<p>As the topic suggests, I had not-so-good grades in high-school, even -failing- a semester of Calculus. Now I want to turn things around. My major interest is in Computer Science, and MIT definitely looks like the place to be. If there's any chance whatsoever, I want to be there.</p>
<p>However, I'm afraid my high-school grades (especially F in a math course...) may have done me in. My final GPA is about 2.7 (3.2 weighted)... all because I didn't take my homework seriously. It was far from my best, and I look back on it in shame (Hindsight is 20/20?).</p>
<p>I'm currently scheduled for next month's SAT/ACT, where I can hopefully pull off some good scores, but I still think my GPA is just too bad.</p>
<p>While all you have to lose is the application fee (you know better than I do whether you can spare the money), I have to say, it doesn't look good for you.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you can do really well as an undergrad somewhere else and try to get into MIT for grad school. Or you can do really well somewhere else and try to transfer later. Neither of these has a high probability of succeeding - the transfer admit rate is somewhat lower than the frosh admit rate - but both probably have a greater likelihood of succeeding than getting in as a frosh with a 2.7 in high school.</p>
<p>It's hard enough for people with 4.0's. Unless you happen to win the Nobel Prize in Physics between now and app time, you have a long shot of getting in.</p>
<p>Sadly enough, I think my 2.7 did put me in the top quarter of my class. I don't have my final semester grades yet, need to run by and pick up my final transcript.</p>
<p>I recall hearing somewhere that Nevada has some of the highest fail rates in the nation.</p>
<p>I'm still going to apply to some of the top Computer Science universities, as the application fee does not bother me too much. Not counting on it, though.</p>
<p>The F in math class is more than just a bad grade that lowers your GPA.
The thing you have to keep in mind is that MIT said 70-80% of it's applicants are "qualified". Getting an F for Calculus doesn't even let you be in that group, since MIT has no way if knowing if you will be able to survive the GIRs or have the discipline to completing their psets.
What did you get on the Calculus AP test? If you got a 5, that will help a little bit.</p>
<p>You probably should have been able to at least pass calculus, even while not taking your homework seriously - to be above the bar; in all honesty I'd say failing calculus is probably fatal.</p>
<p>Eh, the Calculus class I had taken was only Honors (yeah... I know). It was heavily based on homework grade though, so just doing well on the tests didn't cut it.</p>
<p>I bet if I did some self-study, I could pass the Calculus AP test. I was also taking Computer Science II AP my junior year, but did not take the test because I was moving a lot with my dad. I'd need to review some before seriously taking it; I haven't looked at a line of Java in some time.</p>
<p>Since high-school, I am now a clerk at Albertson's... my only extracurriculars to speak of would be some after-school JROTC drill (I spun rifles). I had some extra computer-oriented classes, like Website Science, Cyber Corps, and 3D Animation, but I don't think they were particularly outstanding.</p>
<p>My advice is to try to be conservative in your short-term goals. Concentrate on having a good year in school (straight A's if you can.) Don't try to make up for your mistakes by getting some research project or founding a company or something (at least not during school.) Because chances are that it won't push you over the top for the elite schools (MIT, Carnegie Mellon). More importantly, it could hurt your performance in class--which obviously you need to be paying more attention to. In a year, if you've got good scores and better grades, maybe re-evaluate your options. Another point: if you plan to transfer somewhere better from your first college, you need to recognize that college classes will be much harder than the high school classes you are having trouble with. So shoot for mastery (100%) rather than just an "A-" in your high school classes, and that will make getting "A's" in college classes much more realistic.</p>
<p>I don't know what the standards for your state flagship are, but I would guess that a 2.7 could be on the borderline. You need to be worrying about that at this point.</p>
<p>MIT might be out of the picture, but if you get your act together then at the very least transferring into an excellent comp sci. school like U. of Illinois or Carnegie Mellon after a year of college might be realistic.</p>