i’m a sophomore at a college prep school and my current average gpa is around a 3.0 (i finished with a D in chemistry, but i’m planning on taking summer school), but my dream school is UCI.
i volunteer twice a week (planning to do more), i recently got accepted into a journalism camp at Stanford, i plan to start up my school’s first ever school newspaper next year, i’m african american, i would be the first female in my family to go to college, i got a 1040 on the PSAT (doesn’t count for anything and i didn’t study for it but just to let everyone know where i’m at).
i plan to take 3 APs next year, and i want to major in journalism.
so what i’m wondering is if i should just forget about UCI and become more realistic or if i still have time?
Keep your hope up. It’s not over. Use these two years you have left and make the most out of them. Study extremely hard for the SAT and you may have a chance. Make sure you have great ECs and essays. Good luck!
I agree with @ab2002. You are still young and have a long way to go. Keep ahead in your classes, do some SAT or ACT preparation, and see where you are towards the end of your junior year.
I know people who started off worse than you and who ended up doing very well over time, including graduate degrees from top universities.
A dream is something that can be converted into a tangible accomplishment. While it’s nice to get into a school, that, of itself is not an accomplishment. It’s just a college. College is a tool to make dreams possible. It’s not the dream itself. Instead, focus your attention on what your interests are and what you want to do, and you’ll find that most schools will work.
That’s beautiful advice. For some reason, I’ve become obsessed with watching ivy league acceptance reactions and I just seem to want that same feeling of happiness for myself one day. I’m trying to Major in English, but I just want to find a good school as well. This is the first time that I’m searching up colleges and I’m a junior with a completed first semester.
I’m not an expert, but a 3.7 seems a bit low for your targets without something exceptional. I don;t have any schools to add to your list, but would entourage you to apply to some safety schools that you would be happy to attend and can afford.
Find a Fiske guide or Princeton review’s best colleges and read up on the colleges listed in each as ‘best for English’.
A good range would include Columbia, UChicago, Kenyon, Wellesley, Denison, Knox, Eckerd…
If you’re in-state, UCI is certainly achievable for you. I’d really focus on improving those grades and doing well on the SAT / ACT, though I love how your ECs relate to your major. Do you think you could do something beyond your school related to journalism (get published in a local newspaper, write for a popular blog) in the next few years?
@helpfulalum thank you so much for mentioning this! i definitely want to start applying for some contests that could be published somewhere…do you have any recs?
