Junior Year's over... now what?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi everyone, </p>

<p>I'm currently a high school junior from Southern California. Naturally, I'm considered to be pretty smart, doing well on standardized tests, having decent communication skills, and being blessed with several fortes. I don't mean to be frank, but this year, I completely crapped on my grades... and for no good reason, too.</p>

<p>Just take a look at these bad boysz</p>

<p>sophomore year: 4.0uw
junior year: 2.67uw/ 3.08w</p>

<p>I don't know what happened. I could blame many different factors (switching schools, bad teachers, can't afford a 4-year, anyway).. but I don't want to. It was all my fault. I stopped caring. In APUSH, I didn't take an FRQ or do the summer work, so my grade dropped a whole letter grade, in AP English Language, I stopped caring... at all... this semester, I let my grade drop at a C+ due to "participation," I let my teacher dock me off for it... knocking me down from a low B. I mean, heck, I didn't even show up to English for a full month. In AP Chemistry, I stopped caring this semester (rarely showing up to class), giving me a C-, and my Lab grade... I cheated once, so I'm at a B. And worst of all is Algebra II. Yeah, that's right, AP Chemistry and Algebra II concurrently... Last semester, I didn't try... at all... and this semester, same.... I got a C because of homework.</p>

<p>If you were to look at a breakdown of my transcripts, almost every grade will either be an A or an F. I'll either try, or not. For example in math, for most of the semester, I had over a 100%... I just failed two tests in a row due to my raging self-confidence. Same thing with APUSH... I could have gotten an A, but I straight up failed an exam due to me being an ass to myself and not trying.</p>

<p>If it matters, here's what it is:
(AP) Chemistry Lecture: B/C-
(AP) United States History: D+/C+
(AP) English Language: B/C+
(AP) Chemistry Laboratory: B/B
(P) Algebra II: B/C
(P) Theater I: A/A</p>

<p>I mean, I did pretty well on my US History subject test, not that it'd help me that much (700).</p>

<p>Freshman year, I lost UC eligibility right off the bat, with a 2.5, failing some classes.</p>

<p>Anyway, I'm going to my local community college. I don't want to, but I will. I dropped the ball so hard. I used to study so much last year, but I just stopped. My UC classrank dropped from top 15% to something probably higher than 50%. I've been living in stages of denial, telling myself that I have a higher GPA than I have... I've also been making up fake transcripts for myself, living in some kind of fantasy world. I know it's unhealthy.</p>

<p>I don't know what to do with myself. I need some anonymous advice, so I won't be judged by loved ones/friends, and take it too personally. What can I do? What are my options?</p>

<p>At this point, I don't care about my grades... ostensibly, these are the courses I'm going to take next year: I'm just trying to rack up college credit, by the way...</p>

<p>-(AP) Biology
-(AP) Physics I
-(AP) Statistics
-(AP) United States Government/ (AP) Macroeconomics
-(P) Madness and Identity/ (P) Children's Literature
-(P) American Sign Language III
-(P) Life Skills/ (P) Team Sports
-(P) Academic Decathlon</p>

<p>I've also self studied the following courses...
Environmental Science, Human Geography, Psychology</p>

<p>and will self study (this summer/next year)
Microeconomics, Comparative Government, Calculus ab <em>I'm good at math when I care... my grades on Alg II tests are either very high As or Fs</em>, </p>

<p>I really want to transfer to Cal. It's been my dream school since the 9th grade. I would love to some day go there for Political Science/Legal Studies... or maybe even Astrophysics... maybe if I'm exposed to all the universes' profound randomness, I'll find my own bit of profound randomness.</p>

<p>Can someone please help me out? Give me advice on what to do? I'm being honest on this thread, and I'm usually not. I'm the kind of guy who make up Thoreau, Gandhi, JFK, and MLK quotes on his essays... so I'd appreciate it if you guys were also honest (but not too realistic).</p>

2

<p>To start, if motivation is what you’re lacking, you have to find some of that, first. You won’t be able to do anything without any motivation. Getting up and just DOING all you’re talking about will be the hardest part, but once you get started and get the ball rolling on being more proactive, it will be much easier to continue on. Make a habit out of doing the next “right” thing for yourself. Instead of focusing on the bad in your situation, focus on the good. You have some time to get your grades together, and going to a community college might lead to some good experiences and even higher chances of getting better grades if you approach it correctly. Your attitude is really going to be the most important factor in deciding how the rest of your life goes, to be frank. If you look for wonderment and inspiration in the world, chances are you’ll find it and it will drive you to become the maybe astrophysicist you’ve always dreamed of :slight_smile: If study habits are your issue, I use a site called exam time for scheduling purposes, as well as for study tools like flashcards and mindmaps. If it’s all motivation, YouTube some commencement speeches made by a few successful people, and then get to work! Once you get started, you can do anything. Clearly you have the intelligence to know that, otherwise, you probably wouldn’t have acknowledged the problem at all. You might still be sitting on a couch in your home eating potato chips complaining about how the world works instead of continuing on and working for what you want. There are people who work their tails off every day to become who they want to be. You can do the same, you just have to get up and get it going. Exam Time and some motivation, and you should be set. Stay positive, stay focused. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Such widespread not caring about things yet having the skills to do well might mean you have depression - you might try talking to your doctor or a mental health professional. Couldn’t hurt.</p>

4

<p>Thanks, guys. Do either of you (or anyone else, for that matter) have any advice for what I should do starting at a CC? I really want to transfer to a UC. I’m just so lost. I’ll be able to skip out of most of my general education requirements (approx 16 APs), if that matters.</p>

5

<p>If you’re taking any community college courses next year, get A’s in them. They matter for your college GPA. Try your hardest on the SAT/ACT so you have a good score when you apply as a transfer. Get straight A+'s in your community college classes. </p>

<p>If you do well in community college, have some good EC’s/letters of rec, and an above average SAT/ACT score, you might do well in Cal transfer admissions. </p>

<p>Here’s an old thread about transferring to Cal from a CC: <a href=“UC Berkeley Transfer? - UC Transfers - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/uc-transfers/1020573-uc-berkeley-transfer.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Honestly, I wish you the best of luck. Don’t let this year ruin your future. This is completely salvageable if you can get the motivation to get better grades this year. If you ever need anyone to talk to, just shoot me a PM.</p>

6

<p>Thanks, @Vctory‌!</p>

<p>Cal doesn’t take CC SATs and ACTs, but a lot of other universities do. Would you recommend that I also take subject tests? As of now, I have only one (US History). Can I retake the SATs while in college? I tried looking it up, but couldn’t find a page about it.</p>

7

<p>From the conversations I’ve had w/ people trying to transfer, a lot of them do retake the SAT before they transfer</p>

8

<p>Oh. Great! </p>

<p>I really want to get into Berkeley, would it be okay if I kept this thread open until I transfer? For advice and stuff. It’s my dream school, and I want to make sure that I’ve taken every step possible to get in!</p>