<p>hi there, new to the forums, but i have a question that has been eating at me for months...............
I had two hip surgeries, one during freshmen year, and the next during my sophomore year, the recovery was very difficult, and s a result, i missed a TON of school and my gpa is quite low. i am junior and it is about a 2.1.... i plan on taking AP english, physiology, and take community college courses next year as part of a running start program, but i am wondering if this is enough to get me into a decent university (anywhere really)... i don't want to have to go to community college if i can avoid it. I know i will be able to write a good essay and get recommendations from my counselors and teachers, and I am doing pretty well grade wise now.
Anyone been through something similar, or care to share some words of advice? thanks</p>
<p>Here are my words of advice. </p>
<p>Work as hard as you can over the next 11-12 months or so. Take the most challenging courses that you can, as long as you feel you can handle the work. Sign up to take the SAT or ACT at least one time this Spring. The deadline for the March SAT is coming up (Feb 10th I believe.) You can sign up by visiting your guidance counselor for help or by doing it yourself through Collegeboard.org </p>
<p>In May or June, once you have at least one set of scores from ACT or SAT and your GPA is hopefully a bit higher, you can start looking at schools that might be available to you. </p>
<p>If you truly want to matriculate at a 4 year college, I believe you can accomplish this. However, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication on your part. </p>
<p>You do have an interesting admissions essay topic however. I would think that not many teenagers have gone through the surgeries you have. </p>
<p>Good luck to you, and let us here on CC know how you are coming along.</p>
<p>2.1 is fairly low, but one thing to keep in mind is you do have a reason for it not being high and there is a place on college apps to put down reasons. You probably could get into some non-community colleges with a 2.1, but to increase your chances at more competitive schools, I would:</p>
<ol>
<li>Increase gpa (above a 3.0 would be good). If you get it higher it will make your surgery look like more of a cause for the low gpa which would be better on college apps.</li>
<li>Take standardized tests (again, good scores can help demonstrate that your low gpa is a result of surgery and not laziness on your part)</li>
<li>Build up ECs</li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck!</p>