<p>Hi so I've posted before and no one responded but I desperately need opinions/ suggestions. Seriously, please help me.
I am currently a junior with a GPA of 2.8. My freshman and half of my sophmore year were bad, really bad I guess. in the 2.5-2.6 range. The last half of my sophmore year I got a 3.0 and this past semester I got a 3.4 but my overall GPA is still only 2.8.
I went to see my guidance counselor today about my senior year schedule and I now feel more anxious than ever about not being able to be accepted into any decent college. She made it sound like certain schools that I thought I stood a chance at were completely out of the question( I live in Indiana and she said IU was getting really hard to get into??)
Anyways, I'm all for being realistic but I'd like to think I have at least a shot at getting into a decent school. Am I completely wrong? And if I am, what should I be looking into?
I've had my heart set on going away to a big state school and now it seems like that's impossible. Please help me out, any suggestions/ideas would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Colleges like to see an upward trend in grades: so, go for the big shot. Try and keep straight As your junior year and the first half of senior year, at least. Take a rigorous class schedule - the hardest you think you can handle without completely failing.</p>
<p>Have you had extracurriculars up till now? If so- keep getting involved in those and try to get a leadership position in them (Pres, VP, whatever). Also be thinking about where you can get good recommendations from. Maybe there was a teacher whose class you worked hard in, but struggled with- he/she might be able to comment on your perseverance or something. But you’ll need good recs and essays to balance out the bad GPA.</p>
<p>Finally, STUDY STUDY STUDY for the ACT or SAT. With a good score in the higher quartile of the range for the colleges you’re looking at, you’ll still have a good shot. 
Good luck!</p>
<p>okay.
First don’t panic!!!
Really. To relieve your anxiety go to the College board web site and search for schools that accept > 75% of the students who apply. You will be amazed at the number and names of those schools.
Second, if you are serious about doing well you have plenty of time. Prepare for your SAT or ACT and continue to do well in your remaining classes. Colleges love students who show improvement from grade to grade. They love this in a big way!
Third, grab two books by Lauren Pope. The first is 40 colleges that can change lives and the second is getting beyond the iveys. It lays out a great case for saying that there are many great schools out there that are not superselective because of years and years of great marketing.
Yes, freshman and sophomore years are important, but not nearly important as your trend and how you position yourself to a college. Are you serious about intellectual advancement? Let them see that by your continued improvement and by your preparation for your SAT or ACT.
Good luck, stop worrying, you will be fine</p>
<p>I have read (but don’t know from first-hand experience) that some colleges don’t consider freshman year when making admissions decisions. Once you find some colleges that you might like, you can go to their individual websites to see what they consider.</p>
<p>I took the SAT in January and got a 1530(writing and reading were okay but I suck at math), I plan on taking it again in may and I’m taking the ACT in April. I do plan to work VERY hard at getting a good score, I know my chances of getting into a decent school depend on it.</p>
<p>I looked at the schools on college board that accept more than 75% of its applicants but I am a little confused. There are schools on that list that I always thought were really hard to get into(Auburn) and schools that are missing that I’ve been told pretty much anyone can get into(Ball state)</p>
<p>Basically I feel like I have no way of knowing where I stand admittance wise. I know that next fall is when I would start applying but at this point I have no clue where I would apply to. I don’t want to overreach and apply to schools I have no shot at but at the same time I would like to go to the best school I can get into. How do I find out what that is?</p>
<p>The college board list is a great tool
BTW Ball st accepts 74% of students that apply. </p>
<p>Get your best combination of SAT scores (known as superscoring) and then just start to compare yourself with three groups, scores lower, about the same, and higher and then start to build your list.
