<p>The situation is this: I went to University of Illinois at Chicago my freshman year of college and I failed 2nd semester completely (I had all C's first semester). I was dismissed from the university. I have no desire to go back to UIC; I hated the place. However, part of me still wants to go back to college and try again. </p>
<p>If I go to community college for a few semesters and show improvement, will I have a shot at UChicago? Do I even have to send them my transcript from UIC? I really want to start over. </p>
<p>FYI: I had a 34 ACT (math-31, reading-36, science-35, english-35), and I was a National AP Scholar (I got 6 5's and 2 4's--took Biology, Chemistry, German, Euro History, U.S. History, Psychology, English Language & English Lit). My GPA in HS was in the tank--I failed around 8 classes, but UIC still accepted me because of my test scores. I'm still going to have to send UChicago my HS transcript, aren't I? </p>
<p>I'll be honest: I don't think you should be thinking about the University of Chicago at this point. You might have a chance of being accepted there (not much of one), but you would still be carrying whatever baggage it is that has caused you to fail repeatedly in less challenging academic settings. I would make it a priority to deal with that. You obviously have some real intellectual skills -- and I love your screen name, one of my favorite poems from high school -- but your behavioral issues seem to swamp them.</p>
<p>Please take a step back and figure out how you are going to address those issues. Forget about Chicago; you don't need Chicago to get a good education and to find your place in life. You need to figure out how to stop failing at school. When you figure that out, then find a college not to fail at, and find things that interest you, and challenge yourself to do better and to learn more. Then, and only then, see where it takes you -- to graduate school, to a career, professional school, whatever.</p>
<p>You are in the realm of "need", not "want". You may want Chicago, but you don't need Chicago, and there are things that you need desperately.</p>
<p>Did you ever take an IQ test? I would recommend you to take one. Being bored can be a good reason for failing classes. There are quite a few highly intelligent people passing the most complicated tests but failing to get good grades at mediocre high schools/colleges. They really "need" the courses offered by colleges that are intellectually challenging (like UChicago).</p>
<p>TaiTai -- yes, I have. I went to a gifted school for a couple years in junior high. I was definitely bored in HS, but I'd say I failed at UIC due to laziness more than boredom. Calc II is challenging to everyone.</p>
<p>Also, if you're closer to the North Side, I would check out any kind of continuing ed offerings at NU (Northwestern).</p>
<p>It sounds like you want to take classes and be academic even though you don't right now have quite the ideal track record, so continuing ed programs might be a good way for you to recenter and reposition yourself for college success. But I would also take JHS's advice to the T.</p>