How about GED as an alternative while I transfer??

<p>Hello folks,
I am currently doing my Associates at a community college.
I am planning to transfer to Northwestern, University of Chicago, UW-Madison or JHU. Well the problem i am facing is with my high school. I did the British A levels and couldn't really score good grades in them. Hence, if i apply to any of these universities with those grades i wouldn't be accepted for sure. I am planning to get an alternative for those high school grades.
My current performance at community college is pretty good. My GPA is 4.0 and i am pretty much into research projects in the Phi Theta Kappa organization. I want to go for Biological Sciences (Genetics) as my majors. I am even involved in a few more clubs at my college and actively participate in mentoring programs. I have taken 12 honors credits till now and have got straight A's in those classes.
The only problem is the poor high school grades which i messed up because i was suffering from jaundice for around 2 months during my final year.
I work at the community college itself as a student employee in the admission office.
My SAT I score is 2250.
I am even planning to take SAT II for Biology and Chemistry.
I have tons of community service and in fact it's just been a year since i came to the US from India. I have worked with many leading Non-Government Organizations.</p>

<p>I just want to know that is there any alternative for those high school grades?? How about GED?? And what are my chances with GED and with these requirements. I have one and half year before i transfer. I want to somehow replace my grades by either taking GED. Guys please help me out and yeah .... I would surely do my best to get more resume building stuffs to get into these universities.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot in advance folks....</p>

<p>No there is nothing you can do about your HS grades at this point. It is too late for you to earn a GED. It is for people who drop out of high school. You didn’t. You finished high school in a different country. </p>

<p>Even if the colleges and universities you apply to when you are ready to transfer ask for your high school records, those records will be not nearly as important as your community college transcripts. Sit down with the transfer counselors at your CC, and ask them what GPA and which courses you will need in order to transfer to the colleges/universities that are on your list.</p>

<p>Is my community college the only one that doesn’t have anything like a transfer counselor? At my cc if you ask a counselor about transferring they say they have no idea and to contact the transfer school. </p>

<p>But yeah don’t get the GED because most schools want you to send both GED and HS transcripts anyway. That means they’ll find out about your hs issues. Just focus on college and you shouldn’t have a problem getting into those schools even with a not so great hs record.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot guys… I am pretty focused at the moment on my CC scores and activities. I am even seeing a transfer counselor and he’s guiding me very well too.
Any other suggestions for me that would help boost my chances to get into these universities?</p>

<p>And yeah… what if i just say that i was never educated in the high school…won’t they allow me to take the GED then?</p>

<p>Because every university i go to needs high school transcripts…and that kinda embarrasses me since i am just lacking behind in that case…</p>

<p>I have some good international community service certificates backing me up and everything is good. It’s just the high school grades where i messed up big time…</p>

<p>Please guide me folks!!!</p>

<p>STOP OBSESSING ABOUT YOUR SECONDARY SCHOOL RECORD!!!</p>

<p>Do not lie about your academic history. Concentrate on getting good grades at your CC. Develop strong relationships with the instructors who will be writing your letters of recommendation. Ask the transfer counselors if it makes sense for you to take any SATII exams at this point. Chances are that the SATII exams are another thing you don’t have to worry about.</p>

<p>If you simply can’t get past your A level results, ask the physician who was treating you for jaundice to write a letter describing the course of your illness, and ask the principal/director/someone else at your old school to write a letter describing the effect that your illness had on your studies. Had you been a student in a US HS, your counselor would have been able to cover this in his/her letter of recommendation. Colleges and universities are used to taking this under consideration.</p>

<p>happymom has a good idea for you to get that letter from the doctor. </p>

<p>The issue isn’t whether they LET you take the the GED. They will let you no problem. The problem comes when you go to apply to transfer and the school says they need your H.S. transcript AND the GED. If you say that you didn’t go to h.s. school at all it would look very bad for your chances.</p>

<p>Ohk Thanx for the advice guys…</p>

<p>And one last thing does my HS score after all have a major impact on my chances to get into the universities or my CC GPA?
I really want to get into any of those universities and am working really hard for it…I got everything perfect except my HS scores…</p>

<p>Your CC transcript will be the most important factor.</p>