Not that hard really
PM me for help if you like</p>
<p>Really? only 74%?? I thought it would be much higher…</p>
<p>How is that possible? I looked on the princeton reviews website and it says Ball state has an average GPA of 3.3. Auburn and the University of Oregon(just throwing out names that were on the list here) were 3.5 and 3.7. So does that mean someone has a greater chance of being accepted at these schools than Ball state? just curious.</p>
<p>As an Indiana resident, you will have a much better chance of getting into an Indiana public school than out-of-state publics like Auburn or the University of Oregon.</p>
<p>There are plenty of schools that will accept a student with your stats. College board .com can give you a starting point, but now you need to start narrowing. Talk to your parents about how much you can afford. I know you said you wanted a big school, and maybe Ball State fits the bill, but maybe consider a few small schools as well. Do you want a specific program of study? Some kind of extracurricular activity that not every school offers?</p>
<p>If you can, try to visit a few schools over your spring break. That will help clarify your thinking.</p>
<p>I want to go to a big school. I just can’t imagine college any other way. I go to one of the largest high schools in the state and for me it would just feel weird going from that to a small, private college. </p>
<p>The thing is I feel like i’ve already been told I don’t have much of a chance at Indianas bigger state schools(IU, Purdue) so other than Ball state I don’t have many options. Or at least that’s the way it seems. So if I wanted to go to a Big, state school it seems like I would almost have to go out of state.</p>
<p>I want to be a physical therapist so I would probably look into schools that offer have undergrad programs in athletic training or kinesology(sp??)</p>
<p>There’s a Midwestern compact among Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin under which residents of fellow states can get tuition discounts. You might want to check the big publics of those states to see if they offer the program you are looking for. If so, you might find it affordable.</p>
<p>[MHEC</a> : Student Access: Midwest Student Exchange Program (1)](<a href=“http://www.mhec.org/MidwestStudentExchangeProgram]MHEC”>http://www.mhec.org/MidwestStudentExchangeProgram)</p>
<p>I looked at the link and most of those have GPA requirements that I don’t meet, so I don’t think I’ll have much luck with that.</p>
<p>I also checked out some of the books that someone mentioned earlier. They seem to be very focused on the small, liberal arts college. That’s not really what I had in mind, I would REALLY like to go to a bigger school. But still, I’ll read them and try to keep an open mind.</p>
<p>I took the princeton reviews’ best fit college search and looked into some of the schools that it gave me as a match. I was actually surprised at the number of matches it gave me and a few of them stuck out to me. Does anyone know anything about the university of Kentucky? I got that as a match. I’m only curious because a) It seems like a nice state school b) it’s in a nearby state( not too bad distance wise) and c) I looked at the tuition rates and even for out of state it doesn’t seem ridiculous.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me if i’m completely looking in the wrong direction here?</p>
<p>*I want to go to a big school. I just can’t imagine college any other way. *</p>
<p>Do you know if your parents will pay for any school? Have they said how much they’ll spend each year? If not, find out. That will likely have the biggest impact on where you can go.</p>
<p>However, if money is no object, then there are some big schools that will accept you.</p>
<p>Oh my (OP), your original post summed your dilemma up quite nicely (“should a 2.8-2.9 gpa apply to? Junior this year. Didn’t do so hot freshman year. Grades have shown a steady improvement. Kinda liking the idea of a bigger state school(if that’s possible) somewhere in the midwest or maybe even down south? ANY suggestions would be very much appreciated”), but you are listing your ‘problem’ in the wrong section. </p>
<p>First you listed it in “Chances” and now “Admissions”. Try listing your concern in the “College Search” section in a few days with a similar heading and see what responses you get.</p>
<p>How much can we afford? honestly, nothing. My parents will be making under 50,000 a year by the time I start applying. Now correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe that makes us eligible for grants. maybe?? I don’t really understand the financial aspect of this either. Neither of my parents went to college. I will be first generation. Do schools base admission decisions on what a family can afford? If so, that’s kinda lame:(</p>
<p>And yes I didn’t really know where to put this. Thank you and I guess I’ll try it on another topic some other time.</p>
<p>You might qualify for some federal grants, but not enough money to go out-of-state. You would get a few thousand dollars. But, to go OOS will cost at least $30k…so, you’d be very short in aid.</p>
<p>OOS publics don’t give financial aid to OOS students to help cover the big costs. OOS publics can’t meet the needs of their own residents. UVa and UNC-CH are the exceptions, but you don’t have the stats for those. The schools that meet need are the top schools and your stats won’t qualify for those. </p>
<p>your stats are the problem. Privates aren’t going to be generous to students with avg stats. Privates can cost up to $50k+ per year.</p>
<p>What are your in-state schools?</p>
<p>How much can we afford? honestly, nothing. My parents will be making under 50,000 a year by the time I start applying. Now correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe that makes us eligible for grants. maybe??</p>
<p>The truth is that students with low income families and average stats have the fewest choices. They often have to start at CCs or local state schools and commuting since colleges aren’t generous to them. Colleges aren’t charities; they divvy up their money to students that make the schools look good.</p>
<p>So a federal grant would only be enough to help pay for an in state school? </p>
<p>Aren’t there some state schools where the tuition isn’t outrageous for an out of state student? At some point a while back i looked up the rates for in state tuition for IU, Purdue and Ball state. I don’t remember exactly how much they were but i want to say IU and Purdue were around 18,000(tuition and room and board) and Ball state was a little bit lower. DON’T hold me to this. I could be wrong. The university of Kentucky says that its out of state total is around 22,000(tuition and room and board). Is that $4,000 difference such a big deal that it should stop me from going away to school? (I’m not trying to seem argumentative, I’m actually wondering)</p>
<p>In state schools are IU, Purdue and Ball state. Or at least those are the only ones that come to mind. I’ve kind of already been told my chances at IU are weak and probably even lower at Purdue. I feel safe with Ball state but I’d like more options.</p>
<p>I really want to avoid community college or going to an IU branch(I live near one and hear some not so great things about it). I would feel like I was being punished. I’ve dreamed of going away to school for so long…</p>
<p>Don’t lose hope. My son had a similar GPA at your stage and then got 3.6’s for sixth and seventh semester, which brought his cum GPA almost to 3.0. He applied to 11 schools in the west. He’s been accepted to seven schools, has no rejections and we’re waiting on the last few. Put your best effort into getting your best possible grades this semester and Fall semester senior year. Schools like the upward grade trend. And when you apply, apply to LOTS of schools to increase your chances of getting into at least a few that you’d like to attend. GOOD LUCK!</p>