I don't have what it takes...thanks to high school apathy

Transfer Students
1

<p>I just got rejected from Johns Hopkins. It was a stupid idea to apply, my advisor made me do it. However, even though I just got rejected, I’ve been concerned about getting into any good schools! I’m not applying to a top 10, but it’s just really been frustrating to see how competitive even transferring has gotten!</p>

<p>I had a 4.0 my first semester at a community college. As of the end of my second semester I have a 3.71 GPA. This was due to the fact that I received a C in a horrible biology class, which I only took because apparently you must take 3 science classes with lab courses in order to get into GWU’s Political Science program. This summer I’ll be taking my final math class (other than statistics) and it’s worth 4 credits. I’m going to try my best of course. Hypothetically if I can pull off an A in this 4 credit summer course, and then make straight As next semester (I know I will because I’m taking classes which I’m actually interested in, plus I’ve learned my lesson from last semester) which should bring my GPA back up to a 3.85 at least, what chances do I have of getting into a schools like these:</p>

<p>-Brown
-Johns Hopkins
-Georgetown
-George Washington University
-Kenyon</p>

<p>I had a 3.0 average in high school, and my SAT scores were incredibly low. In fact, the math was embarrassingly low. I’m entering my sophomore year, and every college tells me that I should NOT retake the SATs because they “predict how well you’re going to do in college, and if you can prove them wrong, that’s sufficient enough.”</p>

<p>I know it’s my fault I didn’t do as well. I didn’t understand the importance of the SATs. And back then I wanted to go to a state school. Now I REALLY want to get into these schools. Brown may seem unrealistic, but hopefully my essay will convince them I’m no slacker…anymore.</p>

<p>And GWU says that after a certain amount of credits they I am not required to send in my SAT or high school transcripts. As for Hopkins, SAT scores are not required for transfer admissions either. </p>

<p>Do I have any shot at getting into any of these schools?</p>

<p>BTW: Brown wasn't my idea. My psychology/sociology professor is convinced that my "intellectual thinking" is perfect for a school like that, and that I would do wonderful there. Keep in mind, her sister went to Brown, and so is her son, while her brother went to U-Penn. So, she's aware of the amount of work it takes to get in.</p>

2

<p>Your problem is colleges don't want to see a downward trend. You better make classes that you did poorly in look like a fluke. If you started out with the C's and then got a 4.0 it owuld look much better. I'm going to say what i've said countless times about these colleges. They are extremely competitive and even with a 4.0 you are not guranteed admission. There is definitley a luck of the draw type deal involved with them. Good luck and do your best next semester, your gpa is high and will remain cometitive if you keep it up</p>

3

<p>Well, I was taking 6 classes, plus doing two honors projects. Do you think they'll notice that?</p>

4

<p>For the love of your future, take the SAT please. It's true that if you attending a college (perhaps one known for its acacemics prowess), then you don't have to take the SAT again, but you're not. Different CC has different standard; some, like those of California, are pretty rigorous, but some are not. These colleges need something to measure your progress by, and since it's doubtful that they have ton of transfer students from your respective CC, they can't tell how worthy your 4.0 is. The SAT or ACT gives them another opinion on how to view your GPA. It doesn't mean that a high SAT will equate to automatic admissions, but it will help boost your credential.</p>

<p>P.S.
With all respect to your advisor, she really doesn't know the amount of work at Brown or Upenn unless she attending it; even students within the university might not know how to weight each other workload due to different curriculum of individual colleges within the school and their major. Another advice is if you are interested in these schools, research everything about them: their strong and weak points (academics, professors, research or teaching oreinted, campus, student body and etc). Applying without knowing why you want to be there is asking for a rejection. Finally, please get some safety or match; all of your listed schools are pretty hard to get into and don't let the percentage of admitted students fools you.</p>

5

<p>While in theory you shouldn't need to re-take the SAT, because you have already proven how well you can do in college, if your SAT is out of range for the schools you want, you really would be wise to re-take. </p>

<p>I say that reluctantly, as I hate to see too much time, $ and effort spent on standardized testing. But the scores will hold you back at any schools which consider them. So re-take in your own best interest. Or apply to SAT-optional schools and then it won't matter.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

<p>btw, did you submit SAT scores to JHU? They were SAT optional when my S applied as a transfer. He didn't submit and he got in. SAT scores were not his strong suit.</p>

