal). Once you get there, take ahold of whatever resources you have available to you - get to know your professors personally and try to make the best of the experience so you can transfer to the higher tier schools.</p>
<p>You do have an interesting story. Can you take a term at a CC this summer. If you can show you can do well in the classroom, it's worth sending out some apps this year. If you don't get into a good school, continue on at the CC and apply again the following year. Take the toughest classes you can.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Scoring a 2330 isnt exactly amazing when you are 24 years old.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This has to be a joke. People don't magically become amazing at SATs when they hit a certain age--turning 24 doesn't teach you to recognize all of the grammar on the SAT, it doesn't teach you how to read critically, and it definately doesn't improve your writing. Test a bunch of average 24-year-olds and see what I mean.</p>
<p>He said it didn't come out of nowhere ... scored 1510/1600 in 6th grade. This guy didn't have a normal high school experience -- but he didn't graduate last in his class because he was stupid. It was more like he couldn't play the high school grading game due to life circumstances.</p>
<p>I vote for getting some real college counseling -- maybe some of the big guns in college counseling would do this pro-bono. My other thought is move to Boston and go to Harvard Extension. There was an article on this in the papers over the winter and I think it was discussed on CC.</p>
<p>You must be incredibly smart. Most people who score at that level have been training at least somewhat (SAT prep classes, years upon years of taking standardized tests), but given your circumstances and GPA, it is evident that you have not. Trust me, a 2330 on the SAT (and a 1510 in 6th grade! That's amazing!) is a HUGE achievement. Even if Harvard doesn't take you (I'd go with the CC suggestion) you'll still get places with that kind of intelligence. Maybe start a business or something?</p>
<p>Only a handfull of blacks score above 1500 every year. You were likely the only black sixth grader in the country to do that well.
I would recomend you go to a community college and get a straight 4.0. You then have a good shot at transferring to a top tier school. Harvard might still be a reach but you can likely go someplace really good.</p>
<p>I think Bill has very good advice. You might also want to look for some smaller liberal arts schools that might be more sympathetic to your unusual circumstances if a community college doesn't appeal to you. If you can get good grades and good reccomendations from professors, I think you should be a strong transfer applicant. I think Harvard is going to be very unlikely regardless; the very top colleges are much harder to get into as a transfer applicant than as a freshman, and your resume is not currently in a state where it would be likely to help you much. If you do very well as an undergraduate, however, there might be a possibility of going there for grad school, although if you're behind in academics from a turbulent time in high school, it might be difficult to catch up sufficiently in four years.</p>
<p>Absolutely not, this was not some magical process nor am I claiming to be a genius. I studied my butt off for a year in Honduras, deployed back to Hawaii and then took the test. I earned my score. </p>
<p>One can only be told "you are too smart be sleeping in mud," so many times. I can understand how my post can be understood to be a call for sympathy, simply put--it is not. This is personal. My enlisting in the Army was ONLY for college money. I went through 'hell and high water' as an infantryman just so that I could give myself one more chance.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice you have received. You need to establish an academic record to match your test scores. Do you have any idea what you want to do - career wise? You can't go wrong with a balanced courseload - an English course or other requiring writing, a math course, a science and a history or other social science class. Basic accounting, personal finance and speech courses are also very useful, no matter what you finally do.
While you are taking those courses, contact the admissions offices of a couple of colleges and universities near you - Rice (may as well aim high) and the University of Houston, for example or the University of LA Shreveport if you closer to that part of TX. Summer is a slow time at selective colleges and universities, so you may well be able to find someone willing to talk to you face to face. Bring any "paper" you have available - test scores, discharge papers, transcripts, etc. Explain that you are a non-traditional student looking to go to college after an Army stint. The admissions people can give you better ideas of what to do.
Also, does the Army have resources to help you? Counseling, etc?</p>
<p>While a black male with a 2300 might easily be admitted to a highly selective school, a residential college full of 18 year old kids might not be the best place to pursue your education as a non-trad, returning student.
Are you able to relocate to Austin? I would think that there would be tremendous opportunities at UT for you, at less cost.</p>
<p>Guys, thanks for the great advice. However, in my shame, it looks as if I will be aiming low--very low. Also, I will follow the above plea to post in the Parents' forum. </p>