<p>Im currently a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles and am looking to transfer to a school with a larger student body, more name reconginition, and most importantly a school that has a business program.</p>
<p>HS GPA (competative high school): 3.5
SATs: 1850
Extracurriculars:
-Taught a class at a local Boys and Girls Club about finances and entreprenurship
-President of a teen city board that makes reccomendations to the city council on policies regarding youth
-This past summer I "flipped" a run-down house with my father for profit
-currently tutor underrepresented kids in town near college
-Hoping for a summer internship with a San Francisco developer</p>
<p>Unfortunatly my first semester at college didnt go so well I took 16 units and got a 2.9 GPA. My mother became ill soon after I left and I was constantly worried about her health and made numerous trips back north to home. The combination of a stressing about my mother, the numerous trips back and forth, and adjusting to college life had a great impact on my GPA.</p>
<p>In my mind, this GPA has shot down any hopes I had of applying to transfer to a college for the Fall '08 term.</p>
<p>I was looking at schools like Boston College, Georgetown, Dartmouth, Duke, Cornell ILR, or Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>Any suggestions on the options that I now have? Any comments/advise would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I'm sorry to hear about your difficulty this first semester, adjusting at a new school is always hard, but I'm sure worrying about your mother made it even more stressful.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with you that for the schools that you've listed, you need to work extra hard this next year and a half, get your grades up, get to know some profs, and plan to transfer for junior year. You might be able to transfer to a college next fall that fits two of your goals (bigger & w/business), but you are extremely unlikely to be able to trade up in selectivity as these schools are much harder to get in as a transfer than as a freshman applicant.</p>
<p>thanks for the response. Do you think that transfering to one of those schools is still possible if I wait to transfer until the end of my sophomore year? (pending that my grades significantly improve)</p>
<p>It is really impossible to predict whether you have a chance at those schools after 3 more semesters, because we have no idea how you will do.</p>
<p>For <em>any</em> student who wants to or needs to transfer, it is critical to choose a range of schools for application, not just a list of a few among the very most selective in the country. You need to do that even if your next 2 terms look stellar.</p>
<p>but if you mother's illness/being away is such a stressor, why not look into cc for a year to get your GPA. Omg! cc. gasp.</p>
<p>But seriously, California has one of the strongest community college systems in the country. It's incredible. I know a kid from villanova b-school who took a semester off for family reasons and went to CC. He loved it because he was able to work, keep up with his coursework, and be stress free for a semester.</p>
<p>For you, this could be a great option. especially if you can't stand oxy.</p>
<p>elvenqueen10: I've definetly been thinking about it. I'm going to finish my year at oxy and then evaluate my options depending on my moms illness etc.. but going to a cc is definetly something im considering</p>
<p>To get my GPA up could I take a few classes at a cc during the summer? Do admission officers factor grades you get there into your cummulative GPA?</p>
<p>Adcoms look at all of your transcripts: from all colleges and high schools attended. Try to finish this year out at oxy, so you can prove you can hack it there. Then, you can show improvement at oxy and attend CC next year. Ideally, you will be able to raise your grades and be competitive at those schools. In any case, "definetly" is spelled definitely, and "competative" is spelled competitive. Just to help you out there ;) </p>
<p>I was in a similar situation my freshman year.</p>
<p>I got a 3.0 gpa my first semester, then once I was assimilated into college, I worked much harder and got a 3.7 my second semester.</p>
<p>My third semester in college, as a sophomore, I worked even harder and got a 3.9 as I sent in my mid-semester grades to my intended college. I was granted admission and now I'm at a top 35 national school (and the school that was always my first choice)!</p>
<p>You can definitely do it, good luck with your transfer admissions and best of luck to you and your family.</p>
<p>OP:
I agree with the idea of working hard for the rest of the year at OXY and then considering CC. I think it also might be also represented as a sign of maturity. It shows that you didn't choose cc because it was "easier" but that you chose it because you needed to manage your academic and personal life. best of luck</p>