<p>To be a successful teacher (and yes, professors are teachers), you need two things - love of your subject and a love for your students. The second is as important as the first. Can you love even for those kids who aren’t bright? who you don’t think “belong” in college? It’s important to consider those things as you embark on a career path that involves teaching. BUT, at 17 you have a lot of time to change your mind, maybe even several times.</p>
<p>So, in the top 50% of your class, consider what often gets the moniker “lesser” or “no name” LACs on CC. With good test scores and a reasonable GPA, you can get smaller merit awards at those kinds of places. And even though these places are dismissed on CC, they are often places that offer a fine education. If you go on to grad school, high grades from one, along with a strong GRE, will get you where you want to go. Another chioce might be one of your smaller state schools. Often, these are reasonably priced. Again, high grades and a good GRE will get you into a good grad school.</p>
<p>It seems like you have realized that you made some mistakes and that your attitude needs to change. That’s the first step. It’ll be tough, as you may have developed some habits that are hard to break, but you can do it. Good luck.</p>
<p>Because that’s what a truly smart person does. If the class is indeed so “beneath” you, the smart person does the work quickly (since it’s no effort, right? easy A?) and then moves on to whatever challenging self-study he enjoys, or just kicks back and enjoys the break. A truly smart person doesn’t not-do work he can do easily.</p>
<p>The part of the attitude that is so concerning to me is your dismissal of your teachers. Now, I don’t know whether you have had good ones, bad ones, or in-between. Having said that, there is really no one in this world that you cannot learn something from. No one. And that something may not necessarily be about the academic subject matter. But having some humility - that maybe other people indeed know some things about academics – or life – that you don’t, and you should learn from them – is a really important point of view to have as you mature.</p>
<p>@KKmama: You are very well correct. I think too much and feel too little. I just filled out the form to take calculus over the summer (no credit given though) but it might not work out because they say they limit highschool students to only 3 units, and the calculus class is 5. </p>
<p>Perhaps, I do not need two doctorates to validate my credentials. Honestly though, in the field of Science, you will never get bored. There are so many things we humans do not know. There are just discoveries waiting to be found. If you find something cool, wouldn’t you want to tell everyone you meet? That is how I see it. The universe is just so fascinating. </p>
<p>I have been looking at all the small private schools. Around 5000 students and under. I did that specifically so they have a longer time to view my application and decide compared to big state schools. I mean people call me manipulative like this.</p>
<p>If you are just finishing your junior year, you still have time to make some changes. </p>
<p>(1) You can improve your SAT score. Get the College Board SAT book, study over the summer, and re-take in the fall. Your goal is not just to lift your math section score, but to do the best you possibly can on all three sections.</p>
<p>(2) If you haven’t already taken (and aced) two or three SAT subject tests, do that in the fall, too, having prepped over the summer.</p>
<p>(3) Use this summer wisely. Show commitment by finding a job (paid or volunteer) and doing it really well.</p>
<p>(4) Get great grades in all your senior year classes.</p>
<p>(5) Impress your teachers with a positive change of attitude. Start off senior year doing all your schoolwork and contributing in your classes. Give them something positive to say in letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>You may need more time to demonstrate the turned-around attitude. A lot of kids start off at community colleges, work hard and impress their professors there, and then transfer to great bachelors degree programs. That path also has the advantage of saving lots of money, which sounds like an issue for you and your family.</p>
<p>That’s not manipulative (somehow I get the feeling you are not opposed to being called this). This is choosing a holistic admissions process over a numbers based admission. There’s nothing wrong with playing to your strengths. You will have to. If you want a smaller university that’s fine. Don’t assume that all large universities are stat based. There are plenty that read holistically. Check their common data set to see what they rank in highest priority when selecting applicants. Even GA Tech reads holistically now…a huge departure for them over the last 5-7yrs.</p>
<p>Being an Asian male will be a hook at many LACs, and not just in the midwest. Search for a thread on this posted awhile back by Keilexandra she listed colleges that covered expenses for Asian applicants attending diversity weekends. Swarthmore was one. Bates might have been another. Are you the first in your family to go to college? That would help too .</p>
<p>The OP is in for a huge reality check when he applys to college. My gifted son, with better credentials (both IQ and grades, he became more of a slacker senior year) did not get into his top choice, nor do many others- an IQ of 130 is the low end of giftedness. A lot of good advice so far. Unfortunately the OP’s parents dropped the ball regarding the need for good grades and attitude towards teachers, something the OP needs to overcome (my son now accuses me of things done while he was a child, sigh). </p>
<p>OP- you will have to hope that at least one or two teachers can see beyond your grades and attitude and give you excellent recommendations for a good college. A good college, ie one with name recognition for grad schools in the proposed fields, will help in getting accepted to grad school. You are a long way from thinking post BS degrees, a lot will change you by that time of your life. Concentrate on doing your best work senior year first semester to show you can handle college work. Once you are in college you can work towards your goals, or change them. Do not be surprised if you are rejected by many elite schools- they have a surplus of good students and don’t need to take a chance on someone who has not proven they know how to study. It is more important to know how to study than to have the potential as shown by an IQ test.</p>
