<p>I asked an admissions question the other day, but I'd like to make one that's a little bit more inclusive. </p>
<p>Allow me to summarize my high school achievements (or lack thereof) in the form of a poorly constructed list: </p>
<ul>
<li>Rollercoaster-ing grades: I'm not a consistent student, and never have been. I'm trying to build up a good work ethic, but that doesn't change the past. I received a decent number of Cs my Freshman and Sophomore years, as well as one D in the first trimester of my Sophomore year. I got straight As (with the exception of a B+ in my math class; I blew off the last week of homework. Oops.) the last trimester of that year, and I've been getting As and Bs this last year. Last trimester I got all Bs, which is very bad, especially considering what I'm capable of - I'm one of those students whose more than able to attain and maintain a 4.0, but I never apply myself in class and blow off homework. I'm trying to turn things around, but as was implied earlier, it's too late. </li>
</ul>
<hr>
<ul>
<li><p>My dream, like that of hundreds of thousands of other teenagers, is to one day get into medical school and earn my MD. Due to my crappy grades, I've started preparing for this early, in the form of extracurricular activities. I'll elaborate more. </p></li>
<li><p>I volunteer in the Emergency Department at a large area hospital. I've put in over 100 hours since September, working 3-hour shifts on Sunday mornings. </p></li>
<li><p>I'm going to be working as a transport tech or something this summer, at the same hospital. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>- Registering to take an EMT certification course over the summer, so that I can work as a "first responder" my senior year in high school. </h2>
<ul>
<li><p>Taking classes at my local community college over the summer. Probably going to take a classes such as Medical Anthropology, Medical Terminology, Biology Foundations for Physiology, Psychology, etc. I'm doing this more for the purpose of making up for bad high school grades with good college ones when it comes time to begin applying to 4-year universities. </p></li>
<li><p>I've done a variety of different sports. I've fenced for four or five years, and I'm now ice dancing, working on passing my first dance tests. Everybody says that I have a lot of potential, and due to the limited number of male ice dancers, it's not unrealistic to expect that I'll be competing at a national level once I get into college. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>There's probably more than that, but I don't really have much time to be writing right now. Here's a list of questions that I have regarding how I can/should go about improving my chances of getting into a "good" college: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>If I take courses at a community college over the summer, and get good grades, will college admissions take those into account while looking at my less-than-spectacular high school GPA? Would those courses, and the grades I get in them be afforded equal standing with my high school ones, or would my community college courses be considered more of a "bonus" or "extra"? </p></li>
<li><p>If I bomb a couple of classes this last trimester of Junior year (I dunno if I can save them), and then perform superbly my Senior year, will that be taken into account? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>One question about transfers. If I spend two-years at a state university, get really good grades, and then try to transfer to an Ivy League school, would the Ivy League school in question look at both my college grades and my high school ones? Would the college grades be given more credence, or do they still only pay attention to high school grades?</p>
<p>That might be a stupid question. Sorry if it is. I've heard different things from different people, ranging from "they'll hardly look at your high school grades" to "they only look at high school grades". I'm a little bit confused. </p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated. I really want to make a future for myself. Sorry if I wrote too much. Sorry if my writing seems rushed. It is. Any additional advice is appreciated. </p>
<p>Bye.</p>