<p>I graduated highschool a while back with a 3.117 GPA. I'm not even sure that GPA matters after this much time as I'm currently 25.</p>
<p>I am a Microsoft certified professional with a $34,000 a year full time job with a great company with chances of promotion (according to a trusted boss) and still studying three hours a day for further microsoft certifications to further my career. This answers the first question of 'what have you been doing with your time'. Hopefully that helps.</p>
<p>Anyway, I would like to know my chances of a really nice school (dare I dream Ivy?) should I study my life away and pour money into tutors to dream a dream of scoring a 2400 on the SAT. I see that as all I can do to prepare, as my highschool transcript (outdated?) is already set in stone.</p>
<p>What are my chances? How far can I get?</p>
<p>If it matters, I'm half hispanic (half cuban). I will take suggestions to better the hispanic community somehow if that will help my minority status and find me a seat.</p>
<p>I'm apt to do anything it takes. I'm quite motivated and determined.</p>
<p>(My motivation is a top 14 law school eventually, that's my impossible dream if I'm allowed it)</p>
<p>dont waste your money on getting a 2400 on the SAT you might wanna spend it on some LSAT prep your junior year</p>
<ol>
<li>go to a CC for 2 years get good grades</li>
<li>transfer to a public school and try to get a 3.7 gpa + and a 160+ on the LSAT, and apply to law school. 160+ is usually the barrier for top law schools</li>
<li>get accepted</li>
</ol>
<p>I forgot to mention an important fact, I’ll update.</p>
<p>… I guess I can’t update the initial post! Ok.</p>
<p>My grandmother raised me. My mother is psychologically ill and lives in a nursing home with a boyfriend of 18 years in that nursing home with her. She lives there because of her condition and needing supervision to take her medication. my grandmother, God rest her soul, was not capable of taking care of her before she retired and so unfortunately that’s where my disabled mother is.</p>
<p>The point - My grandmother, who was my guardian and raised me, passed away and left me her whole life. Liquidated, all of the properties and possessions would easily take me through college and help me care for my mother. I now take care of my mother financially through the help of the home she lives in and work on my own, making pretty good money as I mentioned above. I’m single, not married, and have <em>zero</em> debt. </p>
<p><strong><em>Money is not a problem.</em></strong> Not at all. I want to make that perfectly clear. I’m not concerned about it.</p>
<p>I was put in a fortunate monetary situation in the worst way possible. You do <strong>not</strong> want to be in my shoes. But it means that with my shiny career and incoming assets, I may afford some top education.</p>
<p>For an ivy, especially if your high school record is not stellar, your best bet is probably a program for non traditional students such as the ones at Columbia, Penn and Yale.</p>
Eli Whitney Students Program (Yale) - Seems for students with much more experienced age than a 25 y/o.
Columbia’s School of General Studies (Columbia) - Same as above. The degree programs are limiting, it seems. I may be wrong. I only read the informational pages on the site and didn’t dig deep.
