It's a long shot... but chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>I'm about to become a Junior, and Columbia has been my dream school for a really long time. I royally screwed up Freshman and Soph year. I got mostly B's and one C each year, leaving my GPA at around 3.5 </p>

<p>For extracurriculars..
Dance for 15 years by Senior year
Founder of a Habitat for Humanity Club + President for 2 years
Member of SADD, Rotary Club, Newspaper Club, Student Council </p>

<p>150+ volunteer hours by Senior year</p>

<p>The classes I have gotten a C in both years is Science (Honors Bio, Honors Chem). I plan to major in Pre-Law, so hopefully this won't have too big of an impact.</p>

<p>My other classes (mostly B's, some A's) are:
Honors English 1 and 2
Honors Geometry and Honors Alg 2
Honors Spanish both years
Honors US History and APUSH</p>

<p>This summer I'm taking a program at Columbia University</p>

<p>I know with this info, I am not on track to getting in. But I was wondering if I have any chance if I manage to get all A's Junior year. My classes will be: Honors Pre-Calc, AP World History, Honors English, AP Lang Comp, Honors Physics, Honors Spanish.
I also plan to get at least a 2250 on my SATs and a 33-35 on ACT + Writing.
I am taking SAT 2's in US History, World History, Math 2, and Lit. </p>

<p>I know I'm just becoming an upperclassman, but I need to know if I have any chance. It'll kind of guide me on how hard I need to work next year. If I can get into Columbia by completely changing my track, I will. I'll do whatever necessary, I just need to know if it's possible. Thanks so much.</p>

2

<p>Yes it’s possible. Having a high GPA doesn’t guarantee acceptance, and having an average GPA doesn’t preclude you from acceptance either. Also you have an amazing opportunity in that colleges love to see students who improve over the course of high school. Nobody expects you to be perfect. What they do expect is that you learn from your mistakes and improve. In a way, I would say doing that makes you even more appealing to colleges than just cruising with a high GPA through high school. If you can slam dunk your Junior year, that would be the best thing you could possibly do.</p>

<p>Keep dancing and having fun and such… follow your mothaflippin’ dreams dammit.</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much, that seriously motivated me. It’s good to know I still have a chance, so your response was exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks again!</p>

4

<p>Stop worrying about chances and go back to work.
If done correctly, a stellar junior year will make up for all your horrible underclassman years.</p>