<p>I'm currently a junior in high school who attends a prestigious high school recognized by all the UC's for the rigor and hardships connected with this school. I have an absolutely horrible GPA (2.7) although I do have a decent SAT score (2100). I had horrible family issues(bad physical fights and everything smashed in the house, leading to the involvements of cops multiple times.) these past 10 years of my life involving my sibling who took drugs (meth, ecstasy, etc) which led to me having abnormal social skills and having a particularly bad time paying attention in class, although I suspect this might be ADHD which I might check out. I have been taking all College Prep classes, none of which are AP or Honors. I'm planning on trying to achieve my score of 2200+ on the SAT and a 2.84 GPA by the end of first semester of senior year. I also have 2 teachers that can write killer recommendations </p>
<p>My Stats:
Ethnicity: Asian (Korean)
Gender: Male
First Generation Student
2.7 UW GPA
SAT - Math-620 Critical Reading-700 Writing -780</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities:
310 hours of community service at a soup kitchen
varsity wrestling (received letter)
Member of FCA Club
Member of Engineering Club
Guitar: 1 year
California Essay Competition Semi Qualifier
Game Programmer/Visual Effects Designer; I'm releasing a game on android. </p>
<p>The colleges I'm interested in (but probably way too much of a reach for me) are:
Penn State University Main Campus (#3)
Florida State University (#2)
Syracuse University
Ohio State University
Cal Poly Pomona
Cal State Long Beach
SDSU (My #1)
UCONN
University of Iowa</p>
<p>I would prefer not to go to community college for the first two years for a multitude of reasons of which are:
I would like to experience the college life and that I would make my parents furious. Any suggestions for other colleges would be nice; please recommend me any that would suit me :) Thank you for reading!</p>
<p>I also would like to mention that the major classes that I take (academic) are usually C’s and the extra classes such as guitar, Wrestling, etc has bumped up my gpa to where it stands right now. I also got a D my sophomore year in geometry and as a result I am currently taking it again this year. </p>
<p>A low GPA like that is a very, very big hurdle. I can’t speak for all the schools on your list but…</p>
<p>Penn State University Main Campus (#3): Out of Reach
Florida State University (#2) Reach
Syracuse University Out of Reach
Ohio State University Out of Reach
UCONN Out of Reach</p>
<p>Your GPA is way too low for nearly every school you listed. Taking standard classes instead of challenging yourself with AP/IB/Honors classes will also hurt you. Also, race does (sometimes) factor into the decision and being Asian doesn’t help at all. Even though you may have had family issues, colleges would much rather see someone who overcame their problems instead of using them to justify a lower GPA.</p>
<p>I’m presuming you live in CA. I know that you are ineligible for admission to any UC. Don’t the CSUs have minimum requirements, as well? If so, you should check to be sure that you qualify. I have to say that your GPA probably rules out Syracuse, Penn State, and Ohio State. Since you are looking at those schools, may I assume that your family is prepared to pay out-of-state tuition? If so, why not try out less competitive state universities? Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and West Virginia would all probably accept you, as might Arizona or ASU, Colorado State, NM State, or even some colleges in the Deep South. Some colleges have automatic acceptances for students in your SAT range. As it is, those scores are good, but not good enough to compensate for the poor grades (especially out of state). I know; my older son had similar stats. He did get into our state flagship, but would never have gotten in from out of state. Have you considered Evergreen State, in Washington? They are members of “Colleges That Change Lives,” and have almost-open admissions. </p>
<p>@woogzmama Would any score increase on the SAT exponentially increase my chances at these colleges?(Like 2200)? I also researched on some CSU’s and I came up with some such as:
CSULB
CSULA
I have one issue regarding admission for CSU’s with my GPA. Do they only count in 10th and 11th year of high school? Would you also chance me for SDSU and University of Colorado Boulder? Thanks!</p>
<p>I cannot chance you any further. I don’t have an answer, other than knowing that SDSU is one of the most selective CSU campuses, and UC Boulder is probably a reach. An increase to 2200 might improve your chances, but not exponentially. You won’t have a chance to take tests until next fall, and so you need to build a list based on who and what you are now, not who and what you hope to be next year. Your school should have a Naviance site. You can plug your stats into that to see how past applicants have fared at some of those colleges. A reach now will be a reach even if your scores improve. It will just be a slightly more realistic reach. Nobody can tell you that you will get into a school where your GPA falls substantially below the norm. We can only suggest colleges where your chances are better. </p>
<p>What is your weighted GPA? If it is above a 4.5, you might have a chance, but even so your chances to making it into any of these colleges are pretty slim (but there are ALWAYS miracle stories, I would apply anyways [-O< ) For example, your at-home situation is obviously unorthodox and colleges may consider this, as it probably affected your performance in school. I’m sorry all of that happened… But considering you may be ineligible for most University Colleges, I would try going to a community college for two years to raise your GPA (because you seem very smart, and could probably raise it if you worked hard enough) and then apply to transfer. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but your only other options at this point would be to either aim for lower colleges, or take some summer classes to raise your grades in any classes you didn’t do well in. Hope I helped.</p>
<p>Unless there are financial circumstances to consider, I am usually reluctant to recommend a community college for a bright, under-achieving student like this one, simply because there is no reason to believe that he or she will undergo a miraculous transformation into a straight-A student overnight. It sounds as if this particular student would benefit from getting away from home, furthermore. If he does do brilliantly at a less-selective four-year college, he can still transfer. If not, he can muddle through with a B- average. I have just such a son, and I doubt he would earn a higher GPA at a community college than he would at MIT - he will always coast by doing the minimum. </p>
<p>You offer a different outlook on the underachiever. Some kids are going to coast no matter where they go to school, and they may as well coast at a 4 year institution. I have known kids that have gone to CC and have dropped out and I have seen kids underachieve at 4 year schools and graduate. What you say is very true! </p>
<p>I barely graduated highschool with under a 2.0 GPA.
I went to my local communtity college and graduated with a 3.98 GPA and took honors courses.
I recently got into Syracuse University, U of R, RIT, and a few others for transfer.</p>
<p>Sometimes the transition to college makes a huge difference with students.</p>