<p>Hello, im a 20 year old soldier who is interested in college, but i didnt take high school as serious as i should have.
Unfortunately, i didnt graduate and have a GED.
I recently took the SAT and ACT to guage where i am compared to college bound seniors.</p>
<p>My scores for the SAT were:
460 critical reading with a range of 430-490
540 math with a range of 510-570
450 writing with a range of 410-490</p>
<p>My scores for the ACT were:
English - 21
Math - 20
Reading - 24
Writing - 24
Composite - 22</p>
<p>I realize my scores are to low for a California UC,
but are these scores good enough to get me into any of the California State schools?
and what can i do to improve my chances?</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the california system, but I would suggest applying to a few colleges around where you live, then another thing to consider would a community college. I met a guy a few weeks ago on a ski lift who said that he transfered to MIT from a 2-year community college, now he’s working aeronautical engineering for Boeing. My teacher told me another story about a high-school friend who got a college degree but had horrible grades. She took community college classes until her GPA went up, got into a grad program for architecture, and now has her own architecture firm. Taking high school seriously would have given you a better shot at going ‘straight to the top’, but it’s my belief that it’s never too late to turn things around, although it does get harder. If you take the discipline of the military and apply that mind-set to your studies, I think you’ll do very well. Whatever happens don’t get frustrated, slow and steady wins the race. Thank you for your service.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you start at community college… I’m in community college now and I don’t regret it one bit. I’m not positive, but I believe Cali has some schools with guaranteed admission when you go to community college for 2 years</p>
<p>^Just pick a college from the forum list, stats and chances of admission are discussed everywhere as they are of prime interest on College Confidential (specifically look for “Result” threads, and you will find endless pages of what you are looking for)</p>
<p>Like everyone else, it’s never a bad idea to go to community college–you get reintegrated into the education system, you are still on a quest to learn (colleges will notice) and on top of that, well your name says USSoldier, so if you are/were part of the military, then they will know that too.</p>
<p>All of that aside, Comm College is a good start, if you have the chance, retake your ACT/SAT and, with the things you’ll relearn at Comm college you’ll be a better looking applicant</p>
<p>Your US military experience certainly helps- it provides a unique hook.
Try to write your tranfer essay or Common Application essay on that topic.</p>