I'LL DO ANYTHING TO GET INTO RUTGERS... please read.

Transfer Students
1

<p>Ok so here's my story. I'm eighteen years old, and graduated high school in 2010. I did not apply to any colleges my senior year, due to my parents refusing to pay the tuition and forcing me to do at least a semester at a community college. Currently, that is where I am, and I absolutely despise it. I long for a real college experience. So I'm applying to transfer over to Rutgers New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, for Spring 2011. I will do ANYTHING IT TAKES TO GET IN. I need to get away from home. I have been wanting to go to Rutgers University since I was 12 years old. And I WILL make that dream a reality... somehow. Here's the thing. High school was an absolute terror for me. The toughest time of my life. I battled an issue/disorder through two years of high school, all my myself however, with no time out of school and no professional help. And I overcame it. This was a huge goal, except my grades suffered under this, along with a lot of additional emotional stress I was under. I graduated high school with an overall GPA of a 2.5. Terrible, I know. On the other hand, I do have certain things going for me. I'm tri-lingual, being fluent in English, Russian, and Spanish. My mom is fully Russian so that is the language spoken at home. And my dad is Latino/Hispanic, so we speak Spanish. On my application I put down that I was Latino/Hispanic. I also wrote a very powerful essay about my culture/ethnic background, and I know Rutgers really enforces Diversity, and diversity plays a great role in my life as well. I participated in a lot of extracurriculars though, such as International Club, and 4 different jobs. I'm interested in joining any form of International/Cultural clubs and activities Rutgers offers, and included this in my essay as well. Basically, I have spent at least 2 months stressing and planning my application and essay even before it was formally released, a few days ago. I have hardly slept, roughly 3 hours a night, and when I do sleep I have recurring nightmares about being rejected from Rutgers. My appetite has decreased as well. I'm taking the SAT'S in two weeks and hope to score higher than my ACT score, which was a 26. Maybe this will increase my chances. Oh, I'm also an in-stater, born and raised in Jersey. And I chose the following majors in my application: Undecided, European Studies, and Linguistics. I plan to go for an interview soon. I REALLY HOPE I HAVE A CHANCE. WHAT DO I DO?!??! </p>

<p>PS. Since I am Latino, would Affirmative Action play a role at all?</p>

2

<p>Make an appointment with your Community College’s Transfer adviser. He/she is the single best source of information and evaluation for you. Crank out close to a 4.0 will definitely assist your overall picture. If you’re not committed to getting close to all A’s at your community college, I’d say you have zero chance at getting into Rutgers.</p>

<p>On the face of things, I don’t think it was an unreasonable request for you to demonstrate maturity and accomplishment at the community college by your parents. It’s your parents’ money, they spend it as they please. If you have an issue with that, emancipate yourself: find a job and enroll in a full time college. Otherwise, be mature and see that what they are investing in is your longterm success: not just to sate your current desire to get away to experience a “full college” life.</p>

<p>As you said yourself, you didn’t end your HS career in flying colors. ECs are extremely secondary or even off your list for you at this point. Academics should be your primary focus. Only by excelling in your CC will you convince anyone (including admissions officers) of your readiness to go to a 4 year college. If you have a poor attitude, you’ll likely perform poorly and probably extinguish any hopes of getting into Rutgers. Then you’ll mistakenly blame your parents when all the responsibility lies in your hands. </p>

<p>If I may be frank, you’re rather obsessed with Rutgers when there’s a very strong possibility of your rejection (based on your GPA and scores). You should talk to a trusted friend/clergy/counselor about your situation. Your road ahead isn’t going to be easy.</p>

<p>Good luck to you. </p>

<p>BTW: you might want to repost on the Parents forum. Lots of helpful advice for parents/kids issues can be found there.</p>

3

<p>Public schools overwhelmingly base admissions decisions on GPA, scores and state of residence. ECs don’t matter much to them. The higher your gpa, the greater will be your chance to transfer to Rutgers.</p>