<p>So I'm a high school junior, soon preparing for the application process. However I already have a few problems on hand...</p>
<p>I just recently received my report card for first semester: three B's, three C's, and one A, which totals to a rather pathetic 2.9 GPA for me. My mom thinks that with these grades no college would ever accept me, and that I should just go to community college instead (that is if I'm able to graduate from HS in the first place). My dad also refuses to sign me up for the SAT's or my IB exams (which I had to pay myself.) To make it worse, 2.9 is not even my cumulative GPA, I still have sophomore year (which I did HORRIBLY, nearly failed math and bio, plus freshman year, which most colleges probably aren't going to look at) </p>
<p>I'm determined to improve and get accepted to the school I want to go to (I'm thinking about MSU or ISU), but I really don't know what to do now.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to gather any sympathy here, I just really need some good advice. Thanks.</p>
<p>All I can say is buckle down and get those grades up to something more reasonable. Colleges appreciate an upwards trend. Next, get those scores high, or I would say at least in the 75% of the colleges you’re interested in. Then, activities. You have stuff that you do outside of school, right? Demonstrate a passion for the things that you’re interested in. Lastly, write some stellar essays. maybe even have one about your grades and overcoming the obstacles. </p>
<p>Very generic advice, but I hope that it helps. Good luck!</p>
<p>Also, tons of students go to CC and then transfer in. I believe that this is a viable option that you should sit down with your counselor and parents to discuss. You should also work with your counselor (if the school is small enough or w/e) and hash out a plan.</p>
<p>It’s important to realize…
a) There’s a college out there for every student who wants to learn
b) Community colleges aren’t a terrible place to be!</p>
<p>The most important thing for you to do is try as hard as you can this next semester. Also, next year, it’s always tempting to take blow off courses, but you need to challenge yourself (at least a little bit). When you write college essays, you could make a really powerful point about turning your academic career around. Always helps to get involved in a few clubs/volunteering opportunities. Step up and be a leader if there is any opportunity (much easier said than done, but leadership looks very good to colleges).</p>
<p>It’s really unfortunate that they won’t may for your SAT… It’s always helpful to talk to your school counselors. This year, our counselors were handing out SAT fee waviers (ticket for a free test) to seniors like candy. Talk to your counselor, see if she has any/can get any. At my school, you pretty much just tell the counselor why you needed it and they pulled one out of the desk. Also consider taking the ACT, if you can get a wavier for that- some students do much better on one than the other.</p>
<p>Now about community college- Do not fear it. My brother got a 1950 on his SAT (a pretty good score) and was in the top 10% of his class. He went to a private university on a FULL RIDE for one semester and hated every moment of it. He came back home and is at a community college and is about to transfer to a state university to major in Nursing. For 1,5 years, he’s been able to live at home and take very cheap courses (compared to other schools). It’s working out great for him. He says the education he’s received there is actually better than the private university he went to. Not to mention, he liked the people a lot more.</p>
<p>Point being, there is nothing wrong with a community college. For students who didn’t take high school very seriously, CC’s are a great way to start over. With a year or two of good grades at a CC, it would me much easier to transfer into one of the schools you want to go to. </p>
<p>Also, you can post in the Parents Forum. They are very, very helpful and supportive there as long as you explain the situation and are polite :)</p>
<p>Honestly, it’s already the middle of your junior year. I think you may already have missed your chance for freshman admission to MSU or ISU. (I’ll confess, I haven’t figured out what the “M” and the “I” stand for, but I think it may not matter.)</p>
<p>As the parent of teenagers, I’ll say that I’m not sure your parents’ intention is to be “unsupportive.” I think they’re trying to be frank. They’re probably not enjoying it, either.</p>
<p>^No, you definitely have not missed your chance for any freshman admission. It is not even possible to apply as a junior. One year from today, you still probably will not have missed the deadlines for these schools. Don’t worry about that yet.</p>
<p>If you show improvement in school- show that you care- I bet you will gain the support of your parents.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean the deadlines have passed. I do mean, however, that it may be too late to undo 5 semesters’ worth of damage.</p>
