I’m an asian male and I am depressed and worried about my chances of going to a good college because of my grades. I currently have a D+ in academic chemistry with a couple weeks of school left and one last final. If I do well on the final I could bring it up to a C- but it’s not looking good for me.
Classes and grades:
Band: A
World history: A
Honors Algebra 2: B-
English 2: B-
Spanish 2: B
Chemistry:D+
Extracurriculars:
-Varsity athlete for soccer this year and will be as a junior and senior
-Club soccer
- High school cross country
I am hoping to be scouted by colleges for soccer, but it is unlikely.
Sophomore year has been a depressing time for me. I’m most likely out of contention for UCs or any good state colleges.
Is there any hope for me for good colleges? I plan to take 1 ap and 1 honors class next year and get As in all my classes.
California resident 3.17 GPA students do have a reasonable chance of admission to UCM and most CSUs. Obviously, if you do better in 11th grade, that will increase the college choices available to you.
However, D grades disqualify the course from counting toward UC/CSU a-g requirements. You may want to repeat that semester of chemistry in 11th grade to replace the D grade, as well as take physics to have another science (presumably you have taken biology).
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/csu-uc-a-g-comparison-matrix.pdf
There are many nice schools for students with a 3.2 average. Some are affordable, too. I suspect that yourGPA will rise over time. YOu still have time. I know a student who got a D in an AP class and still got into a highly selective LAC, one that assures that if they accept you, they have 100% needs-meeting aid.
Here are some great schools for so-so GPAs–
- Beloit -- 3.2 average and low relative cost
- Drew University -- attractive school, great programs, and decent costs
- University of the Pacific--has co-op programs and takes lower GPA.
- St. Mary's of CA -- they've offered $17K merit blanket to accepted students in the past. Unsure whether that will continue
- Earlham -- produces a lot of Ph.D. students
- RIT -- tech-oriented school
- St. Olaf's -- top-notch LAC with great FA and a pretty campus.
- Hampshire -- it's part of the Five College Consortium that allows you to take about 2 classes per semester at one of the other four schools. Free buses among the schools.
- St. Lawrence -- very good school and 100% needs meeting
- Hobart and William Smith -- very good school with decent FA
- Hendrix College
- Southwestern University near Austin TX
- SD Mines -- excellent tech education even OOS tuition is reasonable
- U of Maine at Orono -- offers some excellent programs (ABET- accredited) and matches your state flagship for costs.
- U of Alabama Huntsville -- excellent education with automatic scholarships including some full tuition.
- New Mexico Tech -- excellent tech education even OOS tuition is reasonable
- St. John's Annapolis -- great books classical education
- Muhlenberg-- an all-around nice happy school
- Goucher -- cross registration at Johns Hopkins and you can get in with a video
- Bard -- entrance through the Bard Exam (no test scores, no grades).
There are probably several more nice schools like this.
I agree, a sub 3.2 GPA will make UCM a tough admit. As a sophomore though, you have another year to improve your academic record. Find a way to retake the semester you D’d and, for next year, take classes in which you are confident you can earn mostly As. I know that sounds like sandbagging but, trust me, an A in Stat is better on your transcript than a C in AP Calc.
@dustyfeathers makes a a very valid point, there are LOTS of very good schools that will be open to you - even if your GPA slips a little… Assuming you are a CA resident, (among many others)Sac, Chico, Sonoma, San Marcos, SF and most programs at SJSU would probably be open to you. There are good schools in neighboring states like UNR, Western Washington and Boise State and even U of Hawaii that offer discounted tuition under a program called WUE
http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all
Do your best, keep an open mind and good luck.
You can get that D turned into a C, and that could make a difference for you.
Yeah you’re first and main focus should be to do whatever it takes (short of cheating) to procure that C in your Chem class.
You have junior and senior year to make yor GPA better, if you want to have a wider variety of schools. Though there are good schools you can reach with your curren grades, like the people above me have already mentioned. Maybe chance me? http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2081007-chance-me-for-elite-schools.html#latest