Success Stories: Bad HS Record w/ Great College Record II

<p>I was just wondering if you guys have any good success stories about transfer students who didn't do so well in HS, got their act together in college or at a CC and transferred up to a good school.</p>

<p>I think a lot of us could use the inspirational stories :)</p>

<p>High school stats
GPA : 3.67/4.5
Rank: 219/294
SAT: 1010/1600</p>

<p>Community college stats:
GPA: 4.0
Credits completed: 66
Major: chemistry
member of PTK
I have one more semester left to take physics II and calculus II and then I will receive an associate degree in chemistry.</p>

<p>I have been getting many offers from great universities such as Maryland College park, Tulane, Penn, Columbia, Lehigh, St. John, Case western, American, University of Miami, Drexel, cornell, along with various scholarships for some of them.</p>

<p>MODERATOR NOTE: WHILE THIS MEMBER RECEIVED EMAILS CONCERNING PBK SCHOLARSHIPS FROM THE SCHOOLS LISTED ABOVE, THEY NEITHER APPLIED NOR WERE THEY ACCEPTED BY THESE SCHOOLS. THE MEMBER APOLOGIZES FOR THE POSTING FALSE INFORMATION ON THIS BOARD.</p>

<p>As a student with a terrible HS record but a great college record hoping to transfer from a mid-table Tier-1 state school to my dream school (an ivy) and schools similar to it, I am very interested in reading these stories. Hopefully I’ll write my own in about a year. :)</p>

<p>High school stats:
Freshman and sophomore years: approximately 4.0; took the most difficult classes possible
Junior and senior years: approximately 2.0
final gpa: 3.6 weighted (took almost exclusively AP courses)
College GPA: 3.89 (2 B’s first semester; straight A’s otherwise)</p>

<p>Wrote my main essay about the slump. I basically dropped school entirely (literally did not study or turn in a single homework assignment all year) and started reading almost manically (stuff like Foucault, James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, a whole bunch of economics textbooks) – usually 3-4 books a week. By the time I got to college, I had had almost always read the majority of the required readings, even in senior-level econ courses, which I started taking as a freshman. I got into Duke, but was rejected from Penn, Brown and Columbia, and was waitlisted at Chicago.</p>

<p>Also, it is worth noting that although I did terribly in the courses, I almost always did well on the AP tests. For example, I got a D – should have been an F, but the teacher was kind – in AP Bio but a 4 on the exam. I also did a bunch of self studies for the material I was reading on my own, including both econs.</p>

<p>HS GPA: 2.8 unweighted, 3.02 weighted </p>

<p>College GPA: 3.6 (4.0 Midterm report)</p>

<p>Exceptional EC’s and Rec’s</p>

<p>Applied to: Northeastern, Boston University, Boston College</p>

<p>Accepted: Northeastern, Boston College</p>

<p>Attending: Boston College</p>

<p>Cestmattieu12</p>

<p>did you go to a community college before you transferred to boston?</p>

<p>I was at a small liberal arts college in CA</p>

<p>I probably don’t have a good story as some of those who are getting into really big name schools but my HS times had to be one of the worst, haha.</p>

<p>High School
GPA: 1.67 before taking the CHSPE and leaving early
1270/1600 SATS (fell asleep during one portion of the english part)</p>

<p>Worked for a decade and then finally decided to go back to College</p>

<p>CC
GPA: 3.8
Major: EE
Been accepted to UCD and waitlisted at UCSD. Still holding my breath on USC.</p>

<p>What are you talking about silent hill night. That is a great story. 1.67 to 3.8? come on man. :)</p>

<p>plus sleeping during the SAT. Nothing beats that.</p>

<p><a href=“fell%20asleep%20during%20one%20portion%20of%20the%20english%20part”>quote=Silenthillnight</a>

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</p>

<p>LMAOOO!</p>

<p>going from a 1.67 to a 3.8 is very inspirational…actually all of these stories are inspirational …thanks everyone ! :)</p>

<p>I hope more people will contribute :)</p>

<p>my HS record is a JOKE. but i pulled it together in community college.</p>

<p>HS GPA: 1.66
College GPA (calculating in Spring grades): 3.91
ACT: 30 Composite
-----English 35
-----Reading 35
-----Mathematics 27
-----Science 23</p>

<p>i applied to stanford, brown, upenn, northwestern, johns hopkins, and uconn.</p>

<p>accepted into uconn, waiting on northwestern and johns hopkins, rejected from all the others. i’m expecting rejections from northwestern and jhu.</p>

<p>i applied only to extreme reach schools, because i felt attending college out-of-state would have to be really worth it. i knew it was likely i’d be rejected everywhere. still, now that it’s happening, i’m definitely bummed!!</p>

<p>however, i’m proud of what i’ve achieved. i know i’m a great student with a lot to offer. that’s the beauty of “turning around” in college… you’re always practicing introspection, and for me, that’s led to a keen grasp of my intellectual identity. nobody can impose on me their own definitions of what i’m capable of. my academic history took a lot of turns… but i’m grateful because i’ve proved for myself that you can always change and improve yourself, that setbacks are almost always opportunities. it’s something you hear a lot but it only becomes meaningful once you’ve lived it. i really believe this perspective will serve me better than any ivy league education would.</p>

<p>good luck to everyone who’s trying to redeem their academic record!! you can do it!!</p>

<p>For an update on my story, I was successful in my appeal to UC Berkeley so I’ll definitely be going there! All I can say is work hard and don’t give up.</p>

<p>Please read Moderator Note on post #3.</p>