How Likely Is It For Me to Get Into A Good University?

Applying to College
1

<p>I am a 20 year old who graduated from high school with a 3.6 GPA two years ago, putting me in the top 12% of my graduating class, and whose previous score on the SAT equals to 1610 out of 2400. I'm also interested in returning to college to obtain a Biology bachelors before then applying for grad school. The catch is that when I was a 18, I had attempted to go to a a university before but had dropped out, with an extremely poor academic standing (2 F's and 1 A), in order to dedicate myself fully to a small business that I had been working on. The reason that I had a low GPA was because I had foolishly attempted to run this business while also pursuing said degree. In addition, the catch to my slightly above average SAT score is in the fact that it's largely due to my Reading score of 630 and my Writing score of 520, a category that most colleges don't bother looking into anyway. My Math score on the other hand is abysmal at 460, some 31% of the national percentile. This is by far the lowest that I have ever received on a PSAT or mock-SAT, on which I've often received scores above the 95th percentile, so I'd be extremely surprised if I couldn't do far better by seriously retaking the SAT this fall.</p>

<p>In terms of my extracurricular record, I was a member of the debate team during my Freshman and Sophomore years of high school and was the president and founder of the Cooking Club during my Junior year. During the summer prior to attending my first university I shadowed the genetics lab of a professor and was almost guaranteed a position working within the lab by my Sophomore year. I should also be able to obtain a series of recommendations from my previous customers, high school teachers, and from the managers at my current job. I am currently studying French, Japanese, and German for my future travels, which should also increase the amount of schools that I can go to as an international student.</p>

<p>What are the chance of me getting into a top 200 or even a decent university and what should I do to make it so? The current plan is to enter a community college and obtain straight A's for the next few semesters in order to prove that I can perform more effectively than I've already demonstrated. Is this necessary and if it is what else should I do in order to get into, for instance, Boston University or even any of the top 400 schools on the site linked below?</p>

<p>World's</a> Best Universities: Top 400 - US News and World Report</p>

2

<p>My recommendation to you,as it has been to a number of kids who did the same sort of thing that you did, is to take some courses at a school as a non matriculating student and do very well in them. That will show that you have the stuff to do well in college level work, which is the splotch on your resume right now. You are now a transfer student, I believe, and colleges want to see all of the college courses you have attempted, so you need to show that you are now able to do well in every day school work. Your plan to go to community college is also a very good one.</p>

3

<p>Thank you, cptofthehouse. Could you please tell me how many semesters or credit hour completions you would recommend before transferring to a 4-year university?</p>

4

<p>You probably need to start at a C for a couple of reasons…</p>

<p>1) to get your GPA up.</p>

<p>2) it’s unlikely you would get the aid you probably need to go elsewhere.</p>

<p>Keep in mind…when you do transfer, you’ll likely not get great aid since transfer students rarely get much in aid.</p>

<p>Which 4 year university can you commute to? That is the one that you’ll likely be attending unless your family will pay for you to go elsewhere.</p>

5

<p>I think you can get into a top 200 school. Top 100 may be a reach. Ivy and schools such as Stanford/Duke are impossible, though.</p>