<p>I am graduating this spring and originally planned on going to a local community college.</p>
<p>After some thought with everyone else leaving home, I changed my mind and would also like to experience a change in life. I realize it is a bit late in the process to apply to schools but there are some that I was told are still open for applications.</p>
<p>The problem is, I have a very bad GPA and do not know if I would be able to get into a decent university.</p>
<p>Stats:
-Between a 2.7-3.0 GPA
-Average of 450's in each of my SAT sections
-Very little involvement in school activities, mostly in my first two years of high school
-Involved with out of school organizations</p>
<p>Preferences:
-Between 5000-10,000 students
-Would like private school but will be open to well funded publics (avoiding state schools, I am from Oregon) as well
-No extensive religious practices on campus
-Urban or Suburban setting (don't want to get bored with nothing to do)
-Good financial aid packages a must (efc of about 2000)
-Diversity in student body</p>
<p>I have a passion for the sciences and would like a school strong in any of the sciences. Planning to major in Chemistry.</p>
<p>Any college suggestions would be helpful to start my list!</p>
<p>What is your budget? How much will your family spend? Can they only pay the $2000 EFC?</p>
<p>If your family can only contribute a very limited amount, you really won’t have many/any choices. Your stats aren’t high enough for the schools that give great aid.</p>
<p>The truth is that those with modest stats typically have to pay nearly all costs unless they’re low income and their state gives lots of aid so that with state and fed aid, they can go to an instate public.</p>
<p>Financial aid always sounds wonderful when you hear about the concept, but the truth is very few schools have much money to give away. You’d get a very small Pell grant. If Oregon gives some aid, you’ll get some of that as well. You may only get enough grants to pay for some/all of your tuition, not enough to pay for the rest.</p>
<p>You probably would not get enough aid to go “away” to college. If you have a 4 year public that you could commute to and would accept you, that might be affordable.</p>
<p>Given your stats and finances, I’d recommend you stick with your original plan. Community college IS college, just not as exciting as going away. Go to CC, get excellent grades, and you’ll be more desirable to 4-year schools and might score a transfer scholarship. Don’t flake out, do go, and Good luck!</p>
<p>Your GPA is not good. Your SAT not even average for all students. You need community college to bridge the gap between high school and college. It will help you prepare and do well for the 4 year university you attend. Unless you are super human the odds of you doing well in college is not good without the community college help. </p>
<p>I went to community college and then onto a 4 university that was ranked well for my major. I could not have done it without the CC help to be honest. I was not prepared well enough to handle the larger classes and fast pace at the universities. Community college is fun. Students are your age from all over the area and not just your high school. I actually never ran into anyone from my high school at CC. I did run into some of them at the university. I finished college in 3 years(took a gap year to figure things out) and had a double major with a minor.</p>
<p>Not exactly what I was hoping to hear but I guess that is the truth.
Thank you both for your insights. We currently have nothing saved up for college and planned to do student loans if I qualified. My parents will have a difficult time paying the efc og $2000 in the first place. Come to think of it, the school college counselor does make it sound very easy to go to a 4 year university and that is why I decided to switch gears. From my first post, everyone can tell I am not well versed in the financial aspects of going to college but to add; is it a bad idea to take on student loans to pay for most of it? Will it be worth it?</p>
<p>Would going to a community college out of state be something I can keep in mind? I know going to an instate would save more money but I would really like to have the experience of “living on my own”.</p>
<p>Thanks momof3greatgirls. Looks like I was typing while you typed up your message.</p>
<p>Just another question to add stemming from my previous question. Should I be looking for a “best community college” (if a list of said colleges even exists, keeping my science interest in mind and my intended major)?.</p>
<p>There are many threads here about too much debt. Search for them. Think of it this way - a student loan debt can be many years of an annual salary - do you want to start your first job years behind?</p>
<p>If you absolutely must live on your own, I recommend starting CC in your town, and during the first semester looking for an apartment. You get the in-state rates, and there’s no hurry to find an apartment. Then when you do get an apartment, you’re on your own - you don’t have to be far away to act as if you’re far away.</p>
<p>You won’t likely be able to afford to go OOS to a CC. OOS rates are high, and then you’d have room and board to pay for. Not a good idea.</p>
<p>Your local CC is very likely good enough.</p>
<p>YOU can only borrow the following amounts: </p>
<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>Your Pell Grant may just cover your tuition/fees at a local CC that you can commute to. </p>
<p>As you can see, you’re even going to have a hard time affording college for the last 2 years once you transfer unless you get accepted to one of the few schools that give great aid to transfers.</p>
<p>Do you have a four year college that you can commute to later when you transfer?</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound harsh, but frankly, someone with your scores will not likely be able to complete a major in chemistry. That is a very hard major and your classmates will have much better stats than you. How much math have you taken? how did you do?</p>
<p>Yes…many GCs are rather stupid about financial aid. For a GC to see your stats and suggest that you could get FA to “go away” to school is ridiculous…especially at this late date.</p>
<p>I will admit that I just have a problem with going to a community college due to the reputation many give it. I do understand the benefits however and will keep it a viable option. Right now, I really want to explore and apply to a few schools, testing the waters, so to speak.</p>
<p>I am about four hours to the nearest 4 year university.</p>
<p>My family did do a little moving around after my freshman year (total of 4 times in between), due to their work schedule. It was difficult to adjust to each school, I could not settle in. I do understand that my scores are a bit low. I have only taken the SAT once and did not study. Perhaps with a bit of studying, that shall improve. Last year I took Calculus AB and I had a B for the year. (Not taking any math this year, the counselor did not let me register to take a match class – no BC and nothing really higher than the basic calculus at this school. He did not see a reason for me to retake a “lower level math”).</p>
