Tips for a struggling student...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm currently a junior in high school and I shamefully admit that I've sort of messed up in high school. I currently have a 3.2 GPA and am only in one honors class, which for my ethnicity (Chinese) is pretty sub-par, but I've always ended up with B+ averages at the end of the year for nearly all my academic classes. Currently I'm maintaining solid A-/A averages in my classes and plan to enter at least 3 honors/APs my senior year, as I really think once I get in I can maintain at least a B.</p>

<p>What I'm really worried about though is what college I can apply to. I am pretty decent at the SAT and am hoping for a 2100 or higher when I get it back, which I've been scoring around on practice tests. My counselors have all told me colleges recognize improvement and this can help me out a lot, but I'm not sure if senior year is too late for that. I have some clubs to put on my resume and more than enough volunteer hours, but my GPA/grades in general are a real problem.</p>

<p>I live in New Jersey and will be graduating in 2013. I know Rutgers is probably a viable option, but in my family (and most of the Asian community in general, haha) it's sort of looked down upon. Are there any schools better than Rutgers that I can shoot for if I improve and get those APs and SAT scores in?</p>

<p>Really looking forward to your responses, and sorry for the long read haha. Thanks</p>

2

<p>Take a look at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. With high SAT scores, you might even get some merit money. It is a nice mid-size university that offers a wide range of majors.</p>

3

<p>I have a friend who goes there, and he says he really doesn’t like it. Also, I’m looking for colleges on the coast from around North Carolina to Massachusetts, including New York and Pennsylvania, but I will definitely consider it if nothing else comes up.</p>

<p>Another question if you don’t mind… my brother’s friend went to Rutgers and did decent and managed to transfer in the middle of his second year to Wake Forest; is it a viable option to just enroll at Rutgers and work hard to transfer schools?</p>

4

<p>If you do well, you can transfer to most schools. The down side is that sometimes students go to a college thinking that they will transfer and never get very engaged in school because they are just going to transfer. If they are not engaged and happy, they do not do as well and their options are then limited. I would encourage you to do a thorough search, apply to safeties, matches and reaches and see what happens. There is a thread on here for students with 3.0 to3.3 GPAs. You might take a look at that.</p>