I made a post similar to this around a year ago, but now that I have more info I thought it’d be worth asking again. Different account because I forgot my password lol
So I got really awful grades (almost entirely C’s and D’s) in 9-10th grades, but in 11th grade I got nearly straight A’s in my courses leaving me with a 2.46 GPA right now at the start of my senior year, with an upward trend that’s something like (2.0 in 9th grade, 1.5 in first half of 10th, 3.0 in last half (mostly due to A’s in bio and English), and 3.8 in 11th)
I’m going to be applying to universities in my home country as well as universities here (it’s way cheaper and generally less selective over there, and overall the whole vibe at those unis feel more right for me) but I should probably apply to some colleges here in the United States as well just in case my parents object or something.
I’m already aware that community college is an option, so where else could I try applying? I’d appreciate any advice on targets and maybe reaches if I would have any chance at any lol. Thank you (:
GPA: 2.46 (3.11 UC GPA, but I don’t meet A-G requirements because of grades below a C- )
SAT: 1410 (770 R/W, 640 Math)
Location: California
Extracurriculars: Nothing notable – I have a sort of informal job proofreading/editing documents that my dad translates between English and my native language, but all of my other ECs are just personal hobbies
Desired Major: Linguistics/language or biology?
Some colleges I’m considering right now are: University of San Francisco, UO, Oregon State
I’ll appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you (:
Since you live in California, what about attending a CA community college and then transfer via TAG to a UC or ADT to a Cal state which would open up more options?
Transferring will give you more time to fine tune your study skills and will help make your college education more successful along with the chance in attending some higher rated schools vs. the options with your current GPA.
You will find community college very easy. I agree that if you are a CA resident, your best bet is CA community college with a transfer agreement to a UC school that you want to attend, from which you’d like to have a diploma. Any UC will offer Biology. For Linguistics, UC Berkley is tops, but most of the other UCs also have Linguistics. It doesn’t look as if Berkley has a guaranteed agreement with any UC community college, but if you have straight A’s, strong recommendations, and a compelling reason to go there (like Linguistics), you might get in. Assuming you’re a CA resident, this is by far your cheapest route to a degree.
If you decide to do this, I suggest that you look closely at the requirements at the community college and AP or CLEP as many classes as they’ll accept, to cut down your community college experience to one year. In addition, you can start in the summer semester of 2022 (you’d probably have to begin before high school is over, but that’s definitely possible), and you’d have two semesters of straight A’s and be nearing your associate’s degree at the time of applying for transfer in spring of 2023. Believe me when I say that for someone with SAT scores like yours, all you have to do to get straight A’s is to just do your work every day, and you’ll ace everything.
Just curious - what is your “heritage” language - the language that your parents were raised speaking, and that it sounds as if you’ve probably had some exposure to?
UC transfer admission stats by campus, major, and college GPA (high school stuff not considered except as options to meet some low level requirements).
Note: AP, CLEP, etc. scores must be checked for how UC and each campus accepts them, not how the community college accepts them. CSU acceptance of scores can also differ.