ok here is my story

Applying to College
1

in highschool i had **** grades up until the second semester of my junior year. i pulled it together and at the end of my senior year overall had a 3.1/3.0uc gpa, managed somehow to get into UCSC and then when i got there it all went way downhill. my highschool was tiny and private, i knew everyone, knew all my professors. i had like a 2.7-2.9 all the way until second semester junior year when somehow it hit me that i really did want to go to college and be surrounded by smart people. so i pulled through, got like 3.8s and what not and tried really hard. i tanked all my classes, never got one a, and have now like a 2.1 or 2.3 or something, failed a few classes, etc etc. i really didn’t like being there, all of my teachers sucked, and i just was not in an environment where i felt stimulated or motivated.

so i took a leave of absence this quarter. i moved back to berkeley and now i’m hanging out looking for work and that sucks too, but honestly i feel so relieved not to be back at santa cruz. i mean, thats why i left, because i hated the environment there.

so what do i do? i can go back to ucsc any time, and i am 1 unit away from being a junior (i spent 5 quarters there, and even though i didnt pass like 3 classes i still have enough credits, ap credit, etc to have 89/90 units needed to be a junior) but i really don’t want to.

i really honestly wish i had just gone to community college and gotten into berkeley or yale or something, because i feel like i would honestly fit in way better somewhere more motivated. not to mention i really like uc berkeley and just wish i had gone there in the first place and had a chance.

but i don’t. now i’m just stuck either a) going back to a school i hate or b) downgrading, because i really don’t think i can do “better” than ucsc.

like what do i do? take community college classes for a while and beef up my gpa and then reapply to better schools (or whatever; places i would be motivated at)? thats i guess my only option right?

i just honestly, despite telling my fam that i want to return to santa cruz in the fall, don’t want to. i know if i go back it will be the same. i’m burnt out pretending i like it. i know i don’t.

so can you guys help me? what do i need to do to go to uc berkeley? or somewhere equivalent? i know that reading my story i seem like a horrible student and what not, but really, i think i’m kind of smart at least (well, no i don’t. ok not to toot my own horn, i don’t think i’m very smart, but everyone around me, teachers, peers, friends, family, random people i meet, think i’m at least sort of smart, and some more than that, so idk. i wish i went somewhere more intellectually stimulating, because i know santa cruz, or at least what parts i saw of it, didn’t do it for me). i got a 2070 or something on the SAT if that helps. i doubt it.

so yes, to reiterate, what do i do to go to uc berkeley or somewhere like that? please advise. i have ideas of what to do, but i wish i had some help planning it all.

2

UC Berkeley is probably impossible–by the time you pull up your grades with extra units you’d be a senior and Berk doesn’t take senior transfers.

Stop thinking of every college out there as a “downgrade.” It isn’t true and it is short sighted thinking. I highly doubt that you’d suddenly flourish at a Berk, Yale, or some other elite-branded school… It is magical thinking to believe that motivation comes from outside sources such as an ivy-leafed college campus or a name brand college.

I would suggest figuring out a campus environment that fits your interests, major, style of learning AND your GPA profile (and of course, what you can afford). My sense is that you would benefit from a small campus that you can get to know your professors well… so either a small private college or at at CSU that has a good department for your major (ie: smallish, cohesive faculty, professors that go that extra mile with their students who seem to really want to <em>teach</em> their students and spend time with them). For example, Humbolt State is certainly under the radar, but a bio or marine bio major could find a little slice of heaven up there with Humbolt’s resources in those particular majors. Go where the <em>professors</em> are happy and stop chasing a brand name!

If you want a fancy name brand degree, aim for it with your graduate degree. Remember, the professors at the CSUs all have PHDs from the elite colleges as well and will be happy to mentor you toward success and/or grad school.

What is your major?