Improving chances of getting into college?

My apologies if I posted this in the wrong forum, I had no idea where I should post.

I always took my academics very seriously. I grew up in an abusive household and school was always an escape for me. It was the one place I felt happy to be. When I went into high school I got accepted into the IB program, which was a dream for me. Unfortunately, I began suffering from severe depression along with an eating disorder. My grades suffered a lot and I ended up being kicked out of the IB program with a 2.14 GPA.

After my freshman year, my mom moved us to a different state, away from my entire family including my abusive father. My mental illnesses started taking an extreme toll on my health, I was having panic attacks every day at school and my insomnia would keep me awake every night. All of this lead to me dropping out of school to focus on my mental health. I started seeing a therapist and psychiatrist and began my long journey to recovery.

When I was 19 I decided to go back to school to get my diploma. I moved back to my hometown and attended an adult high school. Unfortunately, the program was shutting down soon so I was forced to do an accelerated program. I kept mostly Aā€™s throughout the program and graduated with a 3.22 GPA.

Now Iā€™m wanting to go to college but Iā€™m having doubts that I can get into a good school. All of the dream schools I had as a child are obviously out of the question due to my low GPA. Iā€™m asking for advice on how I can improve my chances of getting into a decent school. Should I start off at a community college and try transferring? Or would my best bet be lowering my standards and give up my hopes of getting into a top school?

For those wondering, when I was younger my dream schools were the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. As of now, my dream school would be the University of Michigan. I completely realize that all of these schools are completely out of the question as of now. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Congratulations on your achievement! What you have been able to accomplish is definitely something you should be proud of.

Your biggest hurdle, even more than your GPA, is finances. It is hard to tell your age or living situation are right now based on your post. Iā€™m not sure if your family is going to be helping with the finances, but if they are, sitting down and figuring out what they can contribute is great place to start. Do you live in Michigan? Your state of residence can help posters give you specific advice about what may be good options.

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Iā€™m going to let you in on a secret- virtually ANY solid, four year college/university is going to become your dream school once you are there! Hugs to you, youā€™ve had a challenging upbringing- but honestly- the difference between Super elite college A and marginally less elite college B and a tiny bit less elite college C is going to mean nothing to you once you are there!

So first things first- is there an advisor associated with the adult high school who you can talk to? Thatā€™s going to be a good resource for you, especially if you are going to need a lot of aid to attend.

Second- have you taken any standardized tests- SAT/ACT?

Third- is there a family member who is willing to help you financially, or let you live with them while you attend college???

Line up your resources (including advisors who can help you) before you start developing your listā€¦ and trust me-you donā€™t need to attend Michigan (no doubt a fantastic university) to have a life-changing experience in collegeā€¦

Hugs to you!

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Thanks for the reply!! Unfortunately, the school I was at shut down. So thereā€™s no advisor or anyone I can talk to for help. Iā€™ve been putting off taking the SAT, due to fear of not getting a good score. Iā€™ve been kind of obsessing over it, since my GPA isnā€™t the best. My mom has offered to help me pay for college, she recently got an amazing raise through work and Iā€™m so grateful to have her help through this!!

This might sound a little dumb, but my family always looked at me as the smart one. Everyone expected me to go off to a top tier college and become a lawyer. My mom ended up dropping out of college and has struggled a lot in life because of it. So I definitely feel a lot of pressure to turn my academics around and end up at a good school.

Thank you!! Iā€™m currently living with my mom in Florida. Sheā€™s planning to move up North sometime this year, however. Michigan and Illinois are her top choices to move to. Sheā€™s offered to help me pay for the majority of my tuition.

Hi I am grateful that you share your story. Certainly people here will give great advices to you, but we are not the college admission. The best way for you is simply explain your situation to the colleges admission offices that you are interested. Have them help you. I am sure you will be alright.

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Hi! Iā€™m so sorry that you had to go through all that you did, but Iā€™m glad that you seem to be doing better now.

I would recommend that you apply to a mix of schools: community colleges, state schools, reach schools, even Oxford and Cambridge(as long as applying wouldnā€™t be a financial hardship). Explain to the schools your circumstances and they may forgive your lower gpa. Then review your offers, pick you favorite and attend, if you arenā€™t happy there try to transfer after your first year. On the other hand if none of your offers are appealing go to community college and then transfer to a four year college. Hopefully if you transfer, your first year/ community college grades will be higher than your high school grades.

Hope this helps!

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Florida has a lot of opportunities for all ages of students. There are community colleges with articulation agreements with the state universities (Santa Fe for UF, Valencia for UCF) and others in different cities that ā€˜stand aloneā€™ but have specialty programs. Some community colleges even offer 4 year degrees (not in all majors). There are also a lot of state universities that arenā€™t the ā€˜biggiesā€™ but offer good programs. U of North Florida in Jacksonville is really nice, as are FIU, West Florida, Gulf Coast. All are very affordable for residents, plus offer merit.

Michigan will be still be there for grad school.

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I am not sure of your timeframe, but if you intend to go to college, youā€™ve missed the application deadlines to start in September for highly selective schools. But you havenā€™t missed the deadline for most less-selective state colleges, which might be the best place to start. I suspect that you might find community college to be less than challenging. You might want to apply to start at your local Florida state college. Honestly, I suspect that if you were to contact the admissions office at your local state college early tomorrow morning, they might set you up to apply, be admitted, and be given a financial aid package to start this semester, the spring semester, which is probably starting this week. You could get started inexpensively while living at home, get excellent grades, and transfer somewhere.

Once I called a local state college because a promising young woman whom I knew through the course of my professional life was planning on starting at community college, due to money issues. I called up the local state college admissions office - they said, ā€œHave her come right down. Weā€™ll admit her and give her a scholarship to make the tuition no more than community college tuition would have been for her.ā€ And it was only a month before classes were to begin. I know that a month is longer than a few days, but if they have sessions that havenā€™t yet begun, I have a feeling that theyā€™d be very helpful in getting you admitted and enrolled.

In this yearā€™s application environment, no need for you to worry about taking an SAT/ACT. And Iā€™d stop focusing on a dream school, and instead think about what you want to study, what youā€™d like to work at when youā€™re done. Blossom is right - any good 4 year college will become your dream school once you get started. A semester of straight Aā€™s at your local state college this spring, and you might find yourself at Gainesville in September.

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