Low GPA, but High PSAT and everything else. Where can I get in?

In all seriousness, you should consider other options than the traditional four year path.

Go to a college outside the states. The UK, Canada, and Australia could work. There are unis in other countries that teach in English. 10 Best English-Speaking Universities for International Students in 2024 | Go Overseas
I believe Germany offers free university education to English speaking students at other locations in Germany too.
Is College Free in Germany in 2024? Here’s The Truth!

If all the boring non math classes will be a hindrance to studying what you really want to study, there are other options. Test out of the boring classes by taking CLEP exams. I think the UCs might accept some credits, but you will need to check on the college board site. https://clep.collegeboard.org/
With enough credits between your AP and possible CLEP exams, you could conceivably start college with second semester soph or maybe junior standing and get right to what interests you. Regardless, you aren’t going to get away scot free without any general Ed classes. At least not in the US.

It’s not me you have to convince. It’s the AO’s at Cal. Your reading text books is admirable but that’s not going to get you in on its own.

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Please note what @ucbalumnus stated:

Regarding UCB that the OP is interested in for this thread, the L&S seven course breadth requirement cannot be fulfilled by AP or other exam credit.>

Yes, I’m not just thinking of Cal, shouldn’t have put that in. There are many public uni’s and even privates that will accept CLEP and AP credits.

However, each college’s fine print needs to be checked to see whether CLEP or AP or other exam credit can be applied against general education requirements.

Understood. Some colleges will accept a lot of credits. I have heard of students doing this. If the OP really wants to avoid Gen Ed classes, this is a viable option.

I would grind to try and get 4.00’s for the rest of your high school years then think about college.

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Universities like improvement and hard work.

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There are a lot of colleges with great math departments that are less selective. You can Google a list and many good choices will come up. Temple University, as an example, might be a possibility.

Also consider LACs, which might be more willing to overlook your GPA somewhat if you present a compelling narrative. For example, Reed College could be great for a student like you. But you’ll still have pesky Gen Ed’s at all these colleges.

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Wait - you say you were more productive than you’d ever been before in your life while hospitalized, managing to complete graduate-level coursework in abstract algebra and munkres’ topology, but you couldn’t manage your high-school-level work while hospitalized? Your HS coursework should have been so easy that it wouldn’t have taken long, especially in this highly-productive phase. Why didn’t you bother doing it?

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@Twoin18 already suggested Cambridge in the OPs previous thread and the OP didn’t engage at all.

OP, please take this advice seriously: from the way you present yourself (like other posters, I am not quite sure that I take everything you write at face value) you will not be able to tolerate college anywhere in the US, and most certainly not any college you can get into with your high school record. You aren’t able to tolerate high school at all, or jump through the hoops you’re being set, and you will not tolerate college. It’s not different enough.

From the way you present yourself, I should think Cambridge or Oxford are really your only options. And they are good options! They won’t care about your high school record as long as you graduate in good standing and can get a good letter of rec from one of your teachers. You say you have twelve AP scores with 5s - i assume one of them will be Calc BC so you just need a high SAT score and that’s the minimum hoops jumped.

What they will care about are their entrance exams. STEP for Cambridge, I believe in July, MAT for Oxford, I believe in October. It’s all on the web. Try them out, pick one (you have to pick one can’t apply to both) and go to town on the prep. It shouldn’t faze you.

Another consideration: From the way you present yourself (wanting a job with minimal personal interaction), you sound as if you might be on the spectrum. I am wondering if your hospitalisation was somehow mental health related, whether you are in some ways vulnerable, whether you’re ready to leave home or even leave the country. You don’t have to answer any of these questions! But there might be other post high school options for you for the time being, maybe something like an online coding boot camp, to pay the rent while you do math and read philosophy to your hearts content on your own.

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Not because OP has shown any interest, but because other posters have mentioned it: unless OP is fluent in German, German universities aren’t a good option at all.

While they are low cost and might fulfil the OPs criterion of “minimal personal interaction”, English language undergraduate programs are almost exclusively applied sciences (CS, and various engineering programs) at tech schools, or some kind of liberal arts knockoff. Not the OPs scene at all.

He wont be able to do pure math at a university in English.

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Math prof here at a not-so-selective university. This past semester, I had a student in my upper level math class with this attitude. Very bright, but just squeaked by with an “A” - didn’t bother showing up to class a lot, didn’t do some assignments, told me the class was “beneath his level” (Pro tip: do not say this to any teacher or professor - even if it happens to be true!). But at least he had the good sense to do the minimum to get an “A” .

As others have pointed out, any university you attend will have required classes where you are just going to have to get through them. Even within math, there may be required courses that you may not absolutely love 100%. And each professor is going to have their rules and guidelines for what it takes to get a decent grade. For graduate school, the undergrad GPA will be important.

You said you completed a graduate course in abstract algebra (at UMN, I assume). Did you take the course officially and get a grade in it? What does your university professor mentor advise you to do?

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And eventually when you get a job, you will be required to do certain things…and on a schedule.

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If I were the OP I’d worry less about where I could get in, and worry more about where I could get the kind of education I wanted and where I would thrive. I think some of the places that have been named might not provide the experience the OP is looking for…

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I apologize for not engaging in the conversations about oxford and cambridge, I didn’t even know someone mentioned it!

I want to answer a few questions people have had.

Q1: Where do you live?
A1: Michigan.

Q2: If you live in Michigan, why is your mentor at U of MN?
A2: We met online, and we correspond online via email mostly. He often grades my papers when I send them to him, and acts as a reality check for what I know and what I don’t.

Q3: Are you on the spectrum?
A3: Yes, I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome back when that was still a diagnosis.

Q4: Was the hospitalization mental-health related?
A4: Yes, the first month was at a mental hospital for a suicide attempt, and the second was due to a broken back.

Q5: What’s with the graduate course in abstract algebra?
A5: It was following UC Berkeley’s math 250a, and I completed it in the hospital. That is, I did all the problems assigned in that course and more. I was able to do it in three weeks by spending nearly all my time on it. Sadly, it was not official or for a grade.

Unrelated to those questions, I want to add that I will be living in Minnesota over the summer to meet my mentor in person, and study math and philosophy. Perhaps then I can take classes officially over the summer, and get some accreditation.

OP- hugs to you. You are obviously a very accomplished (and complicated) person.

Probably not a bad idea to figure out how to get a college education while staying close to your medical team.

Praying for your continued recovery…

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It’s okay, I don’t need a medical team anymore.

At least I don’t think so.

Does your therapist (and your parents) agree that you don’t need a medical team anymore?

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Yes.

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I’ll be frank. A 2.9 GPA may not get you int anywhere you want to go. It’s not a college ready GPA, and many schools are using test scores less and less. My advice, go to a CC and get the 4.0 your capable of getting. At that point your GPA along with your scores would be competitive at every university.

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