<p>Glad to see that you did well in AP Cal AB…how did you do on the AP exam?</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the reputation that some people have about CCs. They are not in control of your future. If your local CC is decent, then that’s fine. The school probably has transfer agreements with other schools within the state.</p>
<p>Go ahead and explore other options, but be very wary of anything that requires you to take on a bunch of debt. </p>
<p>The truth is that at this point, any school that would accept you would not likely have stronger academics than your local CC. So borrowing a lot to attend one would be crazy. And since your family is low income, having them co-sign such loans wouldn’t be a great idea either (and they may not qualify either).</p>
<p>Even if you were to test again, it would likely be too late for this year’s app cycle. The next SAT that you can sign up for is in May.</p>
<p>I had a 4 on the exam. Also had scores in Chemistry (4) and Physics (3). </p>
<p>Thanks for the link, Erin’s Dad. Very helpful!</p>
<p>Would you be able to define a “decent” community college? Just in case everything comes to a halt and I run out of time, community college will be a place I’d be open to. I have a couple of them to choose from within driving distance, one a little farther away but if it is more “decent” than the other, do you think it would be to my advantage to commute a little farther?</p>
<p>The “best” community college is one (or more than one) that has good course articulation agreements with four year universities. In other words, their courses are assured to match up with specific courses at the four year universities in those courses that you need to take for your major.</p>
<p>Check the freshman/sophomore course requirements for your intended major and then match them up with courses available at your local community colleges so that you can take the correct courses at those community colleges to become transfer ready.</p>
<p>If you can get 4s in those APs you can do much better on the SAT or ACT. But it’s too late for this year to retake. So plan on a gap year or a year at a CC while you focus on improving those scores.</p>
<p>For financial aid purposes, taking the year off is probably your best option so you can apply as a freshmen when the best aid is given. You can take a couple of courses at a CC to start showing better grades.</p>
<p>Do something interesting for the year. Apply to an AU Pair program in another country, volunteer, take an a project.</p>
<p>If you can get 4s in those APs you can do much better on the SAT or ACT. But it’s too late for this year to retake. So plan on a gap year or a year at a CC while you focus on improving those scores.</p>
<hr>
<p>I agree. frankly, I can’t imagine anyone who’s taken AP Cal AB as a junior, and who got a 4 on the exam also scoring around 450 in the math section. I don’t care if the person didn’t study for the SAT…going in cold should yield a score in the low 600s at least. It can’t be that the student is a “bad test taker” because then the AP scores would have been low. Something doesn’t sound right.</p>
<p>At this point, a gap year may not make that much difference even with a better SAT because the GPA would still likely hurt the student’s chances for admittance at the schools that give great aid.</p>
<p>However, if you do take a gap year, do NOT take any courses at a CC or anywhere because that would ruin your “incoming freshman” status which often ruins the chances for best aid. Once you graduate from high school, if you take college classes, then you’re considered a transfer student at most schools…and then aid/merit is less likely given.</p>
<p>I think it would be better for the student to visit the two CCs in her area (drive there during traffic hours to get a sense of THAT issue) and then pick out which one is best for her. </p>
<p>UCB is right about determining the CC’s articulation agreements with universities.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,
Here is a brief timeline of events that I may have contributed to my low SAT scores:
Sophomore year: Geometry
Took SAT during the fall of my junior year
Junior year math courses were: Pre-Calculus and Calculus AB concurrently*
Most of my junior year was at a new school (middle of first quarter). The math department put me in precalc (w/ some Algebra 2 topics in the course) because Algebra 2 classes were full (they only allow a maximum amount of students in each class for this school). I did not get to take algebra 2 and am not fluent in the foundations of algebra in the first place. They had no choice but to put me in the Pre-calculus course. They knew my background and the instructor was willing to work with me. I feel my lack of algebra skills (or being fluent in) contributed partly for my low test scores. I did not do too hot in Algebra 1 but did ok in Geometry.
*I also had the option of taking Calculus AB concurrently because I had two periods freed up in my schedule as a result of coming to this schools late. I took it as a challenge for myself instead of taking the alternative free periods. I think I received a good score on the exam because it was structured really well and I studied/practiced exactly what was on the exam. Most of the practice problems I did were the same on the test and found it simply applying the steps my teacher taught me to each problem.
My math skills are not the best. I feel I can solve some problems calculus problems easily but do not know the “concepts” behind why it is what it is.</p>
<p>With a 2.7-3.0 GPA, you will not have a lot of choices of universities that will admit you as a freshman and give big merit scholarships, even if you raise the test scores. Some of the less selective state universities may admit you.</p>
<p>Doing well in community college and then transferring as a junior is likely the best way to “upgrade” the list of universities willing to accept you, though state universities are the ones that tend to be the most transfer-friendly. But UO and OSU may be more desirable choices than what you may be able to get into now or with higher test scores.</p>
<p>As far as math goes, you can check your knowledge of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry using this diagnostic exam:</p>
<p>It’s been a long, long time since I’ve taken college chem classes, so I may not remember much, but I think you do have to have some math skills if you want to major in chemistry. Others can correct me if I’m wrong. Maybe today’s calculators handle most of the math, but you’d still need to understand what you’re doing and trying to do.</p>
<p>I agree with UCB…going the CC route and getting the best GPA is the most likely successful route. You need to be in a situation where your future univ won’t really consider your high school GPA…which usually happens when you transfer as a rising junior.</p>