<p>Hi, I'm a college sophomore looking to transfer out of community college. I was pretty lazy/depressed in high school and became the black sheep of my family by making it into the dismal 7th decile class rank. I failed a few classes that I had to retake for a 5th year in hs. Despite all this, I managed to get a 1400 SAT and 223 PSAT (which qualified me for national merit semi-finalist status). I managed a 4.0 avg at community college for 2 years and have decent cc extra-currics including acting in school plays, writing for cc newspaper, social service clubs. I'm looking to apply to my state's best public school (UofIllionois-champaigne), prestigious private schools such as Northwestern and WashU, LACs such as Kenyon and Bates, and others such as NYU, Rochester, UNC, Madison, and Indiana. What are my chances considering my poor hs gpa and being a 5th year "super-senior"? Thanks for taking the time to read this</p>
<p>Go to U of I. You'll have so much fun. Northwestern and Wash are also good choices. Think about whether or not you want to be <em>somewhat</em> close to home. I actually might transfer to U of I. I think you have some good chances, but you should also look to trim your choices. Just focus on a few schools. In my opinion, if you're in state for U of I, it doesn't make sense to transfer to any other public school, especially if you're doing engineering. That's just my view though. But I've got a few other reaches. In total I'm applying to 3 schools for transfer. I don't think you're hs GPA and 5th year will be too bad, because you've done well in college, just explain yourself in the essay and keep your grades up, and I think you'll be fine.</p>