Help!

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello guys, I'm a junior in Highschool and I'm having something of a panic attack. </p>

<p>Last year we moved from Miami to California and my grades had a huge dip. I went from having all As in a very good private school to getting a D and two Cs at a somewhat competitive California public school. The classes were not harder, but I went through something of a depression(and so did my grades!). Anyway, this year I have straight As and am taking 4 APs. I took two APs last year in Physics and EHAP and got a 4 and 3 respectively. I took the SAT in October and got a 2200(750 CR, 750 M, 700 W). My extracurriculars include pretty solid work experience(I work as a programmer, write and run stored procedures if it means anything to you and test implementations of software), am working towards a Linux certification, have around 200 hours of service, am on our school's "Cyber Patriot"(national cyber defense competition sponsored by Air Force) team, and am on our school's sailing team. </p>

<p>I think I am really looking for a small, science/math/engineering oriented school, but I'm worried about my grade drop sophmore year.</p>

<p>What level of schools do you think I can get into? My parents believe that Cal, Stanford, Mudd, and Cal Tech are all possible, but I know parents are always somewhat overly optimistic. Is there anything I can do to help my app to smaller technical schools? For those of you who are computer-oriented, what do you think I could do to impress a school? </p>

<p>Also, would they even consider accomplishments such as computer applications(that are what I believe fairly advanced for a self-learning languages) I have written for my teachers, etc.?</p>

<p>Anyway, the D and Cs are really freaking me out. Can you explain stuff like that in an essay or anything? Also, I really can't write well. I got a 7/12 on my essay on the SAT and I feel like it's a limiting factor in all of my classes where it is a major component.</p>

<p>I know a lot of this should belong in seperate sections, but I feel like one consolidated post is probably better. </p>

<p>Thanks!
Cara(a)m</p>

2

<p>Make an appointment with your guidance counselor and ask about his/her take on your college list. He/she knows which engineering programs admit students from your HS who have grades and exam scores like yours.</p>

<p>Your guidance counselor may be able to write about how difficult the move was for you, and you might be able to use your experience with the culture shock of moving from a small private school in FA to a big public school in CA as the base of an excellent admissions essay. What did you learn about yourself and your ability to cope with change? Can you apply some of that knowledge in the future when you will face the transition to college life, and eventually to life outside of college? For specific ideas on this topic, pick up a copy of “The Art of Crossing Cultures” by Craig Storti and read through what Storti has to say about coping with cultural change. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

3

<p>I got a 7/12 on my essay on the SAT and I feel like it’s a limiting factor in all of my classes where it is a major component.</p>

<p>Take a Writing/Composition class at your local CC this summer. After learning some basic fundamentals, it is one of the easier scores to improve upon.</p>

<p>happymomof1 gives good advice. Your GC can be an important ally in the college search and preparation process. You may also want to consider explaining your move, and the subsequent drop in grades, in the “Additional Comments” section of the Common Application, or equivalent, if it is not a Common App. school. Good luck.</p>

4

<p>Alright cool, thanks guys. I will definitely look into taking a CC course for writing and will ask my GC about what he thinks is best…</p>

<p>Do you guys know if it is possible with a grade drop like mine to actually go to a decent school or did I sink myself there?</p>

5

<p>What is your unweighted CUM GPA?</p>

6

<p>Unweighted is like 3.6/3.7. Should be around there when I graduate.</p>