<p>I posted this earlier but I forgot to mention that a certain counselor of mine indireclty insulted me. She said I would be better off going 2 years at a community college and then transferring, because I applied very late (Dec 9th) and that my grades weren't good enough, and also because of my lack of extracurriculars. Is it true? I'm beginning to actually agree with her because I hardly challenged myself in highschool, and I have like no extracurriculars.. tell me what you think?
o Freshman Year
-- No advanced classes
-- No extracurriculars
-- 2.46 GPA Average of three trimesters
o Sophomore Year
-- No advanced classes
-- No extracurriculars
-- 3.54 GPA Average of three trimesters
o Junior Year
-- Honors Algebra II
-- JV Tennis
-- 3.75 GPA Average of two semesters
o Senior Year
-- AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Literature, Precalculus, C++
-- Self studying AP Calculus, AP Physics
-- Will be on Varsity Tennis in spring
-- 4.00 GPA Will be first semester
o Cumulative 3.18 GPA Without senior grades
o Rank - 228/505 when I apply, most likely 200/505 after first semester
o SAT 1840 (Waiting for new scores.. probably got 1900-2000)
o ACT 26
o Good recommendations
o Good essays where applicable
o Intended major(s) Chemical engineering, Business administration
o Schools that I applied to:
-- Indiana State
-- Michigan State
-- Ohio State University
-- Penn State University
-- Purdue University
-- Truman University
-- University of Missouri @ Rolla
-- University of Pittsburgh</p>
<p>The SAT scores aren't an indicator of your potential at college. The GPA is the most important factor. Your work and progress over 4 years (colleges consider 2 of them) is much more important than just one test you take one day. </p>
<p>A community college route is not a stupid route. Many intelligent individuals end up at community colleges, because of monetary reasons. </p>
<p>If you have a low GPA, then it's a smart route. But I wouldn't say that for you. </p>
<p>The majority of colleges you will apply to will disregard your freshman GPA, seeing it as a transition year. Michigan State does, Penn State does, Purdue does, and I don't know about the rest of the schools because I haven't researched them. They will all see your GPA as 3.65, which isn't low at all. </p>
<p>Don't worry about test scores. They are incredibly overrated on this message board. I've seen numerous kids get rejected from schools that have high acceptance rates, simply because their GPA isn't up to standards. However, i've seen kids with crappy test scores, get into top universities. My classmate got into Michigan with a 3.8 and a 24 ACT, whereas I got deferred with a 3.6 and a 29. </p>
<p>I second the Indiana notion. They have a top 10 business school for undergraduate, ahead of all the other schools you've applied to.</p>
<p>IMO, most GC's are very conservative - they would rather see safeties than reaches on your list. Part of this is true - you should have safeties - but if you never apply to reachier schools, you have a zero chance of acceptance. The point that your GC may be trying to make is that if you don't gain admittance to a top school, you may do better in the long run by enrolling as transfer from a good CC - with top grades. Of course, you can also do this from a 4 year college - and with your 26 ACT you are in at Rolla (as long as you meet the core class requirements).</p>
<p>Best of luck with the admissions process. I think that the rising trend of your grades will help you, and that you will have choices to make in the spring.</p>