(Penn) - I could not find a program for non-traditional students. I didn’t dig for hours though, forgive me if I missed an obvious one.</p>
<p>Thank you, though. I can see how without a great GPA I may have to look down that path.</p>
<p>In the traditional sense, high SAT + low GPA = labeled as an intelligent slacker by universities. Perhaps what you can do is find something you’re extremely good at and use it as a hook, or maybe draw from your unique experience (mother with a eighteen-year old boyfriend?) as your personal statement.</p>
<p>^Except that Whitespider’s “slacking” seven years ago won’t matter much to an Ivy if he’s working to his full potential now. </p>
<p>About his mother’s SO, “boyfriend of 18 years” would usually mean that a man has been her partner for 18 years. (Side note: we really need a word for this in English. There’s no good noun for my uncle’s “girlfriend” who has been around longer than I have.)</p>
<p>The slacking would not matter much? I pray the certifications would help towards getting into a good school. It’s my spike. If I can be well rounded, then it can help me stand out.</p>
<p>Agreed on the low GPA, though. I recognize truth in that, though I hope the time gap helps. Do I have a chance transferring? I’d much rather not go to a CC for two years if I absolutely can help it. The best school possible, and then transfer higher.</p>
<p>Maybe not a community college, since moneys no issue, but perhaps a state school, depending on if the state schools are any good where you live, or a second tier, right below ivys stanford ect, school for a few years/semesters, and transfer up. The prestige of your undergrad school matters less than the prestige of your law school, if you go.</p>
<p>Very interesting point, bchristian19. The fact is, I am in Florida. University of Florida (Tier 1, rank 47) is an hour away. CC and then make it a goal to transfer there? Or is it realistic to reach higher? I’d love to reach higher if my ECs stack up with great test scores and an amazing GPA. Reading the stories from CC success to consider the idea.</p>
<p>My idea is to volunteer teaching elderly to use computers in a bilingual enviroment. If I can get sponsorship maybe it’s a good spike in a well-rounded top SAT, High GPA, leadership in club application. My passion is computers and helping others with them, so, makes sense?</p>
<p>If you can reach higher and want to, its not a bad idea, but if your focused on going to law school, then it doesn’t really matter to employers where you went for undergrad. Its all about how you did/and where you went/for law school.</p>
<p>Depends how well you do at CC. If you have some crazy high GPA at CC, test scores, and ECs, then it isn’t impossible for you to transfer to a top tier school. Personally, however, I wouldn’t recommend you try to go CC-Ivy-Law School. Transferring into an ivy would be really tough, and may hurt your GPA. Going to Ivy undergrad may hurt your chances to go ivy for law school, since its far harder to keep a high GPA at Ivys. </p>
<p>The good thing for you is that you live in florida. Florida has tons of state schools, many which are very well respected. UF is a great school, where it would be easier to do well than at the ivys, but would also look like a very good school on your law school application. its not a bad idea to aim higher undergrad, but I would say that it is unnecesary to go to a top private school for undergrad. Save the ivys for law school</p>
<p>I can see where you’re coming from. I do want to be challanged, though. I really want a good education and want to see how far I could get and earn it. If that wasn’t what I wanted I would major in MIS and become a server administrator with multiple microsoft certifications where I could get a nice job out of a 4 year degree.</p>
<p>The reason I see T-14 law school in my sights is out of a yearning to push myself as hard as I can and make something of myself so I could support other’s later; be it a family, a community, or even something greater. I’d like to give my own children, eventually, a good life, etc.</p>
<p>I feel like i’m writing an admissions essay. Haha. Sorry.</p>
<p>The point is I kind of want really tough. I’m worried that if by amazing effort I transfered into an Ivy and didn’t do as well there, then maybe I didn’t deserve to go to a T-14 law school anyway.</p>
<p>I have to consider what you’re saying, though. I’m going to take a very hard look at UF for keeps.</p>
<p>Do you have any reason to assume you can get a 2400?</p>
<p>Your undergrad won’t matter for getting into law school (some grade inflation might help a little). As a URM, if you are capable of getting a 2400, you will EASILY get into a top 14 law school. Given this, I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on undergrad.</p>
<p>have you taken the SAT at all?
I mean if you are 25 now, even with all that studying the math portions are going to be a lot different than what you learned 7 years ago, with age usually people do better with the critical reading, but also then the writing.
I say do community college or apply to UF program, work hard and move up in ranks.</p>
<p>ForskakenOne - apply to UF program? Which one?</p>
<p>The SAT would help to transfer, later. Assume I go to the best feeder CC for UF (Santa Fae, in gainesville, most likely) and somehow don’t get into UF. The SAT scores will help elsewhere.</p>
<p>I kind of want to challange myself, too. I want to start CC with honors classes so I plan to train myself and study on my own till I feel I can destroy the enterance exam and go into a very nice course-load.</p>