<p>You need to hear the harsh realities. You are not special. You have a lot of work to do to dig yourself out of the hole you are in (nice analogy from aother poster). Concentrate on the immediate future to enable your long term desires. This means doing as many other posters have said. No easy route, buckle down and go with the system if you expect to gain from it. Your life, your choice. Hopefully enough tough replies from us parents will get through to you and you will turn your life around.</p>
<p>Addenda. You may find yourself at a more average college than you anticipated. Go where you can, do excellent work despite your possibly low opinion of your college and transfer to the better one. Then you will have the degree from the name college and preparation for the grad schools of your dreams. Average grades and high test scores may not get you into your state flagship U but a high gpa at another college can get you a transfer. Notice money is irrelevant here, being able to afford college has no bearing on getting accepted, your first hurdle.</p>
<p>@ davidthefat, Since you are a Korean, I suggest you go home and ask your parents about the follwing story :“If I see three people walking on the street, one of them must be my teacher.”</p>
<p>Happykid’s close friend is attending one of the “lower” universities in our state. Halfway through the first semester, her Chemistry professor caught on to the simple fact that she is very good at science, and offered her a part-time lab-prep job. She has quickly become one of the favored students in the department, and will have her pick of assistantships for the next three years. When she heads off to grad school, her recommendations will be excellent.</p>
<p>Re your self-diagnosis of ADD:</p>
<p>If you can get a formal diagnosis, you can opt for behavioral training rather than medication. That means working with your school psychologist and/or guidance counselor, and/or resource teacher on developing the skills needed to get and keep yourself on track and organized. Skills that will serve you well for the rest of your life - including your college years.</p>
<p>Are people (including myself) being mean in some of these posts? Might sound that way, but that was not the intent of my post. This kid has blown it so far. He needs someone to kick him into gear if he’s going to do anything. That was the intent of my post. </p>
<p>He may be able to turn it around and get "A"s his senior year but I kind of doubt it. Some areas maybe/probably, but not in all subjects. Too much lack of preparation from all the years prior. </p>
<p>His posts, to me anyways, have the tone of someone who screwed up, knows it and is PROUD of it. He really needs an attitude adjustment.</p>
<p>I suspect that the college admission game is going to be a real shocker to him. Accepted at lower level schools (maybe) with insufficient aid to attend. Community college is where this kid is headed. The success rate for some of these schools is horrible. </p>
<p>I do hope he turns it around and makes something of himself. I just don’t like the odds.</p>
<p>And he wants to teach. I have thought at times about going into teaching as a second career but I get frustrated with people who don’t want to learn. I can deal with it but I don’t like it. So, no teaching in my future. How will this kid deal with that situation? From his track record, I would say not very well. I’d advise him to re-think his potential career choice.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be harsh, but blowing off assigned work that you are fully capable of doing is the mark of an incompetent student. You don’t have a lot of room to be dissing teachers when you’ve already determined you know all the answers. The older you get, the more you’ll realize how little you know.</p>
<p>Isn’t it more appropriate to answer the OP’s question than to roast him? Is it me, or am I (and the 2 who gave the same advice after me) the only one who gave the kind of (helpful) advice the OP actually asked for?</p>
<p>Look at Ohio Wesleyan (Schubert Scholarship, Founders., etc.). Very strong in the sciences, and they would love to “buy” a smart kid like you. Okay, so you have slacked. It’s not too late to start to turn this around. My husband and I disagree on this, but I do get upset when I see kids like you without parental guiding through the college process. I wish your parents had known more, helped you a bit more, etc. I’m not saying you aren’t responsible for where you are now, but it certainly helps to have support and information about colleges earlier on. I am tending to agree with some other advice you’ve been given --there are some midwest LAC’s to focus on for merit aid. I don’t think I’ve seen your GPA yet, but do you have close to a 3.4 at least? Do you play an instrument? Anything else unusual, athletic. art related (can you submit art supplements)? Speak other languages? It’s time to really take inventory and search for schools that you can get into, and that are known for big aid (merit or need-based). You can do this. Really! One simple start to find the schools to target would be to go through the Best 373 Colleges and look the bottom right hand corner of the page to find the percentages of need based and non-need based (merit). That will at least give you a start, but of course there are some great schools not in that book, so don’t solely rely on that book. There’s lists here on CC all over the place too. Good luck!! Work hard and know that you are going to turn out just fine. My nephew had similar parents as yours and got a full ride to Ohio University with a 3.0 GPA and 2100 SAT’s. He’s now a straight A student --things can really change if you want them to.</p>
<p>“Is it me, or am I (and the 2 who gave the same advice after me) the only one who gave the kind of (helpful) advice the OP actually asked for?”</p>
<p>Actually, I didn’t see a request for advice. There was a long rant about cr*ppy teachers who didn’t understand that His Brilliancy didn’t need to do any work because he was, well, so brilliant. Did I miss something?</p>
<p>Yes, you did. To cite the most obvious case, he states “I seek advice” on the title of the thread. Not to mention the numerous questions he asked, which haven’t really been answered…</p>