Look into Lewis & Clark too.
One more thing- when you are reading the Seattle or Portland Business Journals, look at the “Moving Up”-type section. This section is usually used to highlight local professionals who are “moving up” - getting promoted, joining boards, receiving awards. This will give you mini-examples of career paths.
I’m not clear what kind of 2-year program you’re referring to that wouldn’t be in a community college.
Bard had a famous photography dept but it’s in the northeast.
You may be interested in CalArts, Chapman… ?
The best solution for you would be to enroll as a senior at your local hs, taking all their ap art offerings and increasing that GPA, giving you time to increase your sat score and accumulating a stronger academic profile to keep asany doors open as possible. Barring that, woofing and traveling/working is likely to bring about experiences that would enrich your photography.
MYOS1634: I’m going to continue working on my photography either way. The senior repeat idea won’t work, all the plans to graduate are already in place, and to boot the local HS has practically cut their arts offerings down to zero and doesn’t offer AP Arts Courses. Thanks for your help : )
HS5331: No, I’m not so interested in web or graphic design. I’m not much of a pragmatic thinker or a business oriented person. I’m more interested in studying something I’m passionate about than something that has the best job growth, that’s just me, although of course it’s not something to disregard. I am aware of the options available to me closer to home, but I’m not too interested. Thanks for the suggestions on reading, though I don’t have twitter. Oregon is out of state, and if I’m going to ask to attend an out of state school it’s going to be somewhere I’m more interested in living. As someone with seasonal affective disorder I have my sights set on a warmer climate : ). I’ve looked into the East Coast (I have relatives and connections in NC and in the Northeast) as well. My parents also plan to retire and move to the mid-East Coast in a few years.
What about not graduating and attending community college for free through pseo/dual enrollment?
If you can have excellent grades that’d make up for your current GPA since consider, not unreasonably, that the best predictor of college success is success in a college course. 
I totally understand where you’re coming from wrt sun exposure. Southern California, but also new Mexico and Arizona woodu be good choices. If you can take the cold, Minnesota and Wisconsin are very bright and sunny throughou t the winter. North Carolina and Virginia are relatively sunny but not unbearably hot.
Vcu would be a university to look into, and based on what you said so far I think you would really Luke unc-a. Look into Warren Wilson, I heard they were great for photography. SomeWhat about Beloit? Some of o these may still accept applications but the fact you don’t have any test score may be a problem. Is there any way you can register and take the may test as a standby?
Finally, on May5th or so there’ll be a list of colleges tar miscalculated yield and still accept applications.
If you take a gap year, look into whp/whv, city year, and woofing.
Deadline to register for SAT is May 8. I suggest you focus all your energy on studying for this test. It’s crucial for your future to put your best effort into preparing. There are both online and book options for studying and taking practice tests. Look in the Testing Forum for suggestions on which books have been most helpful. I had my Daughter take practice tests several times to get comfortable with the testing format.
Have you ever taken a standardized test before? There is a bit of stress and pressure inherent in being put in a room at a school you aren’t familiar with, with a bunch of strangers, being ordered by yet another stranger adult. There is no wiggle room in this kind of testing, so taking practice tests under similar testing conditions is helpful.
While you are waiting for your test results, I suggest you reach out to photographers via email and ask them for career advice. Admire a local news photographer? Ask him/her where they got their training. One of my D’s former classmates spent high school years photographing music groups and at concert venues. He got pretty good on his own, and his work led him to interact with a great photographer who mentored him. The mentor actually steered him away from a traditional college program, and this kid is now attending a local technical college. I am friends with this kid’s mom, and she tells me her son is engaged by his coursework, it seems to be a great experience.
Technical colleges will vary greatly in their programs, so you would want to investigate to be sure the tech school you might attend actually has a great photography program. Visiting campus, meeting with instructors, talking with current students, attending an exhibit at the school, and checking them out on the school’s websites are all ways you can try to learn if the tech school program is any good. Read through the courses they offer to see how in depth the program is.
If you choose to go the technical school route, instead of a traditional 4 year program, your GPA and test scores will not be as much of a road block for you. And if you can put together a portfolio of your best work, showing that to potential schools and asking for input would be helpful. Even finding photographers who will weigh in on your portfolio with honest feedback will help you determine where you stand.
Another adult friend of mine took up photography after her only child moved 15 hours away for college. She attended a photography class run by a local business. It ran weekly sessions for 6-8 weeks, and they took field trips to different types of locations for photo shoots. She had plenty of time to practice, and in less than 2 years is now being employed to photograph weddings. Now, she was very motivated, she asked everyone she could if she could practice with their kid, dog, house, etc. She signed up for a lot of one day photo classes in different cities around the area, and bought equipment along the way to improve the technical parts of her work.
So heading straight in to a 4 year college is not the only option for you. And it sounds like some kind of alternate route might interest you more.
What about taking a gap year and going to a four year school? Some have good art programs. In North Carolina there is UNC - Asheville, UNC School of the Arts, and UNC - Pembroke. I know UNCP has a really interesting Photography + Communication major that sounds interesting.
power cropper: I have taken standardized tests before, in fact the Private Christian school I went to when I was younger got their standardized test materials from the same people who make the SAT, and I scored extremely well on them. I am not bothered by or nervous about testing. I’m not at all used to early mornings though so that part will be strange. I am going to try to study a lot, but I’m a procrastinator and time easily gets away from me, so we’ll see.
I’m choosing photography as something I know I would enjoy studying, but I still don’t know what I want for a career. There also aren’t any photographers (at least besides the ones who shoot famous singers and such?) I look up to that I could really contact, and I’m pretty shy about things like that.
Then consider this your first assignement. You’ll be going up to people all the time starting next year
Field of Daisies, what is it you want from us? You have nixed almost every suggestion that has been made.
If you really want something, you will find the will to work towards it. If getting a good grade on your SAT is important to you, you will make time to study as part of your daily routine. If you procrastinate, then you are making a choice that studying for the SAT is not worth your effort and you don’t care about making a grade that will get you into a school you might want to attend.
If you are interested in colleges, you can look them up on their website, you can follow them on Facebook, you can email one of their admission counselors. You can find out what majors each school has, what it will take with GPA and Test Scores to get in, how much it will cost your parents for you to attend. You can choose to visit colleges and learn more about what you like/don’t like at each one as you search for the right fit for your future.
If you want to discover travel opportunities for students, that information can be googled on the internet. If you want to research famous photographers and find out how they trained, you can look in your library for books (don’t tell me, you don’t have one of those either?) or google the photographer on the internet and look for articles and interviews.
There are ways you can keep from graduating this spring, to take advantage of dual enrollment. There are technical schools, there is self-study of photography, you can move to another place in the country and get a job with a photographer and work as his/her assistant and learn the craft of photography. You can attend local community college and earn good grades to boost your chances of transferring to a 4 year college.
The world is out there, just waiting for you to explore and discover your path in life. But if you prefer, there’s plenty of excuses available to stop you from even trying.