Low GPA - Advice Needed

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi everybody. I'm in my junior year of highschool and have a 3.089 UW GPA. I think it is within my grasp to buckle down and get a 3.8-4.0 UW this year (junior). Would senior grades help me at all? Also, if I take a summer course at a local college will that count towards my GPA?</p>

<p>As far as ECs, I am in the Art Club and this will be my 2nd year on the varsity tennis team. I play guitar and sing in a band that does small venues at local restaurants. I am an aspiring writer, I don't know in what field yet. I've only taken 2 years of a language but I'm adept at translating poetry into English (not sure if that would mean anything to a college...) I've worked as a bus boy and as a clerk in a book store.</p>

<p>I got a 189 on the PSAT. 72 in Reading, 55 in math, 62 in Writing. I know that I can get these up by studying.</p>

<p>Here is a list of colleges I am considering. I am thinking mostly West Coast and upper Mid west.</p>

<p>Public:
UCLA - California
UCSC - California
UC Berkeley - California
UCSB - California
University of Oregon - Oregon
UC Davis - California
University of Minnesota, Morris - Minneosta
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse - Wisconsin</p>

<p>Private:
University of Southern California - California
Whitman College - Washington
Reed College - Oregon
Claremont McKenna College - California
Carleton College - Minnesota
Beloit College - Wisconsin</p>

<p>You will see a lot of UC schools on the list. This is because they don't take freshman GPA (my worst year) into account, and also only count core classes. I am pretty confident that I could get a 3.8-3.9 UC GPA. Unfortunately I screwed off in classes like gym and home ec and that has hurt me so the UC stance on GPA is appealing to me. Please let me know my chances for these schools and how I could improve them. Are any of these "safety schools" for me? If not I'd really appreciate recommendations of some.</p>

<p>PS: I am in two AP classes this year: Language and Compostion, and European History. I currently have As in both and know I can ace the AP exams. Would it be worth my while to take APs senior year?</p>

2

<p>As far as I know senior year grades aren’t considered at the UCs. Are you in-state for CA schools? If not are your parents willing to pay $60K/year for them? How much can they afford?</p>

<p>UCs also have distribution requirements for classes. You should check here to make sure you completed those: [A-G</a> courses | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/]A-G”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/requirements/a-g-requirements/) I’m afraid you won’t get into UCLA or UCB with those grades.</p>

3

<p>How about University of Iowa? It’s got a 78 percent admissions rate so not as difficult to get into overall but has a writing program ranked up there with NYU, Hamilton and the likes. We know a kid there now who is thriving and frankly, we didn’t think a metropolitan valedictorian would be happy there (he’s there for writing too.) </p>

<p>As for the UC’s, they vary substantially on admissions difficulty. You’ll have a better idea where you once junior year is complete and you calculate your UC gpa. UCB, UCLA, UCD will be a stretch even if you can get the UC gpa up to 3.9… UCSB and UCSC more realistic but still not safeties. I know nothing about the other publics you mentioned.</p>

<p>As for the privates, McKenna, USC, Reed, Carleton… those are all high reach/reach schools. I don’t know the others.</p>

<p>Any classes you take this summer will count as part of your Junior year so that could help. You MUST talk to your high school counselor though as not all high schools will allow college classes on the transcript… this means it wouldn’t help you GPA and you’d have to make sure your college transcript was sent to the university. Your first semester senior grades could help for many schools (just not the UC schools.)</p>

<p>I don’t know where you are at so hard to make recommendations. The California State University system would have good options for you if you lived in state. You might take a look at Willamette in Oregon. That’s a nice private LAC with some good programs but a higher acceptance rate.</p>