6

<p>No, I didn't submit my SAT scores to JHU, as you said, they did not require them. I knew I wasn't going to get in because I only had 9 credits to my name, and by the time I got all of the credits I needed to transfer, it was too late. My advisor knew this, but unfortunatly he wouldn't listen. Hopefully if they see that my grades continue to stay where they are, or improve a little more, and see that I am really interested in their school, they'll consider me. Math is not my strong area, but I'm a Political Science major not a Engineering or chem major. I hope they reconsider when I apply again next year. I have As in my English, and History classes, as well as my social science classes. I know I'll do well in Economics, Political Science, and my next history class next semester because I'm VERY much interested in all of those, and I understand the concepts perfectly (my friends take these classes and I know the material). </p>

<p>For GWU, they tell me that after 30 credits I don't need to submit my SAT nor my high school transcripts. Same with American University. </p>

<p>Brown is going to be a stretch for me, hopfully my essay woos them, but I'm NOT holding my breath or anything, I know what it takes to get in.</p>

<p>Right now, my two main schools that I want to get into are GWU and Hopkins.</p>

<p>And almost every school tells me NOT to retake the SATs because it's obvious that I have improved. </p>

<p>My real chance will come when taking the LSAT for law schools. I KNOW what it takes, and I'm prepairing for that NOW, even though the LSAT is 4 years away. I won't let this test score thing screw me twice. </p>

<p>What do you guys think, is GWU incredibly hard to get in, I know it's not THAT selective, but almost everyone there is a Poli Sci major.</p>

7

<p>Somebody else asked about transferring to Brown the other day. I looked up the figures on collegeboard: 1085 applicants, 33 admits (not sure which year this refers to). The admit percentage is less than Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. Why waste your money?</p>

8

<p>dont retake the SAT's. It holds very little weight in their decision if you're applying as a junior. Just nail your math course over the summer and if you want to blow them away, take a tough math course(like a proof class or something) in the fall. If you had a low english score on the SAT's then take a 400 level english class and ace it.. Seriously they could care less about your SAT's. Theres a dude with a 27 ACT who got into yale, another guy with a 1250 SAT score who got into upenn. Truth is, these colleges will be much more impressed by how well you do in a college level math & english courses than how well you do on the SAT's, two years out of high school. Write amazing, imaginative essays, get excellent professor recs and apply.The SAT is for high school kids- you're no longer in high school. I would use that 'SAT fee' money to buy a nice pair of dada shoes..</p>

<p><a href="http://www.eastbay.com/catalog/advancedSearch/brand--Dada/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eastbay.com/catalog/advancedSearch/brand--Dada/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>I placed in English 101, regular English class. I got an A, then took the next one, which is more of a literature class. Also got an A, and did an Honor's Assignment, so with that, my transcript should have an "HN" next to the A. </p>

<p>I do well in all of my classes, except for Biology. I got a C, but it was a one credit class. </p>

<p>As for Brown. As I already said, I KNOW how hard it is to get in. I want to do it for the heck of it. It's the same reason people apply to Harvard, knowing that they have no chance. It's just a fun experiance. BELIEVE ME, it's not like I have my hopes up or anything. </p>

<p>But as for GWU, I really do have faith that I'll get in...hopefully.</p>

10

<p>what was your sat score.. just wondering</p>

11

<p>for the math? Let's just say I scored in the 9th percentile...</p>

<p>And no, I DID NOT study for the SATs. Nor did I really ever take it seriously. I went to a bad school, in a bad area, which is no real excuse. I consider not taking high school as seriously as I should have (3.0 average) and not studying for the SATs one of the biggest mistakes in my life. </p>

<p>Again, I'm really changing that now. I've even begun studying for the LSAT, which is 5 years away!</p>

12

<p>Not trying to offend you, but I wouldnt count on brown or any other top 20 for that matter.</p>

<p>There were plenty of 4.0 students WITH good ec's that got rejected this year by the top schools, and from what I've seen the only transfer students that actually made it out of a cc to a top school had something extremely valuable to offer. For example, one of my classmates from my ccc was admitted to Columbia, but she grew up in South Africa, came to the U.S. only a few years ago, had a cumulative 4.0, honors program, was one of the founders of the volunteer center (now a major campus institution that has many paid employees), and was on the national decathlon team representing the state of California. From what I've seen, I'm pretty sure top schools want something more than a slightly above-average student who has shown improvement since High School. It would be unrealistic to hope that they would choose you over someone who has: a higher gpa, higher test scores, better high school performance, and better extracurriculars. You may be able to write a good convincing essay, but it most likely won't be enough to sway the adcoms away from making rational decisions.</p>

<p>The advice I can offer you is to go to a school that has transfer agreements with whichever cc you are attending. For example, my ccc turns over 95% of its honors program applicants to UCLA. It's very difficult to go to UCLA straight from High School, but I would say its moderately easy to go from a ccc (many of my friends got in with 3.5's and no extracurriculars).</p>