<p>Green Crayon’s GPA for the first semester of junior year is 2.9, and GC suggests that his or her cumulative GPA is lower still. If “ISU” means Illinois St., I suppose it’s possible that GC could still get in, since 17% of current students there have GPAs below 3.0. But I took “ISU” to be Iowa State, where only 10% of students have GPA below 3.0. Many of those students will have some given the admissions committee some other compelling to admit them (e.g., they’re 6’10" tall). Similarly, I took “MSU” to be Michigan State; maybe that was also my error. At Michigan St., only 6% of students have GPA below 3.0.</p>
<p>I don’t enjoy saying this, but I think admission to these colleges is at best an uphill climb for this poster.</p>
<p>If this were my son or daughter, I’d be encouraging community college, too. And if he or she did well there, I’d be delighted to support his or her transfer to a good four-year college later.</p>
<p>^Agree with Sikorsky. Since it is your parents who will be paying for the tuition, it might be better for you to show them how serious you are about changing your ways in CC rather than applying to 4-year colleges. With your gpa, even if you do get in, you will probably not be eligible for merit aid. And, I’m not sure how much ISU and MSU are able to offer in need based aid.</p>
<p>Hmm. I took MSU to mean Mich State and ISU to mean Indiana State. If it’s Indiana State the OP is OK since over 50% of enrolled students had <3.0.</p>
<ol>
<li>get grades up starting now xD</li>
<li>if your parents are refusing you to register for the SAT because of your bad GPA, don’t register this year. Instead, buy a good SAT book with lots of practice tests ($20 or so) and practice, practice, practice. Wait for your end of the year grades which are hopefully good, and show your practice tests and your determination to improve to your parents who then won’t mind paying for registration for the SAT</li>
<li>if none of this works out, community college is NOT as bad as it sounds. Actually, a 2 kids in my grade this year (who have very good grades actually) are going to community college. I know nothing about community college, tbh, but if they are going it must be ok</li>
</ol>
<p>Green Crayon, I’m a parent. I have to ask this question. Are you trying and struggling? Or are you suffering the results of a lack of effort? As a parent, my opinion would be very different based on which answer you gave.</p>
<p>Make a deal with your parents…If you get no C’s this next quarter, they will let you take the SAT.</p>
<p>If you think that’s too hard, then agree to have at least a 3.0…or no more than one C. </p>
<p>BTW…your mom is wrong…there are colleges that will accept students with 2.5 or so GPAs. And some are very good colleges. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t bring up your GPA…as I said earlier, you need their money to pay for college.</p>
<p>Well I got a 157 on the PSAT, which would roughly equal to 1570 (?) on the actual SAT. I don’t think that’s considered too bad, though I really want to get at least 1600 or above. </p>
<p>The thing is, the school I go to apparently likes to brag about how tons of their graduates have gone on to attend high-ranked colleges and that 100% of former alumni have been accepted to a university, blah, blah, blah. I don’t know why, but I think if I do attend CC, it makes me sound…kind of bad?</p>
<p>It’s kind of a combination…I do extremely well on subjects such as English and History, but I tend to worse on Math and Science. I can not study for social studies and easily get an A, but I do try hard in math (I spend most of my time studying for mathematics) and get unpleasant results.</p>
<p>There are colleges that will accept you, but you will need your parents’ cooperation. Right now, you have to prove to them that you’re worthy of their financial support.</p>
<p>But, another question is…can they afford to send you to college? If they can’t or it would be a major struggle, then they’re not going to willing to go thru that hardship if they think you aren’t trying.</p>
<p>Start studying for your math and sciences …since you have time since you don’t have to study for social studies. ;)</p>
<p>OP – It sounds as if you are already studying very hard for math/sci but still receiving poor grades. I think that one priority might be to try to figure out what’s going on there. Is this a situation in which you have a hard time understanding the material, or do you think you get it and then bomb on the test, running out of time or panicking? If this is a situation in which you don’t quite understand the material, are you able to go to the teacher on a regular basis, or is tutoring available? Because you are such a good student in other areas, did you get tracked into an advanced or honors level of math when you might be more comfortable and able to perform better in a less challenging math track? Also, is it possible that you are dealing with an LD that affects your math – can you get testing for this through your school? A student who can easily get A’s in subjects with a verbal component such as Social Studies and English, but who describes herself as barely able to pass math classes would raise a red flag for testing in some districts. Good luck with all this – remember that in your higher level schooling and in your career, you will not have to be good at everything. You will be able to focus on the things that you enjoy the most and do the best.</p>