<p>Hi, as the title states, I am currently about to enter my sophomore year as a student at my local community college and I'm trying to transfer to schools such as Rice, University of London, Imperial College London, University College London, Oxford, NYU, Cornell, UT Austin, University of Houston, UCLA, and Georgetown... Basically, I'm trying to keep my options as open as possible. But there's a catch to it. Unfortunately, when I was in high school, I was unable to keep up my grades (graduating with a 1.9, and 1400 SAT) because every year, at least one significant person in my life passed away. And I was lost as well, surround by bad people and doing bad things, all while working to help provide for my family. When I entered the university I've attended during my freshman year, I intended to get my stuff straight and transfer to a good school. Yet, life got the best of me again and I still had to work two jobs while going to school, slipping into a depression while my parents got divorced, and struggling to keep a home in an impoverished neighborhood . I left that university with about a 2.2 GPA and I'm taking community college courses because it just works out better for the moment. If I were to keep my grades up until application time comes around, as well as explain what I just did in my application essay, do I stand a fair chance? Will they look past my grades and see whats been going on, allowing me to get a shot, despite how "prestigious" those schools people say they are. I'm not stupid, I just haven't had the best opportunities. If it helps, I'm Mexican and most of my family is from Mexico. Sorry for the long sob story lol...</p>
<p>You will be applying for a jr transfer this winter. So your record will be:</p>
<p>HS gpa = 1.9
fr yr college gpa = 2.2
soph fall sem gpa = ??</p>
<p>I’m afraid that the truth of the matter is that while colleges will have some understanding of your circumstances, you need to show in your academics that you can succeed if admitted.</p>
<p>For the level of schools you’ve listed, that’s going to be very hard, if not impossible, to do in 1 semester at a CC.</p>
<p>You should realistically be talking to your CC advisor this fall and figuring out what you can do to transfer to your IS public university. Once you’ve done that and put in two years of stellar work, you can consider the schools you’ve listed for graduate/professional school.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply 
I know it seems like a long shot, but I’m still going to keep faith, because I know I can prove myself, and I feel like with all of my life experience that I’m going to put into my essay, I will hopefully be able to make an impact on the admissions officers that are reading it, thus enabling them to view the real person that I am, not just look at me as a score or GPA rank. Writing is my best subject, so I feel I have the capability to do just that. Whats great about the whole thing is that there are ACTUAL PEOPLE deciding, not some machine or program. My eyes are set on somewhere in London. I want to double major in both Political Science and Philosophy, and then attend law school afterwards. I figured that I do best in the social sciences and its generally easier to get accepted into those departments, as opposed to departments such as Business or Engineering, so I feel like I there still might be some hope. I hear its easier for Americans to get into schools in England, but if I can’t, I would like to get into UT Austin… But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see :)</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but it’s impossible to get into ANY of those schools you mentioned (assuming your GPA stays the same). Even UH has a minimum GPA requirement of a 2.5. Minimum GPA for UT is a 3.0, etc. In the best case scenario you get a 4.0 next year and even then your GPA would only meet the minimum requirements. </p>
<p>I second entomom.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply… But I still rather be an optimist who’s sometimes wrong then a pessimist who’s always right. I’ll be alright, no matter what!</p>
<p>This isn’t a matter of pessimism or optimism. You clearly haven’t done enough research on this. You can’t even apply to Oxford as a transfer student, for example.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for all of your losses-but as the rest if the commenters above have stated, the schools you have listed are quite a stretch for your GPA. UCLA, for example, expects a 3.4 GPA in order to give admission. I hope that you also consider other types of schools-such as lower ranked state schools, small LACs, etc. I think you might have a better chance in said schools. I know that you are trying to be optimistic in your college choices, but it does pay to add a bit of realism. Good luck! I’m sure you will be able to find a great place to complete you higher education.</p>
<p>I know its not a matter of optimism, its just that I’ve seen so many kids on here stress and breakdown if they don’t get into any of those schools. Its important, but not essential to ANY persons success in life. That’s what most people on here fail to realize. Lifes too short to live like that. So even if I don’t get in, I know ill be good one way or another. Thanks for your input though.</p>
<p>@ majareco: And I HAVE done my research, just an FYI. I’m well aware that Oxford does not accept transfers, but it is possible to apply as a freshman. Thats what the UK considered “transfer students” in the first place, as opposed to the United States school systems.</p>
<p>Oxford doesn’t have “transfer students” in any shape or form.
</p>
<h2>Do you even realize how ridiculously difficult it is to get into Oxford as a 1st year? International students who get into Oxford as a 1st year usually are capable of getting into Ivies. </h2>
<p>In the scenario that you get a 4.0 at a community college taking the same amount of hours, you would have a 3.1 cumulative GPA. In this scenario you still be automatically disqualified from:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Rice
</a></p></li>
<li><p>UCLA
</a></p></li>
<li><p>NYU
</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This is not including the implicitly stated minimum GPA requirements of Cornell (B+) and Georgetown (B+). I would imagine the European schools to have minimum requirements similar to these, if not stricter. Keep in mind that these are just the minimum requirements to apply. If you want to look at the minimum GPAs of students accepted then the GPA needed would be even higher. </p>
<hr>
<p>You can still apply to these schools, but I’m telling you now that you’ll be rejected by all of them. No matter how good your story is, the schools you’re looking at won’t accept a C student. European universities are not holistic in admissions like U.S schools. In fact, quite the opposite.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to discourage you from going to college, but you really need to look at some different schools. Better yet, take some time off and do something interesting, then go back to a community college and dominate. Doing this will make your high school record irrelevant and tell adcoms that you’ve grown.</p>
<p>I’m really not sure why you would think your story would negate your mediocre grades. Time is precious, I wouldn’t even waste time applying to these schools and giving them money for application fees.</p>
<p>sorri,</p>
<p>You’ve gotten some very good advice here. You can choose not to take any, that’s your prerogative. But from your responses, I really have to wonder why you even asked for input, as you seem to only be open to a rubber stamp of your plan.</p>
<p>Again, it has nothing to do with pessimism/optimism, but rather realism. I personally have moderated this forum since 2008, when my D1 decided to transfer. And I am a CC to UC transfer myself, albeit long, long ago.</p>
<p>This will be my last post on this thread, I honestly wish you the best of luck in whatever you pursue.</p>
<p>You can consider those schools for graduate studies.</p>