<p>Hi, I'm a student at the University of Florida (#49 on US Rankings) taking a semester off and looking for new pastures, I just really don't like it there and I'm looking for a fresh start. I've done 4 semesters...I currently have a horrible GPA (by my standards) of 2.43. I have some reasoning for my bad grades but I'll also admit that some of it goes to just not buckling down and persevering.</p>
<p>Either way, I'm looking to to head elsewhere (anywhere in the world really, I love new cultures and settings), I'm open to any suggestions. I can't afford very expensive places if they don't give out financial aid, so I've been looking into European/Asian schools too.</p>
<p>I'm open to any suggestions, but my main question is can I still get into good schools? I have what I think are strong high school stats (3.67 GPA, 5.2 weighted, SAT of 2140 (1380) SAT, IB 35 Points, top 10% of school and top 3% of county). Just my college GPA sucks.</p>
<p>To be honest the thought of graduating with an at best high 2.# from UF is not at all appealing to me, especially seeing as I don't like it there, so I'm really looking to transfer. Any suggestions or thoughts on what to do?</p>
<p>For transfers, your college transcript matters immensely while your HS transcript matters an amount very near to zero. You won’t be able to rest on those laurels.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that the options for bachelor’s degrees taught in English are minimal in Europe (apart from the UK, of course), and most European schools will be as selective about transfers as a major state university in the US.</p>
<p>If you dislike U of F so much you can’t stand to return, find a local college or community college you can tolerate temporarily and bang out one stellar, low-cost semester to get that GPA up. Transferring will be easier with an improved GPA, whether in-country or out.</p>
<p>Given your self-diagnosis that part of the problem is a lack of effort and commitment on your part, it is best to solve that somewhere cheap and close to home. There’s no point in going halfway round the world to study if you’ll be taking the slacker-itis with you. It should not take you more than one full-time semester to rehabilitate your grades and establish personal habits of excellence, as long as you commit to the enterprise and do some self-analysis to understand why you were unhappy and unmotivated at UF. </p>
<p>It’s hard to recommend specific transfer options without knowing this: What was missing from UF to make it a good experience for you?</p>
<p>As stated previously, your high school GPA doesn’t count for anything anymore. If you wish to transfer to a “good” school, I think you’ll need to take classes at a community college to boost your GPA. Because you already have 2 years of college completed, there may not be many courses available at a CC that will count to your degree.</p>
<p>What about UF don’t you like? Are you having trouble making friends? Classes too difficult? Too large of a campus/student body?</p>
<p>If you already have 4 semesters at UF behind you I doubt that you can improve your transfer chances with one semester at a cc. The truth is that your high school record doesn’t matter any longer and that it will be very hard to transfer anywhere with a 2.4 gpa.</p>
<p>If you absolutely have to go somewhere other than UF your best strategy is to go back there for one more semester and achieve a much higher gpa. Even then, it’s going to cost you a lot more money to go anywhere private or out of state (assuming you are a resident of FL) so your only financially workable option would be to go to another state school in Florida. I don’t think anything else is realistic.</p>
<p>I had 6 semesters of garbage at my first school, amounting to a 1.67 gpa. I had to completely start from scratch at a CC. Ask yourself if it’s worth 4-5 more years of your life to get out or if it would be better to stick it out another 2.</p>