<p>I may sound bitter and mean, but I can assure you that I am giving you my honest opinion, based on my own experiences. I am 99% sure I could have gotten into Cal or UCLA with my stats, but I was assured by my counselors that I could get into a top private school so I didn't complete IGETC and didn't apply to any UCs. I applied to a bunch of top schools like U Chicago and Columbia, and was rejected by all of them. The only schools which accepted me were USC and NYU CAS, and I have decided on NYU. Even NYU, which I considered to be a safety, turned out to be fairly risky. This year, they rejected many applicants with similar stats to mine, so I am thankful that they accepted me.</p>

<p>I would never have imagined saying this two years ago when I enrolled at my ccc, but don't listen to your counselors when they say any school is possible if you try hard and get a good gpa. That's simply a lie. I can assure you that ALL applicants have good gpa's, so you need to find something else that no one else has, and work on it until you think you would really be contributing something to the school you are applying to. Another real life example: the student I referred to earlier who got accepted to Columbia will not be attending. She is going to a small local private school because she is so deeply involved with her community, and with the new programs she has helped established at the cc.</p>

<p>To sum it up, I wouldn't count too much on the top 20s taking you. Definately apply (you never know), but if I were you I'd talk to a counselor and see if there are any schools with transfer agreements. Regarding the SAT score, I wouldn't bother retaking it if you have done well in any college level math classes (calculus and up).</p>

13

<p>Believe me, I'm not counting on the Top 20s. But, I'm still hopeful that a school like GWU takes me. If not, then I might as well just go to the local state college.</p>

14

<p>I don't necessarily think having a low test score or the one C will kill you, but not having something unique to offer might. It's the crass reality of being in a very competitive pool where a school can pick from the 4.0's only: you need to show Brown, GWU, wherever you are applying that you would make positive and good things happen at their campus and beyond it, and that throwing you into the mix would be a good fit for you and a great asset to them and their student body.</p>

<p>If your sociology professor has reason to believe you would be a good fit and able to do something spectacular with a Brown education, you need to brainstorm with him how to show them this really is the case. If you don't have the quirkiest background or the most impressive EC's, maybe work on a lengthier, intellectually heavy-weight essay (and I'm talking as in sending in an actual extra copy of work you've done, not just the mandatory personal expose)? I'm the "dude" (well, last time I checked, not really :) ) that got into Yale from a cc and I sent in a sample of my written work in addition to the mandatory material. This is one of the ways you can help the adcom to differentiate between your 4.0 and someone elses, and get a feel for what kind of mind is behind that number.</p>

15

<p>Some schools explicitly state that you are not to submit any work from school. </p>

<p>I had a 3.4 in HS. That includes one F in a ceramics class. 1760 SAT and a 23 ACT. I took both in college. 3.86 GPA over the course of 52 hours at a community college. I got 3 rec's: one from a HS teacher, and two college profs. My HS teacher's said something about me having the highest vocab score in her 30 years of teaching, and both my collge profs said I was one of the best they've ever had. I gave my prof's guidance on what to write about. My history teacher wrote about the research paper I did. I had tons of independent learning, stuff I've been learning on my own for years. I started web design when I was 13, etc etc. I had plenty of EC's, but I focused on one or two organizations and didn't join every club. </p>

<p>Anyway, point is I'm going to Brown next year. </p>

<p>btw frrrph I have a friend going to Yale grad school next year, and since I'll be close I'm going to visit. So maybe we'll bump into each other lol.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for the advice! I am in the Honors Program, which isn't really a big deal. Something "else" to offer? That's a good one. Perhaps I should start my own club. </p>

<p>Right now I'm trying to get a couple of internships and help work with a local politician. I highly doubt any of that will help or anything. All I can do is hope for the best. </p>

<p>I am Middle Eastern, but I highly doubt that will help, considering their are many Middle Eastern students who get into good schools.</p>

<p>I know GWU won't be too hard to transfer to, but I still worry from time to time. </p>

<p>Aside from that, thanks for the advice people! And congrats on your admissions to those schools.</p>

17

<p>Congratulations renix! Its great see other Comm. College students who turned it around after HS get the opportunity to attend such fine institutions.</p>

<p>To the OP: If you keep your grades high and continue to do well GW should be more or less a safety. But keep in mind that Poli Sci is one of the more sought after degrees at GW thus making it harder to transfer into than other majors.</p>

18

<p>Thx man. I even took a 4 1/2 year break between HS and college.</p>

19

<p>More power to you!</p>

20

<p>Damn, after today I am less cynical of the community college system. It CAN get you places.</p>

<p>I was accepted to Northwestern (Economics) today.</p>