<p>I'm in a tricky situation. I have been attending community college since I was 14 (I am 17 now), and got my GED last year. I decided to go to cc instead of highschool, so I will have my associate's degree this spring. My GPA is 3.71, all college-transfer courses. My SAT scores are m: 630 and cr: 680 writing: 750. I have a pretty solid record of volunteer work, ecs, and received a summer fellowship at a Top 20 university. I will be applying as a transfer student.
I am applying to:
Pomona
Whitman
Occidental
Oberlin
Macalester
Georgetown (far reach, legacy)
Harvard (far reach, legacy)</p>
<p>Do I have a chance at these schools? Do I have a chance at the ivies? Any recommendations? </p>
<p>I am wondering whether your background might hurt you at some colleges because you’ll be applying as a transfer, which for schools like Harvard is more difficult to gain acceptance than if you were applying as a freshman. Community college classes also are regarded by many people as being easier than are AP and IB classes.</p>
<p>I bet admissions staff, especially at the LACs, would take time to talk to you about your situation. Some of them might be very interested, especially if you have good letters of recommendation and experiences that add to their mix of students.</p>
<p>It depends on the rigor of your community college, the passion you put into your ECs, and how well you can argue your reasons for transfer. </p>
<p>I transferred into Yale from a cc this year and wasn’t the only one, so I suggest you include it on your list (and anyways, <a href=“http://www.harvardsucks.com)%5B/url%5D”>www.harvardsucks.com)</a>. Skipping high school altogether sounds like an amazingly independent and smart thing to do - you pretty much bypassed about the most mind-numbing, futile exercise one can do with three years of a life.</p>
<p>I know Yale transfer statistics are three times less charitable than for Harvard, but I have a feeling this is a school that would value the kind of quirky path you chose sooner than would the big stuffy H.</p>
<p>My cc is actually one of the best in the country. I have excellent letters of recommendation from my instructors. Frrrph, thanks so much for the motivation!</p>
<p>Just saw your last post Northstar,
Although my school zone is excellent, I was not challenged at all in public schools. I was pretty tired of the whole “high school” scene, and I wanted to be in a more mature learning environment. My mom teaches at the cc so I got classes for free, so why not?
I have volunteered for a non-profit that tutors at-risk children in my community. I have also been active in Amnesty International. I’m a member of Phi Theta Kappa (Honors society) and other clubs at my school.</p>
<p>So, what are your ECs and volunteer work and why did you decide not to go to high school? What’s the quality of the high school you were zoned for?</p>
<p>Since you’re applying as a transfer, do realize that you’ll be competing against transfers from top colleges, too, not just from top community colleges.
To get the best advice here, you’ll need to tell more about your background.</p>
<p>While I know about Harvard because I’m an alum interviewer, I am not as familiar with the other schools.
Are you male or female? When it comes to LACs, males have an advantage because most LACs have a hard time attracting males.</p>
<p>I am guessing that all Ivies and similar schools will be far reaches for you, though since I’m not an expert (and probably no one is an expert who answers these kind of posts), if you are interested in places like Ivies, certainly apply and give them your best shot.</p>
<p>My reasons for thinking they all are far reaches: your SAT scores are low for Ivies, your reason for choosing a community college over an excellent public is not compelling (I think that admissions officers might question your not being challenged at an excellent public school when you didn’t attain a 4.0 in community college nor do you have sky high scores), your ECs don’t sound particularly remarkable for places like Ivies, which attract lots of applications from people like student government presidents. </p>
<p>If your summer fellowship at a top 20 school resulted in something like your publishing an article in a professional journal, that would be a big plus.</p>
<p>If your community college sends students to some of the colleges that you’re considering applying to, of course that would indicate you have better than normal chances of transferring into those colleges.</p>
<p>You may need to take some SAT-II’s in subjects, so check each college website for what they require.</p>
<p>Oberlin would appreciate the alternative pathway, provided you demonstrate in your essays that you have derived some meaningful thoughts or conclusions about this experience. Why you chose thus path, what were the advantages or disadvantages, ways that you grew in those years, academically/socially/ethically etc., how you imagine it equips you to become connected at Oberlin, etc.</p>