High SAT/Test scores but awful GPA: I've got no chance, right?

<p>Hah hah, I am not indian, I am a full-on American, half-black, half-white. Lived in Texas all my life. But I find indian culture, especially the religions and the language of ancient Sanskrit, to be fascinating (I have a grammar of the language on my desk right here by Micheal Coulson–beautiful book and language, though it is very difficult even for a lover of tongues like myself!)</p>

<p>Indeed my skill at languages is about my only skill besides writing. Right now in high school I am taking Latin II and German IV with A’s in both. I learn languages at a speed which basically no one else in my school can even compare. I ended up falling in love with linguistics and within a year of self-study I can regularly read linguistics papers published by professionals. Not very easy to convert that to money, however…</p>

<p>And no, my parents didn’t go to ivies. That’s why they’re so obsessed with them.</p>

<p>1) Go to counseling and therapy and get your mental heath fixed. And please don’t kill yourself.
2) Tell your parents to go f*** themselves. They are the reason your don’t enjoy life right now, not your GPA. If they are the ***holes you say they are, you should probably stay away from them.
3) Figure out your college situation later. It’s the least important thing on this list.</p>

<p>I really don’t mean to make my parents out to be dicks. I just think…they’re kind of overbearing. They’re nice people as long as one doesn’t take about school, then they become really hard and insistent on what THEY believe is best.</p>

<p>vrisha, i’m going to ask you to consider MrMom’s suggestion above…with the military…hear me out…you have a skill in languages…there are branches of the military that are very anxious for that…and you have good test scores… for example, read this > <a href=“Signal Intelligence Careers | goarmy.com”>http://www.goarmy.com/linguist.html&lt;/a&gt; Do this one thing…look up an office near you in your town…drive over there (in this one case, don’t tell your folks…you’re only information gathering)…see what they tell you. It will give you options that can open more doors. </p>

<p>First, you should see a professional about your depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. The importance of this can not be overstated. Schedule it and see a doctor.</p>

<p>Second, if you are struggling to get grades in high school, why would you want to go to a college where the work load is even higher? You do not need a big name school to be successful. However, if you want to attend a top college, you could show them that you can achieve good grades at a community college, and then apply for a transfer. Almost all colleges take some transfers.</p>

<p>It is not the situation that you are in at the moment that is important to how your life turns out. It is what you decide to do next. Clearly you are bright or you would not have gotten a 2000 SAT score. You can work out of this, be successful in college and have a great career. You just need to get some professional help and begin moving forward and doing your best. You can do it.</p>

<p>Per @SouthernHope’s message above and my earlier suggestion, the Defense Language Institute at Monterrey is one of the finest language and linguistic schools in the world, bar none. I believe they also have ties to Middlebury, not Ivy, but maybe better as far as languages go. If you’ve got a talent for languages and linguistics, and they will find out if you do, by all means check out your military options into the place - you might very well get an Ivy league quality education at no cost, other than putting in your time. They are far worse options than getting into a place like that.</p>

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<p>Incorrect. You’re thinking of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, which is a graduate school of Middlebury College. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.miis.edu/”>Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey; </p>

<p>The best advice I can give is that your happiness comes first, never forget that. To be honest, reading all this, it may be healthiest to forget about your parents. They may not be as horrid as they sound here, but they are causing a serious issue in your life. If you can remove an issue from your life and more it forward at the same time, you should. They will either come to terms with it or not, but that is their issue. Worry about yourself, and be ready to financially support yourself on your own if absolutely needed (with unpredictable parents in terms of the support of your education I think it is a very good idea).</p>

<p>It is great you are still applying places. Keep your options open, and a lower tier school / community college will serve you find. The resources are there for those who take the initiative.</p>

<p>I second seeking professional help, if not for the soul reason that you can discuss all of this in confidence with an adult. It could even help the situation beyond your personal well being, which is of course the first priority.</p>

<p>I wish you the best and hope this all works out. You can make a great life out of this, don’t worry about what your parents say.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the correction. DLI is still impressive, even without the Middlebury connection.</p>

<p>In 1980 I got into Columbia with 99.9 percentile SATs and not being in the top 2/3 of my high school class.</p>

<p>How? I was a recruited athlete and a legacy.</p>

<p>In your situation today, you might want to consider joining the military.</p>

<p>Screw what your parents think. Their opinion matters only if they’re paying.</p>

<p>I’ve been doing some college-related stuff, but it’s really hard. My mom is the worst part. She SAYS she’s trying to help me but all she does is insult me and make me feel like a failure. She’s always saying “Oh you could have been in Stanford or Harvard with rich millionaire friends and tons of contacts for getting work” and “Now you’re going to be around a bunch of useless stupid people” and other stuff.</p>

<p>I’ve got a bunch of projects in school right now I have to scramble to finish and I’ve got an AP I know I’ll bomb miserably come Wednesday. As if I wasn’t already feeling terrible. </p>

<p>I’m gonna talk to my school counselor about my suicidal thoughts. They keep increasing and wont go away. I’ve become lethargic and basically miserable all the time. I’m not even sure I can go to college in this state.</p>

<p>I can’t even tell my parents. They’ll just go “oh stop whining and go apply” and probably make fun of me and I honestly don’t know who to go to. </p>

<p>You need to get a therapist as soon as you can and approach your parents. Make sure to tell them how you feel. You need to make them understand this is your life and that you can do what you want with it. You also need to make them understand that they are to blame for your depression and bad grades. They put too much pressure on you and make it seem there is only one way to a good future</p>

<p>You need to get a therapist as soon as you can and approach your parents. Make sure to tell them how you feel. You need to make them understand this is your life and that you can do what you want with it. You also need to make them understand that they are to blame for your depression and bad grades. They put too much pressure on you and are never satisfied with what you accomplish. Tell them that you are considering suicide because of them. Also make it clear that it really does not matter if you go to an ivy or not and you can succeed either way. Kids from state schools go on to be millionaires and kids from the Ivy Leagues go on to be average Joes. My uncle went to university of Oregon graduated in accounting and after some time as a CPA was hired by IBM to do consulting in Europe. He now makes close to 500,000 a year. My point is if you work hard you can succeed where every you go . Also a 2000 sat is exceptional considering you don’t try in school and did not study. My friend originally got a 1900 without studying and after studying got
a 2250. </p>

<p>Disregard first part of second post as I already posted it. the CC app god damn blows.</p>

<p>That’s a good idea to start with your counselor. He/She may be able to help you get a therapist without your parents getting involved, not sure about the confidentiality rules there.</p>

<p>Keep coming back to this thread if you need any more advice, or to update us if you wish. It’s always nice for everyone to see things get better. Best of luck, you will do great. You are doing the right thing by seeking help, keep it up so long as you need it and I hope it all works out.</p>

<p>Sorry for the incredibly late bump, guys but…I managed to get into a college. The one near me, UTSA. It’s not a half bad school and I’m registering for orientation now. Thanks to anyone who has replied here and convinced me to keep moving forward.</p>

<p>Thanks for checking in to let us know the good news. Good luck at college!</p>

<p>Threads like this give me hope for my SAT score of 1970 and GPA of 2.7 :’)</p>

<p>how did you manage to get in with a GPA lower than 2.0 though?</p>

<p>I would suggest that you ask your high school guidance counselor to have a meeting with you and your parents. The guidance counselor needs to offer “advice” – basically educating your parents that the Ivys are not only off the plate, but that they would not be a good fit for you. Secondly, the guidance counselor might suggest that the best thing for you right now would be to spend 2 years at a community college where you can show your parents the effort that is required to do well in college – why would they want to waste $50,000 a year on someone who is very honest about why his GPA is below a 2.0… This does NOT mean you are a failure – it just means that college at 18 years of age for you may not be the right thing. Gotta tell you - my sister had about a 2.0 GPA decades ago and refused to go to college and my dad disowned her. She worked a myriad of jobs, fire fighter for CA Dept Forestry and other low paying jobs. Finally, around age 26, she got tired of low paying jobs and went back to college - CSU Sacramento. Worked her butt off. She is now an executive with a major retail chain traveling the US and making a healthy 6-figure income. She showed my dad…</p>

<p>@Momof2back2back‌ the OP is in college now. Crisis averted.</p>